Meet Jan Stockman Director of the Beautiful Savior Child Development Center
Jan Stockman, daughter of Pastor William and Wilma Stockman, was born in Idaho and at three years of age moved to a home just outside Portland, Oregon. Then when she was a junior in high school, her family moved to Benson, Minnesota. She remembers a bit of culture shock going from a class of 1000 students in her Oregon high school to a class of 150 students in Minnesota.
A graduate of Concordia University, St. Paul, Jan holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. She spent 30 years working at Cross View Lutheran Church in Edina as Director of their Early Childhood Center before assuming her role at Beautiful Savior.
Jan is married to George Sater, who is retired after a career in finance, and they have recently moved to Maple Grove to be closer to Jan’s new job at Beautiful Savior.
Not only does she bring with her years of experience as a director, Jan also serves as the Early Childhood Consultant for the Minnesota South District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). She is responsible for assisting early childhood programs in the district, as well as helping churches begin early childhood programs. Jan says, “It is a rewarding experience to see congregations starting programs to reach out into their communities.”
Jan also co-chairs the Minnesota Early Childhood Educator’s Conference which is held every spring. The conference is sponsored by the LCMS Minnesota South District and Concordia University, St. Paul. The goal of the conference is to provide quality early childhood training for teachers in the field of infant, toddler, and preschool education and administration.
Starting up the Beautiful Savior Child Development Center (CDC) is exciting for Jan. The necessary paperwork and inspections needed for the CDC to operate as a licensed facility in Minnesota have taken place, policies and procedures for the programs have been developed, equipment has been ordered and assembled, classrooms have been set up, teachers have been interviewed and hired, and families interested in enrolling their children have been led through the application process. Jan also moved into her office located in the new building addition.
She is looking forward to the CDC being an “integral part of the ministry” at Beautiful Savior. She firmly believes that the CDC will be a significant outreach tool. Her vision for the program includes the prayer that our congregation will become a welcoming community for families that leads them to know Jesus better.
Communication with and the involvement of the church family are important, Jan believes. She will be sharing ways for the people of Beautiful Savior to be active participants in this ministry with their donations of time, talents, and specific items for classrooms.
About the CDC
Mission Statement: Our mission is “Connecting children with God’s love through early childhood care and education.”
Purpose: Beautiful Savior Child Development Center exists to lead children on the journey of growth – socially, emotionally, intellectually, physically, creatively, and spiritually. At the Child Development Center, children are offered a safe Christian environment where they can celebrate who they are, explore the world around them, and learn about Jesus. As an outreach ministry of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, we seek to meet the needs of families and offer them support. Just as Jesus “took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them,” we, too, accept all children into an atmosphere of caring Christian love.
Jan states, “The most critical brain development takes place from birth to age 5. Working with the staff, church community, parents, teachers, and students, we can create a program which provides age-appropriate learning and growth for our students. [Our former] Precious Corner Preschool had a strong program with a very good reputation, and I plan to build on those strengths by growing the program and continuing to strengthen the curriculum.”
The curriculum being taught to children birth – 5 years old is an LCMS-based program with five areas of focus:
Spiritual and Social Development including chapel time, and Jesus time
Communications Arts or literacy
Expressive Arts including art, music, drama, etc.
Health and Wellness focusing on large motor activities and nutrition
Discovery about the World with a look into science and math
The curriculum will be supplemented with classes led by a music teacher every week, a physical education teacher every day, and a Spanish teacher every month. There will also be extra classes, like soccer, available during the day for an extra fee.
There are two basic programs available at the CDC: full-day programs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and half-day classes for preschoolers.
Full-day programs operate 7am – 6pm:
Infant classroom: 6 weeks -16 months old (With thanks to God, this class is full!)
Toddler classroom: 16 months – 33 months old
Preschool Plus: 3- and 4-year-olds
Half-day Preschool operates 9am – 12pm:
(before- and after-care options available)
3-year-olds meet T/Th
3- & 4-year-olds meet M/W/F
4- & 5-year-olds meet M-Th
Jan and the teachers of the new CDC ask for your prayers. Please pray for God’s blessings on them, the families they are serving, the children they are teaching, and the outreach of Beautiful Savior through this new and expanded program.
You’ll be seeing the new CDC logo in many places. Watch the worship screens, service folder announcements, and the CDC bulletin board for more information about ways you can support this enhanced ministry to young families.
If you or people you know are interested in more information about the CDC, Jan welcomes an opportunity to talk with you. Give her a call at 763.235.7626 or email her at jstockman@beautifulsaviorlc.org.