Small World Daycare hosts NYS Senate President Andrea Stewart-Cousins

In July, QUALITYstarsNY participating program Small World Daycare and Preschool hosted New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins at their center in Yonkers. Stewart-Cousins is President Pro Tempore and Majority Leader of the NYS Senate. Small World Daycare and Preschool Director, Viva Rivera, shared the history of her program with Senator Stewart-Cousins, which opened in 2019 just before the pandemic and includes Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) classrooms.

The Senator was able to stop by three classrooms, and her visit was a unique and interesting experience for the children, who greeted her warmly and enthusiastically. Ms. Rivera’s introduction of “I told you my friend was coming!” in one classroom was met with laughter all around from children and staff.

Stewart-Cousins made it a point to explain to the children what it means to be a senator in terms they could easily understand. In each classroom, she asked if they knew what a senator was and what they do. When they did not, she explained that as a senator, she makes rules. Stewart-Cousins asked if they had some rules to follow and the children named things like “not biting people,” “no hitting,” “no running,” “don’t take things from other people.” She mentioned that as a senator, she makes similar kinds of rules—as she explained it: “I make rules like that to ensure that you are safe and healthy…I make rules about schools, too.”