Filling a Role In the Community
Christina Edwards has kept a promise to her father, and has followed in the footsteps of her mother.
Edwards promised her father that she would finish her college degree. When she decided to return to college, she enrolled in early childhood education, similar to her mother who worked as a special education teacher for 31 years.
Edwards' dream was to own a daycare center. She saw the need when she became pregnant with her youngest child and had issues finding daycare options while she and her husband worked. So, she started small and opened a level two at-home daycare and took evening classes. Eventually she moved to a large family provider, which allowed her to hire a teacher.
"The goal was always to open a center to help more families," Edwards said. "I couldn't wait to become a center so I could have different classrooms."
When she graduated from Delaware Tech in 2016, Edwards got one step closer to fulfilling her dreams. She knew she would be able to combine the knowledge she gained from her classes, the time she spent at the Child Development Center, and the work she was doing with her home daycare to open her own business.
After an extensive search around the Georgetown area and working hand-in-hand with the Georgetown Small Business Center, Edwards found the perfect location.
"Many people just saw it as an empty building," Edwards said. "But I envisioned happy children and loud laughter."
Little Faces Learning Center opened on April 22, 2019 and currently serves 47 children from just one-year-old through school aged. Edwards also employs 10 teachers and staff. The teachers create their own lesson plans and activities, and the center has a monthly theme, such as Dr. Seuss or superheroes, in which all age groups can participate. While she primarily oversees day-to-day operations, Edwards is still an active participant in each age level.
"I'm so used to being around kids that I like to go in each classroom and interact with them," she said.
While it was a long road to fulfilling her dream, Edwards has no regrets, and hopes to not only run a thriving business for years to come, but possibly expand to help even more families and become a larger part of the community.
"All of my journeys have led me here," Edwards said.
