Our Staff

WE LOVE OUR KIDS!
As teachers at the Sonshine Patch, we really enjoy having FUN right along with the children. We have been given the unique gift of being able to minister as well as teach and it makes spending time with these precious little ones and each other an extra privilege.

As of June 2010 Valerie is the new director of the Sonshine Patch. Valerie and her family moved to Janesville in November of 2007 when her husband Jason took the position as music minister at New Life. She is licensed by the DPI as a certified K-12 music teacher. Over the past 16 years she has taught music in Beloit, Janesville, Illinois and Missouri. Her love and knowledge of music will be a great asset to the Sonshine Patch. Besides teaching in the public schools Valerie has taught private flute and piano lessons to children since the age of 16. Currently, she is the director of the children’s choir and plays the piano for the worship team at New Life. Valerie has three daughters: Katherine attends Marshall Middle School , and Grace and Madalynn attend Kennedy Elementary.

Mrs. Judy Ronzani

Judy is the founder of Sonshine Patch Christian Preschool. She taught 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades after receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from the UW-Stevens Point and has taken many continuing education classes and seminars throughout the years. She believes that God led her to open The Sonshine Patch and likewise the creation of our unique Lovable Letter Puppet curriculum, 26 years ago. In addition, Judy is a trained facilitator of Love and Logic Parenting classes. She teaches to parents both the “Early Childhood Made Fun” and “Becoming a Love and Logic Parent” classes and “Nine Essential Skills for Love and Logic Classrooms” to classroom teachers at preschool and in the community. Besides teaching little ones, Judy’s passion is gardening. She and her husband, Rick, share their certified “National Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife Habitat” with the Getting Ready for Kindergarten children in a hands-on field trip in spring. They have one daughter, Andrea, who is married to Brian and lives in Orinda, California. They attend Mad City Church.

Mrs. Nancy Gorman

Nancy’s warmth is combined with her loving guidance to make her a very special attribute to our school. She is trained as a Love and Logic teacher and uses it very effectively with the children. In addition, as a former Sonshine Patch mom, she brings with her the ‘parent perspective’ as well as teacher knowledge. She and her husband, Randy are parents to Jay, a 2006 Sonshine Patch graduate as well as older sisters, Clair and Allyson. Nancy is licensed by the DPI as a classroom teacher for grades K-8. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Platteville and taught kindergarten for 4 years in the Janesville School District, took time to be a full time mom and joined SSP staff in January of 2005. She and her family attend St. Willliam’s Catholic Church.

Miss Natalie Trivinos

Natalie’s gentle disposition adds to her natural gift of teaching children. She is organized and dedicated to her profession. She received her Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood from Blackhawk Technical College in the Spring of 2008. She continued her education at UW-Rock County and currently at UW-Whitewater, majoring in Elementary Education, with a minor in Spanish. Her plans are to pursue a Master’s Degree in ESL (English as a Second Language). She is fluent in Spanish and shares that knowledge with her students. Sonshine Patch hopes to offer a “Young Spanish” class next year to completely utilize her gift. Previous to coming to Sonshine Patch, she was lead teacher at Just In Time for Kids Childcare. Natalie is engaged to Tom Drada and they attend St Mary’s Catholic Church in Milton.

When the children leave Sonshine Patch, they leave their fingerprints on our hearts!