Our Staff

Pesh Keller, Director
Pesh Keller has been the director at the Sonshine Center since its opening in 1994. With over 19 years of experience as a director and administrator, Pesh has helped start two child care centers from inception, and has served on numerous boards including two assignments to the Governor's Board of Childcare for the state of Colorado. Pesh has presented seminars at the ACSI childcare conference and National Conference for Childcare Directors. Her college education is in Administration and Childcare Management. Pesh has three children ages 18, 17 and 12.

Jody Connor, Assistant Director, Early Childhood Education Center
Jody Connor is our Assistant Director at the Main Center. She has a combined 10 years of service at the Sonshine Center. Jody was a Group Leader in the Sonbeams classroom for three years and has worked in both the Main Center and Infant Center's front offices for over seven years. Teaching kids, building relationships, and communicating with parents has always been a passion in her heart. Jody and her husband Micah have been married for 11 years and have two wonderful children, McKenzie, age nine, and Cody, age six. Both of their kids attended the Sonshine Center for many years and have gone on to the elementary program at Faith Christian Academy.

Kay Rasor, Educational and Training Coordinator
Kay Rasor is the Curriculum and Training Coordinator as the Sonshine Center. She has 24 years experience in the corporate childcare and early childhood education fields. Kay has received a CDA Certification and has mentored and trained teachers for a variety of age groups. Kay has also taught Sunday school at Faith Bible Chapel for more that 30 years as a volunteer. She has a passion for teaching children about Christ and has had the privilege to travel to Israel three times. Kay and her husband Glenn have two grown daughters and four wonderful grandsons.

Darlene Yaffe, Registered Nurse and Teacher Trainer
The Sonshine Center is a dream come true to all of us who have the privilege to work here. As the R.N. Consultant and former Director of a childcare center, I was thrilled to be Pesh Keller’s Assistant Director even before the Sonshine Center opened in 1994. For the past 16 years, I have enjoyed teaching CPR, First Aid, AED, Infant Safety, Medication Administration and Universal Precautions at the Center. I also work bi-weekly or weekly at the Center as the Nurse Consultant. I am the mother of 14 children and 29 grandchildren! My husband, Harry, a former Hospital Administrator passed on almost 6 years ago and he also loved children!

Little Blessings
Patti McKinney, Infant Nursery Supervisor and Head Teacher
Patti McKinney is our Infant Care Center Supervisor. She just celebrated her 14th year at the Sonshine Center. For 10 years she served as the Head Teacher in the Rainbow Class. She conducted daycare in her home for 15 years prior to coming to the Sonshine Center. She has worked in the Children's Ministries Department in the nursery and various classrooms for 12 years. Patti and her husband Dave have been members of Faith Bible Chapel for over 20 years. They have 4 children, and 8 grandchildren. Seeing her vision for an infant center come to life is a dream come true. She has a passion and a love for children and is looking forward to loving and cuddling infants.

Cherubs
Georgia Tichota, Head Teacher
Georgia has been working at the Sonshine Infant Care Center since its opening in 2005. She and her husband, Dave, have been married 31 years and have raised four sons (Tim is 29, Jason is 27, Chris is 25 and Shawn is 22). She brings 17 additional years experience from in-home licensed day care. Her love for children is for all ages. But celebrating a child’s first steps is her favorite place to serve. She loves seeing the world through their eyes and places value in each precious baby. She is looking forward to many joy-filled hours together!

Lil' Lions & Lambs
Carol Prevost, Head Teacher
Carol has been working at the Sonshine Infant Care Center since 2005. She has lots of experience working with children, including running her own in-home daycare for 25 years. Her education is in Nursing and she worked as a nurse for 3 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Her and her husband, Dick, have 6 children and 4 grandchildren. She loves watching and helping our one-year-olds grow and change!

Rainbows
Carol Probst, Head Teacher
Carol Probst is the head teacher in the Rainbow's Room. She has a Master of Education degree from Regis University, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a Certificate in Early Childhood Professions Director from Arapahoe Community College. Her experience includes teaching in programs for gifted and talented preschoolers, as well as children with developmental delays. Perhaps the best preparation for teaching in the Rainbow's Room has been her experiences raising her five children from infancy into adulthood. She has a deep love for teaching reading, and therefore, enjoys introducing phonemic awareness and beginning literacy to her young students. She believes a classroom should reflect the joy of the Lord. Love and joy should fill the room!

Sonbeams
Heather Bilyou, Head Teacher
Heather has worked at the Sonshine Center for 9 years. She has worked as the head teacher in the Sonbeam's classroom for 6 years. She enjoys working with this age group because the children are at the stage where everything is fun and exciting. They are discovering the world around them, and it is fun to watch and help them as they grow.

Shining Lights
Naomi Rivera, Head Teacher
My name is Naomi Rivera. My husband and I have been married for 32 years and have 4 wonderful children. We have six grandsons and one granddaughter. My husband is a minister and relocated our family to Denver in 2001 to serve as a Regional Church Administrator after serving as pastor of Evangel Assembly of God Church in Cortez, Colorado for 21 years. While in Cortez I operated my own daycare/preschool center for 17 years and have over 30 years experience in teaching and ministering to children. I was a substitute teacher at the Sonshine Center for two years and love serving your child as the Head Teacher. Working with children has always been my delight and I hope to create a loving and secure classroom environment where your child will play and learn and grow. I look forward to building a friendship with you and your child.

Sonshine Express
Aimee Marth-Spencer, Head Teacher
Aimee has been the head teacher in the Sonshine Express Classroom since May, 2009. She has been working at the Sonshine Center for two years. During the first year and a half, she spent her time as a full-time floating teacher at both the infant and main center. Aimee has been married for 5 years and has a son who attends Faith Christian Academy. Aimee has a fun outlook on teaching children and loves to make them laugh and have fun!

Sonshine Kids
Kay Litreal, Head Teacher
This is Kay's second year as our Sonshine Kids Head Teacher. She has 11 years of combined experience as a kindergarten and preschool teacher. She is married and has triplet daughters and a son. She has one beautiful granddaughter and one grandson. She is excited about the upcoming year and can't wait to get to know you and your child!