Sonya Shine and her husband, Anthony, after their wedding in Yosemite, CA last August.

Sonya Shine is an Infant Toddler Coach and Infant Mental Health Consultant for the Early Care & Education department.

How long have you worked for ESD 112 and what does your job entail?
I’ve been with ESD112 since August 2015 after moving up to Washington from California.  I have two roles at the ESD.  One, I coach infant/toddler teachers in both center and family child care programs who are going through the Early Achievers process.  My other role, I consult with infant and toddler classrooms around social and emotional development.

What do you like best about your job?
Building relationships with my providers and my coworkers who are a wonderful support system.  Also playing with babies is pretty amazing too.

What do you find most challenging about your job?
Scheduling.  Hands down.  Trying to keep myself flexible enough to meet everyone’s scheduling needs.

Single? Married? Kids? Pets?
I just got married this past August and we have two kitties at home.

Sonya’s old lady, Murlae (left) and Maximus “Max” Money Shine (right).

What do you enjoy doing with your free time?
Playing video games with my husband, indoor rock climbing, and hiking and exploring new places around Vancouver and Portland (PokemonGo has really been a fun way to get us out and explore 🙂 ).

What is the funniest thing that you heard or saw recently?
A neighbor’s rooster recently decided he wanted to live at our house.  For 3 days.  One evening I went to check on him and he decided he wanted to come inside the house.  I tried closing the door on him and he jumped up and attacked me, kicking me on the side of the knee (he even left a good-sized bruise!).  My husband came rushing over because he thought I saw a spider and was surprised to find Mr. Rooster trying to get in.  It was both hilarious and terrifying at the same time.

What animal best represents you and why?
A cat.  Because I love sleep.  Just ask my husband how easy it is for me to get out of bed in the morning.

Would you rather live in the city or the woods? Why? 
I’d prefer to live in the woods, but not where my closest neighbor is 5 miles away.  I’d still want to be connected to my community, but I love the smell of trees in the morning and to wake up to that and the idea of deer roaming our yard sounds amazing to me.

What teacher inspired you the most? How did they?
I can’t remember what class or which professor it was, but a professor during college was speaking to the idea of prevention versus intervention (especially surrounding the increase in usage of medication for children).  This one class completely changed my outlook on supporting children through prevention and has steered me on my path to where I am today.

What did you want to be when you were little?
I wanted to be a pediatrician when I was little.  I’ve always known I wanted to work with kids.

When you have 30 minutes of free-time, how do you pass the time?
Take a nap.