Excellence in Pincher Creek childcare: Catherine Oczkowski and Samantha Bonwick

Excellence Awards finalists Catherine Oczkowski and Samantha Bonwick
C. Davis photos

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Pincher Creek citizens Samantha Bonwick and Catherine Oczkowski are two of the finalists nominated for the 2013 Alberta’s Early Learning and Child Care Professional Awards of Excellence.  Bonwick was nominated in the Licensed Day Care category for her work in before and after-school care at Canyon School and Oczkowski was nominated in the Licensed Daycare category.  They both work with Children's World Daycare in Pincher Creek.


Application forms for the awards were distributed province-wide and a short-list of 40 finalists were chosen from a number of categories.  "Actually, it's quite funny.  We nominated each other," said Bonwick, which they discovered after the nominees were announced.  They were also nominated by a number of people affected and impressed by their contributions. "Parents can nominate you, colleagues  friends can nominate you, anyone who thinks you deserve to be nominated," explained Bonwick.

"They provide a huge service for parents of children at our school," said Canyon School Assistant Principal Kirby Dietze of the service Children's World Daycare provides the school.  "They're here in the morning to ensure the children are safe and supervised and they're here after school to ensure the children are safe and supervised.  It's been a fantastic thing to have them here with us.  We appreciate their service and their smiling faces."

Oczkowski and Bonwick were both born and raised in Pincher Creek.

"After high school, I took my Level One (Child Development Assistant) as a back-up," explained Bonwick. "Then I worked here. Then I went to college to be a library tech, then I came back.  Then I worked in the library and here (Children's World Daycare), combined.  I am working on my Level Two (Child Development Worker) in childcare."   Bonwick is also the proud mother of two young boys of her own, Joel who is four years old and Lee who is three.

Bonwick said she was thrilled to be nominated.  "I was really honoured and I got a boost of confidence.  Maybe I am doing my job the right way," she said. "I like to say that the difference between a job and a career is a job is something that you go and do, and you leave.  ECC (Early Child Care) is definitely not a job, it's a career.  You have to bring stuff home, work late at night... You are their first teachers, after their parents.  I feel honoured to be the extension of the family, it's very important to do a very good job."

"I've been babysitting in this town since I was 11, so some of my clients are grown up and graduated already."

Oczkowski also pursued an education in the childcare field.  "I took my Level One also, in High School, then took a year off and worked here to see if it was what I wanted to do," she explained.  "Then I went to school at Lethbridge College for Early Childhood Education."

"I do feel very honoured to get nominated," she said.  "It's like someone noticed the work that you do, and noticed that I was doing a great job, and decided to nominate me for it.  It really makes me feel really good."

"It's so rewarding the learning experience that you bring to them," she said of her experiences with the children in her care. "They learn so many things that you mention to them."  As an example, she said she mentioned to one group of kids that ladybug blood was yellow.  She said that after that the kids were drawing pictures of ladybugs and made sure to include the yellow "blood" in their illustrations.

Bonwick said that one of the challenges with her job was the prevalence of video games.  "We don't allow them in the program.  It's very difficult to do," she said of the effort it sometimes takes to interest the kids in other activities.  "With afterschool, you have to really work to get into their world. It's really hard to get into their world but once your there, it's like magic."  She's also a big proponent of the anti-bullying program.

"All age groups have their own special quirks, and they're all rewarding."

Award winners are expected to be announced on May 10, but it's clear that both of these young ladies are winners already, as are the children entrusted into their care.

Related link: Forty award finalists recognized in early learning and child care