Horizon Preschool: Nurturing the Future
Horizon Preschool is a place where children flourish. The only faith-based preschool in east Lodi, it fills the neighborhood with the sounds of laughter and play as 3- and 4-year-olds chase roly-polys, go on scavenger hunts for leaves, or munch on vegetables they grew themselves in their little garden. “The heart behind the preschool has always been for it to be a neighborhood preschool,” said Katie Stanley, the director of Horizon Preschool. “It is our deep desire that the school would be a service for our neighborhood.” A life-long resident of Lodi, Katie has dedicated her career to nurturing a bright future for the city’s youth.
Katie’s ministry with children began after she graduated from high school and moved to Mexico to work at a residential school for the deaf. She was the dorm parent for all of the girls at the boarding school, where children came from all over Mexico to stay for the majority of the year. “I would teach Bible classes and Sunday school classes,” Katie said. “I loved it.” She spent ten years working with the school, learning Mexican Sign Language and mentoring the children under her care. When she moved back to the United States and to her hometown of Lodi, Katie began taking different classes to further her learning and pursue her dreams. She also began working at one of the local elementary schools as a paraeducator and volunteering at One-Eighty, a program dedicated to helping teens and families by providing counseling services, homework clubs and other resources designed to help underserved neighborhoods flourish.
Soon, Katie found herself on staff at One-Eighty and running one of the homework clubs. She met Liz Stevahn and Debi Hyzdu through the program and soon became a part of making their dreams a reality. “They had a dream years ago of starting a preschool,” Katie said. “They talked about how they sat in the park while Liz was running the homework club and while the kids were playing, and thinking about the kids in the neighborhood.” Horizon Community Church had been hosting some of their after-school programs, and when Debi and Liz approached the pastor and the elders about partnering with the church to form a preschool, they were met with enthusiastic support. Soon, Horizon Preschool became a reality. “It’s amazing what you can do when you have multiple people supporting and coming alongside you,” Katie said. “It still astounds me how many people have decided to come alongside the preschool.”
In their fifth year, Horizon Preschool welcomed the largest group of students yet. Now, as they prepare for the new school year, they look forward to nurturing a new group of curious and eager students. “That’s one of the things I absolutely love,” Katie said. “We get to truly know each child by name, and their personalities and quirks and frustrations. They’re awesome kids.” They never want financial constraints to keep a child from joining their classes. “Every single student receives reduced tuition because of generous donations from different organizations and churches and individuals in our greater community,” Katie explained. “If you need a place, we have a place.”
Horizon Preschool’s focus is always, first and foremost, making the world around them a better place and encouraging others to do the same. “We’re not all going to run a preschool,” Katie said with a laugh, but she urges others to consider the ways they can nurture their greater community. Even those of us who have no children remember what it was like to be a child ourselves, growing up in a world shaped for us by the adults who came before. The greatest gift we can give to the next generation is a community that takes care of its neighbors and nurtures child-like curiosity and joy in all its members, ages one to one hundred.
