John Coffelt, Editor

Christian Learning Center has been providing early childhood care for well over a generation.

Director Angie Gann said that First United Methodist Church’s preschool has been going for over 60 years.

“We are infant, which is six weeks, up to pre-K, which is five year olds,” Gann said.

“We work on the milestones of that age group in that classroom.”

There are five classes and 10 teachers, plus a floating position and Gann. Enrollment is currently 60 children.

Infant class caregiver Teresa Mullen said that babies are the best to work with.

“They are small and cute. Infants … they grow so fast, you get to see them start to crawl. They’re babies then they start walking.”

“Two year olds are fun,” said Anna Gann. “They have big personalities. They are at that age where they are trying to figure out things by themselves. To sit back and watch them figure things out for themselves is always fun.”

Tracy Robertson said of the four and five year old class, “It’s challenging at times, but it’s cool age because we’re getting them ready to go to kindergarten. They’re striving to count to 100. When they get to 50 – they like that affirmation. It can be challenging; they’re tall and loud. But it’s fun.”

“Anybody that’s in childcare has to have a heart for kids,” Gann said. “We love what we do.”

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.