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NATCHEZ — Natchez-Adams School district teacher Sanita Gutters teaches high school students and preschoolers each day. Her classroom is in the Fallin Career and Technology Center at Natchez High School close to where The Dart landed Monday. 

She teaches an early childhood care class where high school students are able to take the ideas they learn in the classroom and apply them to hands-on work. Pre-kindergarten students in the class can range from infants to 5 years old. 

“They get a chance to work with the pre-k students one-on-one. We do book reading and storytelling. There are so many different activities we do,” Gutters said. “The program was opened years ago and the director who was here retired. When she retired it closed down. Then I was hired and it reopened again. I had a daycare center myself on US 61 North in Natchez. I’m familiar with what was needed when this program reopened.” 

A North Natchez graduate, Gutters attended the University of Southern Mississippi where she earned a degree in Early Childhood Education. She said she had always worked with children and found it to be a natural task. 

Sometimes, former pre-k students come back to the program to volunteer. Some of her high school students go on to college to get degrees in Early Childhood Education or use the class as a stepping stone to nursing. 

Children growing academically and socially is one of the fruits of her labor she enjoys the most. She has a chance to see children excel and likes to be a part of them doing so. 

“I love the innocence of children and their love to learn,” Gutters said. “As much as they want to know, I love teaching them. Their minds are like sponges. I have to get my older kids to understand that the younger ones’ minds are very moldable.”

In her spare time away from school, Gutters enjoys spending time with her family. She has triplets who are 15. They are named Faith, Hope and Joy. She was very thankful to have kids because she sees them as a blessing. 

“They have their own personalities. It’s funny because they are different puzzle pieces,” Gutters said. “When they come together you can see the beauty. They have been making straight A’s. They are in NECA, I’m proud of them. They haven’t said they wanted to follow in my footsteps yet. Whatever they want to do is fine with me. I just want them to be happy and successful. I will be supportive of whatever direction they go.”