THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, AUGUST 26, 2022 Page 5 ASKS | FROM PAGE 4 the star, so I thought “Shining Stars” would be a fun name. I started out with our yellow stars, because yellow has always been my favorite color. I had four stars in the original logo. After all three of my children were born, I revamped the logo with one star for each child: pink, purple and green stars. Those were the favorite colors of my children. Pink was Abby’s favorite color and still is. Molly’s favorite color was purple, but it’s not any longer. And my son Michael’s favorite color is green. Q: You’ve always had four stars in your logo? A: It’s a happy coincidence. Once I realized we were done having children, it dawned on me that we could add some color to the logo. It just popped into my head that we could have one colored star to represent each child. Q: Where did Shining Stars start out? A: We had a home day care center for one year in my house in Saugus. We had six children. My very first child is my best friend’s son. They knew that I wanted to start a school, and they used to say, “If you build it, they will come.” Knowing that I wanted to go out of the house, we went to 10 students. And that’s when I brought in two former coworkers from the Marblehead Day Care Center. When I left the Marblehead center, I told my two friends that I was going to start my own child day care center and that I would like them to come work with me – and they did. Q: What is your anniversary date for the day care center? A: Sept. 17, 2001. I get fl owers every year on that day from the very fi rst student. He later worked for me. He’s a senior at Elon, North Carolina – Max Pegnato, of Swampscott. He was with us for two summers. Q: What is the enrollment of Shining Stars? A: 160 kids for the summer, and once school starts, it’s 130. Most of our students are parttime. Some come two days or three days. Some come five days. Q: You’ve been at the Edwards School for 17 years. Why the relocation to Cliftondale? A: We have been searching for a building to purchase for a very long time. The property needed to be big enough for our program and would also allow for parking and a playground. The building in Cliftondale has all of that with unique interior architecture. There is a lot of work to be propriate surface. Q: Anything else special about this playground? A: We had a student of ours pass away on June 9, 2014; Liam Jaynes died in a car accident in Saugus. Liam was three years old. We’re going to call the playground Liam’s Play Station. And every year we do “a random acts of kindness day.” We have little cards we pass out – little things like holding the door open or buying a cup of coff ee for the person behind you. We do it every year on Liam’s “angel anniversary.” The whole Shining Stars community – all of the families and friends – are involved. Q: Are most of your students from Saugus? A: A majority of them are. Saugus teachers bring their children to us. And we have a lot of kids from Revere. Q: What makes Shining Stars unique and special? A: I honestly believe it has to do with the staff we have: It’s not just a career for them; it’s a passion. And we have a philosophy – treat every child ASKS | SEE PAGE 10 Tricia Murphy loves the big wooden beams and the huge window space in the old Cliftondale bank building that will welcome students to preschool programs this fall. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) done. First on the agenda is to remove all of the built-in safes and the vault door. Classrooms will be on the main fl oor, in the full basement and we will use the mezzanine as well. The building is fl ooded with sunlight, and we plan on transforming the interior into a cheerful and welcoming place. Last fall when I noticed the building was empty, I inquired about its future, thinking it would make a beautiful school for us. At that time, there were no plans to sell it. As soon as we saw it was being sold, we jumped. Q: When is the move to Cliftondale? A: My hope is that probably by the end of September or early October, we’ll slowly move over here and then get it done on a weekend. Q: What will it take to make the building ready so you can move in here? A: We’re taking out the safes, putting in some partial walls, remodeling the bathrooms, replacing fl ooring and building a park and playground in the back. Q: What will the park be like? A: Big enough for about 30 children – about 2,500 square feet – with a playground-ap
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