Susan TenEyck-Stafki: ‘A doer, through and through’

from LUMINOUS: Shining a light on bright, brilliant women of the Perham area

by Perham Focus

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‘A DOER, THROUGH AND THROUGH’

M State early childhood program founder and director, Susan TenEyck-Stafki, is an innovative and tireless advocate for kids, families and educators

Susan TenEyck-Stafki is a regional standout in the realm of early childhood education.

A local leader, anchor and visionary in the field, she has throughout her 30-year career continually sought ways to innovate, pivot and strategize for the benefit of kids, families and early childhood educators. Even as the industry has been battered by budget cuts, staffing shortages, high turnover, space restrictions and myriad other issues, she has remained firmly grounded in her mission to serve young children.

Well known across the region for her founding role and continuing directorship of M State’s early childhood program, TenEyck-Stafki is also the executive director of Children’s Corner in Fergus Falls and

BY DAWN DUNCAN

For Luminous

recently launched an early childhood studies program with Perham High School, among many other leadership efforts.

“Susan is one of the hardestworking, committed child care center directors that I have had the privilege to know,” says Kay Heidrich, a colleague and friend who runs a child care center in Moorhead. “She is an ever-ready listening ear for those directors who are struggling, and offers compassion and support. She is committed to teaching and practicing best practices in our field, has committed her life and all of her energy toward making sure that families and communities have quality child care options, and tirelessly advocates at the local and state level to improve services.”

With the pandemic shining a light on the importance of quality child care and the need for more government support for it, Heidrich adds that now is a critical time to be having conversations about early childhood education, and TenEyck-Stafki, “works to inform policymakers and tell the story of child care in our communities. She is a true professional in every sense of the word.”

TenEyck-Stafki’s passion for education goes far back: she was just six years old when she first told her mother that she wanted to be a teacher. And while most of her peers wavered on their plans over the years, she stayed committed and passionate, excited to one day be an educator.

Susan TenEyck-Stafki is a local pillar of early childhood education. She’s pictured above, at left, with her husband Shawn, who’s also an educator, and, at right, with members of the West Central Child Care Directors Association and Senator

Susan is one of the hardest-working, committed child care center directors that I have had the privilege to know.

—KAY HEIDRICH, A COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND

Her dream came true after she earned her bachelor of science degree in elementary education, with a concentration in early childhood, from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1988. During those college years, she met and fell in love with Perham native Shawn Stafki, and the pair married in 1986 (he’s now a science teacher in Perham, and was the school district’s Teacher of the Year in 2013). A few years later, the couple moved to the buttes of South Dakota, where she taught in a one-room school from 1989 to 1991.

That experience — working with 17 students in grades K-8 who comprised the school’s entire enrollment — helped her hone her organizational skills and allowed her to flex her strengths of tenacity, flexibility, and smarts. She handled lesson planning, teaching, lunch preparation, recess, and all the school’s activities at different times, splitting duties with one other teacher.

In 1991, she and Shawn moved back to Minnesota so she could take a position with M State as the director of the Wadena campus’s onsite child care center. Three years later, she began an early childhood certificate program at the college, and M State started teaching early childhood to people interested in opening their own in-home daycares or finding employment at existing early education centers.

The program was so successful that it was relocated to the larger Detroit Lakes campus 10 years ago. TenEyckStafki has developed each phase and rendition of the program, reworking it several times over the years to keep it evolving to meet current needs and cover relevant topics surrounding education. She still serves as program director and lead instructor, and the program today, she says, has moved from an 18-credit certificate to a two-year degree and then two-year pathway that can be applied to a four-year degree. She considers that evolution to be one of her biggest achievements at M State.

Now active on the Detroit Lakes campus, TenEyck-Stafki serves as the Shared Governance President and before that was the State Vice President for the Minnesota State College Faculty Union.

M State serves more than 8,000 students in credit courses each year in more than 80 career and liberal arts programs online and at its campuses in Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Wadena. The college also provides workforce development services and other responsive training programs in the communities it serves.

“I have always had a passion,” TenEyck-Stafki says, “not only for education and children, but for creating and advancing programs.”

For the past 15 years, she has served as the executive director of Children’s Corner in Fergus Falls, which offers programs for children ages birth to five years old. She is also president of the Region 5 Directors’ Association, which meets with child care directors monthly and advocates for state support for early childhood programs throughout Minnesota.

For her, education is a year-round job, and she says that’s true for all educators.

“The idea that teachers have summers off is a misconception,” she says. “Educators work throughout the year, even when not in the classroom, to develop, present, and secure programs.”

One of her most recent endeavors has been launching a new program with Perham High School, working with the school district’s K-12 coordinator to bring a career and technical education program into the curriculum. She teaches at the high school on Monday mornings to students interested in pursuing elementary education and early childhood studies.

“We have to find the people who truly love teaching and are intrinsically wired to be successful with children,” she says of finding the next generation of early childhood teachers. “We have to constantly reach out and identify those who showcase the right skills and stay ahead of the needs of education every day.”

TenEyck-Stafki and her husband, Shawn, on vacation in Hawaii for their 30-year wedding anniversary.

TenEyck-Stafki, at a wedding with her family.

TenEyck-Stafki and her husband, Shawn, pose with Goofy during a trip to Walt Disney World. Teachers need to have stamina, passion, organization, creativity, compassion, and high energy. I think bringing these to the table is what matters; it is what we have to have to make a strong impact on our communities.

—SUSAN TENEYCK-STAFKI

“There are shortages in childcare staffing and that means we never rest on our laurels,” she adds. “The way we solve the issues we’re facing in shortages is to bring the program to them. This is how we inspire them… What a great way for students in high school to decide – before they get to college — if this career is a good fit, and to understand the importance of child development.”

According to TenEyck-Stafki, 90% of a child’s brain development occurs by age 5; 75% is by age 3, so, “Creating

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a quality, developmentally-appropriate childhood learning environment is key. We have to have a strong base in order for children to make brain connections that are critical long-term.”

The Shakopee, Minnesota native professes a craving for getting things done, and has an innate sense of career direction that guides her like a compass.

“Teachers need to have stamina, passion, organization, creativity, compassion, and high energy,” she says. “I think bringing these to the table is what matters; it is what we have to have to make a strong impact on our communities… I’m a doer, through and through. I’ve never lost my determination.”

She credits her strong foundation of family for giving her the platform to hone her strengths, noting that her mother stressed the importance of the family unit while raising six children.

“My mother was a go-getter,” she says. “So strong, still to this day at age 84.”

A family woman herself, TenEyck-Stafki raised four children with Shawn, whom she calls, “my biggest supporter and cheerleader.” The couple has lived on Marion Lake in Perham for the past 21 years. They love to get out on the pontoon together, and to take cruises and vacations in warm places like Las Vegas and Orlando. Their children — Alyssa, Shawn, Samuel and Seth — are grown up and building successful careers and lives of their own. ▲