FACES: June Kassa enjoys her job taking care of children

• June Kassa with two kids at her daycare

June Kassa with two kids at her daycare

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Squeals of delight fill the air as a stack of wooden blocks at June Kassa’s home daycare goes tumbling down.

A 9-month-old boy on her lap and surrounded by six other children between the ages of 2 and 4, Kassa helps them stack the blocks so they can knock it down again. Afterward, she danced with the children, made lunch, helped them with artwork projects and took them outside to play.

“Today’s a slow day,” Kassa said with a smile. Some days, she said, she cares for as many as 10 children from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m, — and cares for them well.

Late last month, Kassa was named Polk County Family Child Care Provider of the Year by the Minnesota Licensed Family Child Care Association. Kassa, 41, has done home day care for nearly 15 years.

“I started when my baby was born. I was only going to do it a year and then go back to my office job at UND.”

But after a year of doing day care, Kassa enjoyed it so much she decided to do it until her son was in kindergarten. He’s now a freshman in high school, and Kassa still is running her day care. One of her first day care charges now is a senior in high school, she said.

Experience counts

Kassa grew up in a family with nine brothers and sisters and, as the fourth child, had a lot of experience caring for young children. Her mother didn’t expect her to be a third parent, but did appreciate Kassa’s interest in helping with her younger siblings. And her mother set a good example.

“My mom was a very good, patient teacher and a good mentor,” Kassa said.

Kassa strives to make her day care a fun place that children enjoy. Besides dance, artwork projects, and outdoor playing, she does science activities and “centers” with them. Centers consist of information about a particular topic, such as trains. She also holds special days such as bike day, pajama day and slip-and-slide day for the children.

She enjoys teaching the children and watching the younger ones learn from the older children.

“Lots of people ask me ‘How can you take care of so many kids in a day?

“I tell them ‘That’s what I do all day,” noting that instead of juggling several tasks as parents often do, her focus is solely on the children.

The parents appreciate that, too. Several parents wrote letters of support for her nomination for child care provider of the year. The letters noted that Kassa is like a second mom to their children, lovingly taking care of them. The parents’ letters also cited the many activities she does with the children and how eager they are to go to her day care — and their reluctance to leave.

“I have seen many of the kids, including my own, that did not want to leave her house because they were having so much fun,” one letter writer said.

It’s also fun for Kassa.

“I love my job,” she said.

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