A Tribute to a Peggy...

Recently a very special person passed away.  Her name is Peggy Sradnick, and she was the Director of Basic Trust, the Early Childhood Center where I began my career.  What she accomplished in her life was nothing short of astonishing. My Mother attended her funeral in New York City, and told me how she was stunned to tears by the swell of people that were there, including Basic Trust graduates who were now college graduates.  Basic Trust was such a special place, words can never do justice to the profound impact everyone felt who passed through her doors.  And the heart of Basic Trust would have to have been Peggy.  I am truly in awe of her. 

Basic Trust was permeated with a rich and almost tangible sense of love and deep dedication to each and every child.  But even beyond this, what made Basic Trust so unique, so special, so powerful in its approach, was its utter dedication to the family, to the parents as well as the children.  Basic Trust was a family in itself… a community in the true sense of the word.  So much so, in fact, that those who graduated, those who left, even those who travelled far and wide (myself included), never lost that deep sense of connection, just as you would always feel connected to your Mother no matter how far away she may be.  I honor Peggy for making this so real, and most astonishingly, sustaining it year after year for so many years.  I visited Basic Trust countless times since I left over 20 years ago, and each time I returned there was Peggy, warm and welcoming, and I was always so amazed that the same profound love for the children and sweet sense of community and family were still there, as powerful as ever… not a drop had dissipated. 

How did you do it, Peggy? 

Now do you understand why her funeral was filled with Basic Trust graduates and their families from the past 30 years?  The reason my Mother attended Peggy’s funeral was because she worked there as well.  If you can believe it, I worked there first, and she was so intrigued by what I would share with her that she had to see this place for herself.  When Peggy met my Mother, she began to woo her with a job.  Peggy had a very good eye for quality and was very convincing.  Amazingly, my Mother and I were co-teachers in the same classroom for an entire year.  And to make it even more phenomenal, my niece, my Mom’s granddaughter, became one of our students.  We actually had 3 generations together in the same classroom.  A memory I will cherish forever. 

As an early childhood educator I feel I owe my core values to Basic Trust, and to Peggy.  The seeds that were planted at Basic Trust, the awareness that family should always be a central part of education, of growth, that love is at the heart of any good place of learning, still guides me to this very day.  It runs through my veins because it is really about life itself.  My classroom will forever be a mini Basic Trust… always about family and love and learning… the stuff of life!

Thank you, Peggy… I will miss you, but you are forever in my heart, in my family! You live on in everything I do...

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