Under the Rainbow child care centre celebrates 30 years

An Indigenous-led daycare in Fort Erie marked 30 years of service Friday evening and used the milestone to announce a leadership handoff and a plan to root daily care more deeply in Indigenous cultural teachings.

Wakanioten Under the Rainbow Child Care Centre on Buffalo Road serves children from six months to 11 years.

New administrator Mikaela Kilzenemy is taking over from Carrie Gordon, who led the centre for more than 20 years, and says the next decade will continue to pair early learning with stronger cultural grounding for the children and nations the centre serves.

Kilzenemy told Fort Erie Radio about how the centre is weaving traditional teachings into everyday programming. That work means building in space for language, stories, seasonal teachings and time on the land, combined with the early childhood education the centre already provides.

“In the next decade, our goal is to continue strengthening that balance between high-quality early learning child care and cultural grounding,” said Kilzenemy.

Kilzenemy said taking on the cultural plan also means taking over from an administrator who led the centre for two decades. Kilzenemy credited Gordon’s two decades of leadership for building the centre into a trusted place for families, then framed her own arrival as carrying that work forward rather than starting fresh.

“I am joining a story that is already rich with meaning, and I carry forward the work that has been built with such care over so many years,” said Kilzenemy.

The centre runs full-day programs for children from six months to four years and before- and after-school care for those four to 11.

Kilzenemy thanked the Niagara Region’s representative, Karen Schmidt, for the necessary funding that has allowed the centre to become the longest-standing daycare centre in Fort Erie.

Executive director Geralda Jamieson said the centre started three decades ago with a simple goal: to build a safe place where children could learn and feel valued. That promise, she said, has gone farther than she ever expected.

“Some of those very children are now parents themselves, entrusting us with the care of their own sons and daughters,” said Jamieson. “That kind of trust is not given lightly.”

Jack Sigwent, lifelong care co-ordinator at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, opened the ceremony with a traditional prayer.

“We honour the ancestors whose wisdom teaches us that every child is sacred, and that in caring for them, we care for the future of all peoples,” said Sigwent.

Mayor Wayne Redekop and Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates gave official recognition and kept their remarks on the staff and the children.

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