25 Feb Staff Spotlight: Alexi Olchefski

My name is Alexi. I have lived in Inver Grove Heights for a majority of my life. My mom had me at a young age, and when she was starting college, she needed to find a child care center that she could trust. She was attending Inver Hills Community College, so she wanted me to be somewhere nearby. That is when I started attending Especially for Children. I believe I was there from age 4 to 7 years old. At age 5, I started going to school at Hiltop Elementary, and I always looked forward to taking the bus after school to EFC! I made many friends at child care with whom I attended all of elementary school, middle school, and high school.

I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I love going to movies and concerts! I’m very into music!

I think the impact you can have in a child’s life is amazing. It’s such a rewarding feeling to see them learn things you teach them and build a bond with each child individually. When you walk into your classroom Monday morning after a long and stressful weekend, having some of the kids yell your name and run up to hug you makes you feel like you’re doing something right!

Oh boy, walking into Especially for Children for the first time in over 15 years was overwhelming! So many flashbacks hit me at once. The classrooms are the same, only everything seems smaller now that I’m an adult. I love how it still has the same “homey” feeling to it. Everyone is like family. I feel like that is extremely important to have in a child care center. When I have children, I will definitely be enrolling them at EFC if I am still employed there and/or still living in the area!