Judith Rodriguez

Judith looks after The Jungle, where the volume is high, the glue is everywhere, and the crafts always make it home. Preschool is its own discipline — three-year-olds do not sit still for a lesson, so the lesson has to move — and she has spent years learning how to teach a Bible story to a child who is also, at that moment, a lion.

Her rooms run on rhythm rather than rules: the same welcome, the same songs, the same order every week, so a child who is nervous on their first Sunday knows what happens next by their second. She keeps ratios tight, briefs every volunteer before the doors open, and knows which child needs a quiet corner before the child does.

Judith is also the person most likely to notice a parent hovering at the door. She will walk you in, introduce your child to a leader by name, and tell you honestly how the first twenty minutes usually go.