Lorelei van Peborgh, Director
Lorelei’s been working with children every since she was a teen counselor at Camp Concord in South Lake Tahoe. Initially wanting to work with teens, she started working at a preschool in San Francisco to simply help pay for college. Her first impression of preschool was: Wow! They’re just like teenagers! They’re both going through hard transitions in life. For preschoolers, it’s the transition from babyhood to childhood. For teens, it’s the transition from childhood to adulthood. Both involve going from having everything done for you (the world revolving around you) to being expected to take on more responsibility (at the same time not always allowed to do things for themselves!). It’s a conflicting struggle of relying on someone and not wanting to rely on someone - of wanting to be independent yet still needing to learn skills and gain experience to be successfully independent. A lot of mistakes have to be made, and a lot of emotions are spent. It was with those preschoolers that she realized this is where she could do the most good. What happens between 0-5 years old can shape the rest of a child’s life. It can determine how they’ll cope with teenage-hood. She’s been working with preschoolers ever since.
Lorelei’s teaching passion and philosophy lies in her love for how the brain works and how we, as loving adults, can help children’s brain development- and thereby their development throughout life. After working in preschools for many years she co-founded the Kings Beach Parents’ Co-op. During her time running the Co-op she found a way to help children even more…by helping the parents! This led to teaching parenting classes for the Tahoe Truckee community for numerous years through the Family Resource Center.
Lorelei’s relationship with the Boys and Girls Club began as a parent in 2003 when her daughter went to KinderClub, then as a neighbor in 2004 when her family moved across the street from BGC, next as a Board Member in 2013 when she helped BGC start their preschool, and finally as an employee in 2016 when she became the director of the BGC Great Futures Preschool. In her spare time, Lorelei mentors other preschool teachers through the Lake Tahoe Community College. In her personal time, she enjoys spending time with her 3 children and family, singing in the Sierra Nevada College choir, caring for plants, singing Karaoke with friends and enjoying Tahoe every day.
