Krongkan “Cherry” Bovornkeeratiroj
“In Amherst, I had the chance to volunteer with young children, and that changed my life,” Krongkan “Cherry” Bovornkeeratiroj, an intern at Strategies for Children (SFC), told us in a recent interview.
This story started six years ago when Cherry moved from Thailand, where she worked as a financial auditor, to Amherst, Mass., where her husband is a graduate student — and where she volunteered to work in a preschool program.
Cherry was used to the more formal educational approach that she had experienced in Thailand. Amherst was different.
“Our school system focuses heavily on academics and rarely teaches us to speak for ourselves. Most of the time we listen and listen.”
“The first day I walked into the classroom in Amherst, I saw kids enjoying activities. There were no chairs in rows.”
It was a high-quality program where children’s feedback was valued. For example, in the case of one child bumping into another, teachers would ask what the harmed child needed: a hug, an apology, an ice pack?
“Instead of lecturing, teachers asked students questions and encouraged them to think critically,” Cherry says.
This volunteer experience prompted her to apply to graduate school.
“But when I was admitted, I found out I was pregnant.” And the pandemic hit. So Cherry waited for a couple of years, then she enrolled in the Master of Arts (MA) in Leadership, Policy & Advocacy for Early Childhood Well-Being program at the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.
“Once I shared my passions with my academic advisor, she told me to talk to Amy,” Cherry says of Amy O’Leary, Strategies for Children’s executive director.
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Eye on Early Education is a blog of Strategies for Children, an organization that works to ensure that Massachusetts invests the resources needed for all children, from birth to age five, to access high-quality early education programs that prepare them for success in school and life. The blogger, 
eyeonearlyeducation.org 