Pre-Kindergarten
At PS 8 since 2006
“Working with children is such an amazing feeling that I cannot find the words to describe it,” says 32-year-old Manhattan native Mariann Levkulic. She sums up her passion for teaching, saying, “It is more than a profession; I guess it is a calling.” When she was younger, she tried hard to fight this, earning her college degree in Psychology at Baruch College before she finally gave in to her main interest and got her master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College. Her first teaching job was at a daycare center in lower Manhattan, but after September 11, she felt it was time to move on–to Brooklyn. Four years at the privately run Open House Nursery School in Cobble hill prepared her to take the big step towards public school.
Ms. Levkulic became a member of the PS 8 family in 2006, when she started as a Pre-K teacher. She loved it right away. “I received such a warm welcome, from staff, parents, and kids, that I could not help but love the school instantly,” she says.
Since there is no strict curriculum for Pre-K classes, Ms. Levkulic creates her own. She feels it is important to develop the social and emotional skills of the children in her class, as well as a strong home-school connection, saying “It is my goal to make them feel safe at school, so they want to come here every day.” She loves the 4-year-old age group, especially the way they bring so much passion into the classroom through cuddling and hugging. Her favorite part of the school year is the butterfly unit, where live caterpillars develop into beautiful butterflies right before the children’s eyes. “When they fly away, it is such an emotional moment. It reminds me of the way we see our kids go on to kindergarten as colorful and independent individuals.”
After a long one-hour commute to Bensonhurst, where Ms. Levkulic shares an apartment with her sister, she loves to get lost in a good romantic novel or go rollerblading along the Belt Parkway.
