A Valpo Life in the Spotlight: Britney Nawracaj

After several years working in healthcare, Britney Nawracaj felt it was time to make a career shift into the field of preschool education. Though her new career is just beginning, she knows in her heart that this is what she’s meant to do.

Nawracaj grew up in Roselawn, Indiana, and pursued her associate’s degree in radiological science followed by a bachelor’s degree in diagnostic medical sonography at Indiana University. For 12 years, she worked in the medical field and truly enjoyed helping people. Her goal during this time had been to work with children. For a while, she thought that maybe she would work in a children’s hospital.

“I was in the early years of my marriage, we wanted to have a family, and traveling to where the children’s hospitals were just wasn’t compatible with a good work-life balance,” Nawracaj said. “I just did my job around here in Northwest Indiana, but I always felt like something wasn’t right. I loved what I did, but it just wasn’t what I really fully wanted to do.”

When Nawracaj left the medical profession to be a stay-at-home mom, she finally had a chance to consider what a future career change might look like. She focused on parenting, but she knew that eventually she would want to return to the workforce. She hoped that when she did, it could be in a place that felt like the right fit.

“My daughters both attended preschool at Mirror Image Dance Academy (MIDA), and I’ve gotten to know the teachers there,” Nawracaj said. “I do a lot of work at home with my kids as well, and I find that when I’m with my friends’ kids, I really enjoy being around them and working on projects with them.”

Nawracaj considered homeschooling her children since it seemed she had a heart for early childhood education, but ultimately, she and her husband chose MIDA. While the school teaches dance and puts an emphasis on creativity and being active, they also have a fully equipped preschool taught by Martha Vass, lovingly known to her class as Miss Martha. When Nawracaj heard that Miss Martha would be retiring from MIDA to spend more time with her grandkids, Nawracaj thought it might be the right opportunity to see if she would be a good fit for this position.

“I talked to the owner, Deanna Gallardo, and said, ‘If you had someone who was interested in taking over the preschool, would you have me?’ She said yes. This whole time me and my husband were joking that I was going to work at the preschool if Miss Martha were ever to leave. Now she’s leaving. When I heard that, I decided I was just going to go for it,” she said.

Nawracaj knows she has big shoes to fill, but she wants to set goals for herself as a teacher that will keep parents happy with the quality they’ve come to expect from MIDA as well as encourage a classroom of children to feel loved and inspired.

“Miss Martha is just so inspiring,” Nawracaj said. “She’s so nurturing to the kids, and she’s cultivated them to be able to take on the next level, which is kindergarten. More than that, she’s such an important part of these kids’ lives, which is really my goal as a teacher. I want to give children, especially little girls, the confidence and bravery to take on the next step. Whether they’re doing kindergarten at home or at a public school or a private school, I want them to go in there and feel confident and not afraid and to have fun and love learning because sometimes school is stressful for kids.”

Nawracaj has a support system that makes this transition in career easier. Her husband, Patrick, has encouraged her to follow her passions. He provided for the family financially while Nawracaj left her job to stay at home with their children, and he cheered her on as she put herself forward for the teaching position at MIDA.

“When I was deciding if I was going to go for it or not, he really encouraged me,” Nawracaj said. “He pretty much told me I’d probably be one of the best preschool teachers out there. He really was behind me the whole way. He was like, ‘You can do this, and I’ll be here to support you in any way I can.’ He’s already come up with all these ideas to help me because we’re actually going to be doing a remodel of the preschool a little bit at MIDA this summer.”

In the time leading up to her new role, Nawracaj is staying active by enjoying some of her lifelong passions. In addition to spending quality time with her family and friends, she has stayed connected with her love of rollerblading, often taking her children with her on the trails.

For more information on Mirror Image Dance Academy, visit www.mirrorimagedance.net.