NORWAY — A Norway educator who has enriched Norway children’s learning experiences since 1985 has retired and closed the doors of her Winter Street preschool, The Growing Place.

After earning a new title – grandmother – Shirli Allen decided it was time to change the pace of her days. She had been eyeing retirement as an open ended plan for a few years, and when her younger son Nate announced that his family would grow, too, this year it was the impetus for Allen to finally do it.

Allen began her career in education 51 years ago. Starting out, she taught at University of Maine Farmington’s early childhood development program. From there she entered the public education system, teaching first grade and kindergarten at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School for 12 years.

It was while Allen worked at HSES that she started her family, taking a year-long leave with the birth of her first child, Jacob. But she was not idle during her leave. She began a home-tutoring service and led the children’s choir program at her church.

Upon moving to the Oxford Hills area, she determined that while she would be teaching youngsters in school she could put her own little person (Jacob) in daycare, but there were no preschool programs available to attend. She wanted Jacob to be in a classroom setting as well.

Opportunity for her first child came when Allen found out she was expecting her second, Nate, in 1985. She took her maternity leave at the start of the academic year. With her husband, she decided she would start a preschool of her own.

They purchased an apartment building on Winter Street in Norway and converted the first floor to an early education class. Allen developed a curriculum for children ages three to five. Mornings were devoted to learning, and to accommodate families needing afternoon daycare, she extended her hours until the end of the work day, ensuring her wee charges had a stable setting and their parents were free from transportation and work interruptions.

“That first week, I thought I knew it all,” Allen said with a laugh. “And after a week, I knew I needed help, right away.”

One person tending to lesson plans for 10 or so toddlers could not also help them to the potty if they needed, prepare their lunch, bundle them all up to go outside and take care of any who suddenly came down sick. And Allen was eight months pregnant.

“There are staff in schools,” she marveled. “Custodians, nurses, food service. Support makes such a difference. I was exhausted!”

With an extra person hired, Allen figured out her school and students’ routine just in time for Nate’s arrival in October. Like older brother Jacob, Nate also became a student – from infancy.

“I had Nate on my hip, teaching the students each day,” Allen said. Rather than having one big brother, his early years were spent having several older siblings. “One parent of an only child, who was a pediatrician, once told me that The Growing Place helped them learn the experience of being part of a large family they would not have had otherwise.”

After Nate graduated preschool and both her sons moved on to public school, Allen searched for fresh ways to provide educational experiences in other settings. The Growing Place continued as she started a second program, A Learning Studio, for kindergarten-aged children. Located near Guy E Rowe Elementary School around the corner Allen’s new school focused on after school care for students who spent half-days at Rowe. When the school day ended at 3 p.m., children could march across the street and receive enrichment for the afternoon.

After kindergarten education shifted to all-day, Allen phased out A Growing Place. One preschool was not enough for her though: she volunteered in the school district’s Odyssey of the Mind program as a coach and was reunited with her own kids as they participated. Her boys knew her expectations of them were high.

“In fourth grade I had to do a report and diorama of Portland Headlight,” older son Jacob recalled. “I had sort of slapped something together that was not very good. She insisted I had to de better work and drove me down to the lighthouse in the pouring rain so I could see it for myself. She made me research all about it, and then carefully construct such a nice salt clay diorama that I actually won an award for it.

“That still drives me to do my best today.”

And when Hebron Academy launched a lower school program, she worked there, teaching K-fifth grade music for 10 years. She also taught theater at the Norway Congregational Church.

Nate Allen has calculated that during her five-decade career his mother has touched the lives of more than 2,500 young children in the Norway area.

“I have always had a three-year wait list” on enrollment, Allen said. “Often, I would get calls from parents still in the hospital as their babies were born, asking to put them on the list to attend when they would turn three.”

Many of her parent clients were once students in Allen’s Growing Place and Growing Studio programs.

“We’ve always worked to make the things we do more interesting than the alphabet,” Allen explained. “The kids experience color, shape and design. We will study animals, and also the habitats where they live.

“When we do story time, we also learn about the author of the book, we incorporate the book’s art into the lesson.”

Adds son and former pupil Nate about this: “We made books and seasonally themed arts and crafts for our parents. At the time I thought it was just fun. Later I assumed they were things to keep a kid busy during the day.

“As an adult, I realize it was all about learning life skills …. My mom worked with each child as an individual and tailored each lesson to their specific developmental needs.”

Retirement has not been something Allen sought out, but once she turned 70 she began the process to ease into it. She began to phase out additions to her waiting list so she had fewer enrollments. But there was no calendar with a date blocked out.

“This has been my passion,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to do for kids. To help build their confidence and help them reach their full potential.

“When I found out my first grandchild was coming, that was my sign, The Growing Place’s class of 2023 will be my final year.”

Asked about Nate’s estimate about the thousands of youngsters she has touched, Allen at first was modest and a bit surprised. But after chatting about the many ways and places she has worked with young children, she determined he probably was not exaggerating.

“I have mixed emotions about my mom’s retirement,” said Nate. “I am excited to have her free to play with her grandson, as we live far away.

“But I am also a little sad that my son Christopher will not get the chance to learn at The Growing Place. “That said, the magic lives on in both my mom and the students she taught.”

“I (guess) I have touched a lot of families,” she conceded. “And they have all touched me, as well. Every year I have been part of an extended family unit. Parents have trusted me with their most precious possessions, their young children. That takes tremendous trust to do. They will all be my friends forever.”

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