ECLC aims for fall reopening; Joan Hammons resigns as director to focus on ministry position.
Joan Hammons has resigned as director of Wilshire’s Early Childhood Learning Center in order to focus on her role as the church’s minister to preschoolers. Senior Pastor George Mason announced the change, which was effective Dec. 31, in a Dec. 21 email to ECLC families.
Wilshire had already announced that ECLC would not open for the Spring 2021 semester due to COVID-19 concerns. A possible summer reopening has now been pushed to fall.
Associate Pastor Darren DeMent will work with Wilshire’s Weekday Education Committee to form a study group to evaluate all aspects of the ECLC program, including an assessment of community needs and how the ministry aligns with Wilshire’s mission and values.
“We believe that this unwelcome gift of time shouldn’t be wasted,” George said in the Dec. 21 email. “Even though we have had a successful program in years past, it has evolved over many years to be the program you have most recently known. … We need to consider where we are and where we think the times are calling us going forward.
“Our deepest hope is that Wilshire will continue to foster a program of preschool education that blesses many families in our community for years to come.”