TRACY DAWSON

This week, we are proud to feature Imagine Trainer and Imagine U Lead Mentor, Tracy Dawson.

Tracy Dawson is an Imagine superstar! According to her colleagues, “she doesn’t realize how magical she is.” Owner of Tracy’s Tikes Day-Care & Preschool, she is a licensed family child care provider in Grays Harbor County who has served children since 2009.

As an advocate for all early childhood educators, Tracy has coordinated meetings and events to bring providers together to discuss professional development needs and professional goals. She has coordinated efforts with community leaders, DEL (now DCYF) leadership, the governor’s office, and SEIU 925 to address the urgent need for child care across Washington State.

“I don’t know where providers would be without the support and dedication of everyone involved with Imagine U.”

Through the Imagine Institute, Tracy has supported her peers through relationship-based professional development as a mentor, a lead mentor, and as a state-approved trainer. Tracy says she enjoys tapping into the wealth of knowledge and experiences of her fellow providers. She truly feels that everyone is an asset in the classroom and can positively contribute to the educational growth of others.

“I don’t know where providers would be without the support and dedication of everyone involved with Imagine U,” Tracy says. She notes the huge number of providers that have received licensing and career growth support this year, including eight providers in her community alone, as proof that Imagine efficiently shifted gears when the pandemic hit, continuing to share resources and far-reaching online support. “No one else does what Imagine does, being so helpful with training, especially with COVID as a hurdle,” says Tracy.

When not passionately helping expand the qualified child care and early education community, Tracy is cheering her daughter on at softball games and tumbling class. She continues to expand Tracy’s Tikes and is working on a facility dedicated to foster children in Grays Harbor. She loves camping and spending time at a family lake house, when her current home remodel allows.

“No one else does what Imagine does, being so helpful with training, especially with COVID as a hurdle.”

Her favorite quote by Fred Rogers aligns with her years of dedicated work, “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”

From everyone at Imagine- thank you, Tracy!