Kuusalu remonditehase töötajate lastepäevakodu avati 6. märtsil 1968. aastal.
On the morning of Monday, March 6, the children gathered in the Jussike hall of the Kuusalu kindergarten, current and former employees and other guests celebrated the jubilee of the kindergarten with the clown couple Piip and Tuut. First, two nursery songs were sung. “Our Kindergarten – Jussike” was ready for the 50th birthday, the words were written by group teacher Kaire Altosaar, the music was written by music teacher Anneli Rumm. “Song of Jussike’s friends” is composed to the tune “Jänesel on pikad kvad”, the lyrics were written by Anneli Rumm.
Director Astrid Meister gave all groups a kindergarten table flag and a board game of the book hero Jussikes for the anniversary. Each group also got a birthday cake.
Kuusalu municipality head Terje Kraanvelt and leading education specialist Anu Kirsman handed over an espresso coffee machine to the kindergarten collective as a gift from the municipality government.
After all the congratulations, you went to your group rooms to eat a cake, the guests had a snack table and a big cake.
Director Astrid Meister: “We decided to have a joint morning party on exactly the right birthday. We, the former directors of the kindergarten, Anu Ojaste and Küllike Enok, were also present, Ester Pärn sent a greeting card.”
On the occasion of the birthday, the teachers made a series of Jussike’s pictures for the windows of the first wing of the kindergarten. The exhibition “Games, toys and books in the early years of kindergarten” was opened in the TV room and can be viewed this week as well. Head teacher Ülle Rekk commented that few original items have been preserved in the kindergarten from the 1960s and 1970s, one or two were found in the methodology warehouse and were also collected from homes with the help of colleagues.
“We got quite a lot of interesting findings. We divided the exhibits into thematic groups: books, theater play, board games, home game, traffic education. We have added clarifications. For example, in the academic year 1983/1984, agricultural games had to be developed as one of the main directions. The groups then made play equipment in this direction, and with the help of the parents, they made pet figures cut out of plywood and painted. The board game continued for a long time,” he described.
A lot of nostalgia was created by Polümeeri stuffed animals, ka kukut, home game tools, bibles, narcissistic themes. Valgusfoor, lauaumügeled and teatrimügeledsätät is lasteaias tema vösens kurüksel tänini.
Jussikes kindergarten has 9 groups, two of them are nursery groups. In the current academic year, there are a total of 158 children, 39 employees. Half of the employees have worked in the kindergarten for 20 years or more. The most senior is Ülle Rekk – worked for 41 years. Economic manager Merle Koppel and teacher Tiia Muru have worked for 40 years, teachers Terje Murakas and Aive Pihla for 38 years, director Astrid Meister, teacher Kaire Altosaar and assistant teacher Krista Kirotosk for 36 years, music teacher Anneli Rumm for 34 years, assistant teacher Siiri Eesalu for 32 years and the chef Katrin Viide and repair master Mati Viruneem for 31 years.
There are also children of Ukrainian war refugees in Jussikes’ kindergarten, recently there were five of them, now there are four left. The first little refugees came a year ago in March. Ukrainian children are in a language immersion environment, by now the older ones understand the Estonian language, can say polite words and communicate at a daily level. Separate educational materials have been made for war refugees, the necessary documentation for parents was prepared with the help of an interpreter.
The Kuusalu kindergarten was built during the Soviet era according to a standard project, it was renovated in 2005. Director Astrid Meister said that she dares to confirm that the building is well kept, the premises are in good condition: “We guests have asked if the building has been recently renovated and were surprised to hear that the renovation was done 18 years ago. The facade needs to be repaired, and we would like to replace the uprights in the outdoor area. Last year we got three climbing campuses.”
Kuusalu lasteaed got Silvi Väljali’s book “Jussike ja seitse sõpra” main character name 30 years ago.
