Betty Peck at 92 is full of a radiant loveliness that brings to mind fairy godmothers and enchanted gardens. A beloved kindergartner teacher since the 1950’s, Betty’s vitality and generous spirit is as bright as ever. Her daughter Anna Rainville, an educator, mentor and author brings the gift of song, dynamic play and movement to all who grace her classroom and presence. For decades, Anna and Betty have hosted and co-directed quarterly Kindergarten Forms and creative workshops as well as open their home for a weekly salon, “cultural change through conversation.”

Visiting Betty and Anna at their Saratoga home is a little like falling down Alice's rabbit hole. Hundreds of children have played in the sun-dappled creek here, thrilled to the feel of soil under bare feet and rejoiced in a world brimming with creativity, beauty and wonder. This is the world that Betty Peck gifted to multiple generations of children.

One of the most important messages Betty aspires to ripple out into the world is her Kindergarten Creed, an accumulation of her lifelong wisdom and beliefs. "I bring the gift of myself to this celebration of life we call the kindergarten. I come each day to be refined, smoothed, and tempered, for I hold in my hands with wonder and gratitude the future. The seeds of the future are in the oneness of all nature, all people in tune with the divine to be found in our hearts that I give through the joy and beauty of love." How do these simple words inform or shape oneself so that the youth of today and future generations benefit?

Betty and Anna will share stories and invite guests to reflect and share from their own childhood experiences.  Betty is the author of Kindergarten Education: Freeing Children’s Creative Potential and a second novel, A Kindergarten Teacher Looks at the Word GOD: Reflections on Goodness, Oneness and Diversity. She has two additional books in progress, Changing all the No’s to Yes’s and all the Negatives to Positives and How to Set-up a Kindergarten Classroom. She has recently initiated a reading project: “I want to know how you learned to read,” featured in a recent Daily Good. Anna Rainville, author of Singing Games for Families, Schools, and Communities, delights in mentoring the creative spirit in children and adults.

Please join us on Saturday the 21st of December for an invigorating conversation between Betty, Anna and Anne, who was Betty's Kindergarten student!