ELORA – “She made a huge impact … she was a bit of an icon in the community.”
That’s how former coworker Kim Iverson describes Debbie Mooney-Bianchi, who retired from the Elora Co-operative Preschool this year after teaching there since 1974.
“It was really my heart and soul,” said Mooney-Bianchi.
Known to many as “Miss Debbie,” she started at the preschool after seeing a posting in the Guelph Mercury for an early childhood educator shortly after she married.
Initially she was warned that co-ops are hard to work in and she’d “be lucky to last three years,” she said.
She ended up working at the preschool for almost five decades before retiring.
Iverson said Mooney-Bianchi is “one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. She’s patient, she’s creative, she’s a gentle soul.
“She has a gentleness about her that children seem to pick up on right away. They trust her and just love her.”
Mooney-Bianchi said she could list off a million things she loved about her career.
“The magic of working with preschoolers,” she said. “At that age they are so pure and innocent and loving.
“It was just so much fun to be with them – everything was so new and exciting.”
‘Meant to be in that role’
Mooney-Bianchi also loved “the joy of working with families. I love that we’re a co-operative so I got to work with so many families; not just kids, but parents too.
“I met so many people and made so many friends.”
Clarissa Burke is a parent of two children who attended the Elora Co-operative Preschool between 2015 and 2020.
She said when she dropped her daughter off for her first day of preschool Mooney-Bianchi was warm and reassuring.
“Somebody who instantly you knew understood not only what your child needed but also understood what you needed in that moment,” she said.
“Even if your kid was melting down – a complete wreck – you could see she was there, she was handling it, she saw through the tears and really saw the child.”
Mooney-Bianchi “had this perfect touch of creating a space around her that was so safe and welcoming that kids would gravitate to her because of that warm energy,” Burke added.
“She was phenomenal as a teacher.”
Mooney-Bianchi also worked hard to foster a sense of community, Burke said, by encouraging people to get involved in a range of activities like spaghetti dinners and egg hunts.
Burke said she thinks Mooney-Bianchi’s talent came from a combination of personality and years of experience, noting, “She’s somebody who was meant to be in that role.”
For Mooney-Bianchi, the role was its own reward.
“Whatever I made financially, I made 10 times that spiritually from what the children gave me,” Mooney-Bianchi said.
Pandemic expedited decision
She added her retirement was “a long time coming,” with the COVID-19 pandemic eventually making the decision for her.
She was trying to reduce her hours prior to the pandemic, but the new rules made that harder.
“Everything got so tight – so many regulations, so much more work,” Mooney-Bianchi said. “All the extra cleaning and paperwork. I just thought, ‘Wow, it was time for me to leave.’”
She was also concerned about exposure.
“Back when we were all afraid of COVID I was worried I might be part of the vulnerable sector,” she explained.
Without hesitation, Mooney-Bianchi said her favourite thing about retirement is “being able to spend more time with my grandkids.”
Her son lives in Montreal and her daughter in Ottawa, so “if I want to see my grandchildren I have to travel. I wouldn’t have that freedom if I was still working.”
Mooney-Bianchi said the biggest challenge of her career was how the role changed over time.
“When I started way back in the ‘70s … as a co-operative the parents made the decisions and were involved with everything,” she recalled.
“As time went on there were more and more regulations. Over time I was doing as much paperwork as being with the kids. So that was a challenge.”
Though the rules were for the best, they caused “a lot of red tape for a simple little preschool,” she added.
Other factors, like more moms working outside the home, made it harder for parents to contribute, leading to fewer volunteers in classrooms.
Since COVID-19 “there are no parents who help in the classrooms at all,” she said.
Mooney-Bianchi said she has learned children “are resilient above all.”
She taught “different children with so many different backgrounds – so many different family situations.
“At the end of the day they were all children, they were still loving, they were still sharing.”
‘Her legacy continues’
Mooney-Bianchi said the key to providing quality childcare is “consistency of staff and consistency of program.
“If you’ve got good staff that really know their kids and care about their kids, then they can offer a good quality program, with expensive equipment or with no equipment, by being caring and loving to the kids.”
Mooney-Bianchi is immensely grateful that she got to spend her life caring for Elora’s children.
She said the village has a “magic of its own – the people here are so giving in so many ways.”
She was at the preschool for so long that she cared for “second generation children – kids whose parents I taught. That was amazing.”
Mooney-Bianchi said one time a mother she had never met brought in a child and she knew immediately who the father was because the child looked “just like he did when he was three.”
“Being ‘Miss Debbie’ became my identity, it became who I was,” she noted.
Burke said the atmosphere Mooney-Bianchi created in the school has continued.
“The teachers there currently are also phenomenal and have continued with this warm and welcoming environment,” said Burke.
“Even though she’s not actively a part of the school now, her legacy continues.”
She recalled one year at the Elora Santa Claus Parade when she first understood “how much the school, and really Debbie herself, meant to everyone in town.
“We were in the float for the preschool and as we were going down the street all these people kept yelling, ‘Miss Debbie, Miss Debbie!’” Burke said.
“Not just kids, grown men! She was more popular than Santa Claus, really – the star of the show.”
