On Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:15 AM, twenty children between the ages of three and five invade W.F. West for two hours and then quietly leave again. Most students never even know they are here. "We have a preschool? I didn't know that!" said sophomore Kari Foss. Yes, we do have a preschool here at W.F. West.

The Baby Bearcat Preschool is located at the end of the three hundred hall inside the sixteenth street doors. Laura Hylton teaches the preschool with the assistance of the third and fourth period parenting classes. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the high school students, sophomores and older, plan what they are going to do on the next day they are in the preschool.

This is the sixth year there has been a preschool at W.F. West. "It was started as a laboratory for the child development and parenting students," said home and family life teacher Sandy Sund. Hylton has been teaching preschool here for four years. Prior to working at W.F. West, Hylton ran a preschool out of her home. "I just like working with kids, exposing them to this environment [the preschool]," Sund added, "I like watching them change from the little person they are at the beginning of the year to the little person they are at the end."

Shirl McCoy, a sophomore who has been working in the preschool all year, said, "It [working in the preschool] helps you realize the changes kids go through." One of McCoy's favorite parts of working in the preschool is the attachment between herself and the kids.

Hylton said, "The preschoolers become very attached to the high school students. They like to sit in their laps and be read to."

Kendall Holmes, a four year old student at the preschool, said "[The high schoolers] help us and they read us stories."

Another preschooler, Darion Weismann, said with a big smile, ÒItÕs a really fun place.Ó

The high school students are there not only to assist, but to observe the preschoolers. "[Working in the preschool] gives them awareness; what it's like to work with children. They can take what they learned in [Sund's classroom] and put it to practical use. They realize how they affect the children; what role models they are," said Hylton. Sund's parenting and child development students start out as supervisors or assistants. Eventually they will be in charge of a certain area.

Anyone planning on working with elementary-aged children as a career would benefit from working in the preschool. "I encourage anyone planning on teaching elementary or who want to be caregivers, preschool teachers, to sign up to work in the preschool," said Sund.

There is, however, something lacking in the program. "I wish we had more [high school] boys in the program, because they are going to be parents too," said Hylton. This year there has only been one high school boy working in the preschool. "The boys especially, but even the girls [preschoolers] would benefit from more high school boys," said Hylton.

Who are the preschoolers? They are not just teachers' kids, as is the common belief. The preschool is filled with the first twenty children whose parents signed them up. The preschool is advertised strictly by word of mouth. Dues, thirty dollars a month, pay Hylton's salary. Sund's budget pays for any other needs the preschool has. New sign ups are June first for the 98-99 school year. There is no preschool in the summer.