Left to right – Lorrie Thoemke, Shannon Lang, & Tania Erickson
THREE RINGLEADERS IN CHILD CARE Article submitted by submitted by Anna Hagen, Marketing Director, and Kristin Miller, Marketing Coordinator Photography by Dennis Krull, 5foot20 Design Lounge
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T’S BUSTLING AT THE FERCHO YMCA’S EARLY LEARNING CENTER IN DOWNTOWN FARGO – typical day. Strings of three year olds are lining the hallway
learning during their school day by aligning ND state standards with their lesson plans.
in their puffy coats and fluffy mittens dangling down at their toes. They’re peering out the windows and beaming excitedly at each other on their way outside to play tag and make snow angels in Island Park.
In addition, when the long summer recess begins, thousands of children lose access to the structure of physical and mental activities, healthy meals and possibly even a safe place to play. When kids are out of school, they can face hurdles related to learning, health, safety and hunger. That’s where Lang comes in to fill the gap. She strategically plans program improvements, provides quality assurance, mentors staff, evaluates curriculums and simply “keeps the lights on” for youth.
The YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties has 30 child care centers hosting nearly 2,500 youth in their 40 programs. The Fercho YMCA was the first Y childcare site in the area to open its doors to preschoolers in 1963. Today, the YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties has become not only the largest child care network in North Dakota, but one of the largest YMCA child care networks in the country – and it’s led by three brilliant women who are nurturing the potential of all youth, one child at a time. Shannon Lang Shannon Lang, school age director, has one not-so-simple task: to provide a safe place for nearly 2,000 school-age children in our community to learn and play before and after school. With a focus on health, social growth and academic enhancement, licensed Y school age programs serve kindergartners through middle schoolers with a variety of programmatic and activity options. Staff work with youth every day and provide homework assistance and other interactive activities to nurture their potential. These activities supplement what children are
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Lang has a long history working with youth at the Y. She joined the team in 1997 as the early learning site coordinator at Fercho. In 2000, she became the early learning director at Fercho and recently moved into her current position in 2015 as the school age director, over-