The Associated Students Child Development Center, a nonprofit care program across the street from campus on South Eighth Street, has had its staff care for San Jose State students’ children for 50 years.
Center director Jane Zamora said the center’s priority is providing care for student families.
“We always prioritize the student families,” Zamora said. “We have to definitely accommodate our students at large, so that we can ensure that they are getting their work done and being able to graduate.”
The Associated Students Child Development Center is licensed by the California Department of Social Services to care for 110 children from four months to five years old, according to the center’s website.
The California Department of Social Services is a state agency providing aid, services and protection to children and adults in need, according to the department's website.
Zamora said although the size of the facility cannot accommodate every student with a child, students are the first people picked from its waiting list.
She said the center differs from day care services because children are actively learning in a classroom environment throughout the day.
“We do include aspects of math and literacy, science, even also conflict negotiation,” Zamora said. “We are still a very play based center, so it comes from what the children are actually interested in.”
Analisa Perez, Associated Students Child Development Center operations coordinator, said the center grants firsthand-paid experience to the SJSU child development students it employs.
She said mentoring student employees is her favorite part of working for the center because it acts as a crucial point in the students’ career.
“I want students graduating – they're going on to bigger things,” Perez said. “We hope to launch them into the world like that.”
Vedani Escudero, Associated Students Child Development Center chef and food program coordinator, said a staple of the center is the variety of healthy cuisine crafted in house by student chefs learning from her.
Perez said she hired Escudero because she felt the center needed a chef that focuses on serving quality meals to children.
“The [Child and Adult Care Program], they taught me how to program [meals],” Escudero said. “We do have to follow, like, one hundred percent whole wheat, no fried food – practically all the components like the protein, the grains and fruit, the vegetables and then the milk.”
The Child and Adult Care Program is a federal program that provides reimbursements for nutritious food to daycare centers, according to its website.
People who learn from the program such as Escudero have to follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines and meet requirements for each food group while serving children food.
Escudero said the served dishes are from cuisines around the world.
Perez said other daycare facilities serve prepackaged meals and that it’s important for the children to experience social and cultural meals.
“If you sit down and break bread with somebody, that's a bonding, and families do that,” Perez said. “For us, that's important too, so we'd like to see them exposed to certain meals – certain types of food culturally.”
Escudero said a favorite among the children is spaghetti and the kids actively get excited to eat her dishes.
She said seeing the children’s reaction to her food makes her commute worth it.
“When I come here, and I see children, or I see them pass by saying ‘Oh my gosh, Chef Vedani, it smells so good!’ I’m like, ‘Oh, okay Vedani, you can do this,’ ” Escudero said.
She said alumni who’ve worked under her in the kitchen have come back to express their gratitude, describing it as a “life-changing experience.”
“It's really nice doing something, like, a big difference for children, and also working being supportive to students,” Escudero said. “You have to love what you do, you know?”
