This was perfect:' A.W. Beattie honors late staff member in ceremony

Nancy Jackson accumulated a loyal following during her 19 years as the Head Preschool Teacher in A.W. Beattie Career Center’s Kiddie Tech program.

The pre-school children she taught would often return to visit her to the same warm welcome they had grown accustomed to for years. That’s why it was no surprise that some of those same kids, now young adults and teenagers, returned to A.W. Beattie to help commemorate Nancy more than a year after she passed away.

Kiddie Tech staff and former preschoolers were joined by Nancy’s husband Jerry Jackson and son Bill Jackson, of Shaler, to unveil a bench dedicated to her outside of the Kiddie Tech entrance. Bill also released butterflies as part of the ceremony.

“She loved coming to Kiddie Tech every day, because she was really a kid at heart,” Jerry Jackson said. “There’s nothing she would rather do all those years. She loved being with all of the kids.”

“This was perfect,” Bill Jackson added. “I can’t say enough about how happy we are and how much this would mean to her. She wanted to be remembered, and now she always will be.”

Parents of former preschoolers came up with the idea to commemorate Nancy, according to Kiddie Tech Day Care Director Krista Charlton.

Parents, staff and administration worked together and agreed an outside bench – Nancy loved teaching children about nature – would befit her spirit for the outdoors.

“She was hired a year after myself, so I got to work with her for the 19 years she was here,” Kiddie Tech Assistant Director and Head PreSchool Teacher Annabelle Dischner said. “She was just a great person all the time. You could tell how much she loved the children. She embraced every child that walked through those doors and developed friendships with them.”

Charlton’s children were enrolled in Kiddie Tech with Nancy as their preschool teacher. The two later worked together for 15 years.

“I have always been grateful that she guided my kids through their preschool years,” Charlton said. “She incorporated fun in getting every kid prepared for kindergarten and had unique qualities that the children gravitated toward. The kids she taught knew they were going to have fun and knew they were going to be loved and cared for.”