Preschool. That wild and crazy bunch of kids eating crayons, pulling hair and wetting their pants. For Brianna Coale, it’s a serious mission field. She co-founded Kids of Creation Preschool five years ago with 30 students, and her school has grown to nearly 160 kids and 40 teachers. The school was financially stable two years in and debt free in the third year. She also works with teachers to train them in classroom management, procedures and interactions with parents. As a contract behavior analyst, she’s partnered with 2B Well Integrative Health for private behavioral services. Oh, and should any of those kids get out of line, Coale can flash her black belt in Songahm taekwondo.
What was your first job? Fazoli’s, handing out breadsticks
When did you realize you had grown up? When I started getting up voluntarily at 5:30 a.m.
What about your job would shock clients? Calming crying babies actually helps me relax.
What was your professional “aha” moment? I was working at the Missouri State University autism clinic in grad school and the child I was working with achieved an educational milestone because of the way I presented the material to him. At that moment, I realized he was capable, I just hadn’t been teaching him in a way he could understand. I knew this was the field I needed to be in. My job looks very different from that aha moment, but I still love that feeling of helping a child be successful.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Teleportation.
