Gemma Medina has pretty much always known that she wanted to work with children.

As a child growing up in England she was attentive to her friends’ younger siblings. Then, at age 14, while vacationing in Cyprus, Medina had a flash of career insight while teaching a group of children who understood very little English the "head, shoulders, knees and toes" song.

"I think that was the first moment I taught … something and realized that might be something I want to do," said Medina, now 35 years old and a preschool teacher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Children’s Center.

Medina began working at UHMCC as an intern, a requirement for a UH bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.

"I just fell in love with the school," she said. "The philosophy of the school really just kind of fits with me and what I believe about children" — she agrees with the center’s view that each child must be respected as an individual.

UHMCC describes its take on childhood as a journey that should be "shared with loving caring adults, full of authentic encounters with the ‘real world,’ genuine care-taking connections with the natural environment, hard-core play, immersion in language, literacy, literature, science, art, drama, music, movement, caring and sharing in a grand celebration of life."

About two years ago, after earning her bachelor’s degree, Medina joined the UHMCC staff and now teaches 4- and 5-year-olds.

Her job at the center requires a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field, but Medina is pursuing further education. She is working toward a master’s degree in educational psychology because she said she is intrigued by how children learn and why they learn the way they do.

Among her job’s high points, Medina said, are the center’s open-door policy, which welcomes families at all times, and class activities that immerse kids in the local environment, such as hiking and working at the Kanewai lo’i.

Educators thrive in the workplace in part because of the center’s confidence in its preschool staff, she said. "I feel like we’re really trusted, and I feel like that carries over to how the staff view children."

When asked about the most challenging aspects of her job, Medina mentioned that salaries for preschool teachers are typically modest. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent figures, in 2013 the annual mean salary for a preschool teacher in Hawaii was $32,850 — a bit higher than the national mean of $32,420.

Medina moved to California from her native England with her family when she was 16. Years later, she moved to Maui as a nanny for a 2-year-old boy. He attended a preschool in Lahaina called Children of the Rainbow, where Medina started as a part-time aide before moving up to a post as nursery teacher, then preschool teacher and eventually taking on a position as co-director. During her 12-year tenure there, Medina also took online classes at UH-West Oahu.

Medina now divides her time between days at UHMCC, which often start with class prep before children arrive at about 8 a.m. and wrap up at 5 p.m., and days off on Maui, where her husband is based.

It’s difficult to pinpoint a typical day at UHMCC.

"Any given day, we could be cooking or we could be going on a field trip; today we went to the farmers market, and then this afternoon we’re going to be making juice with the produce we got from the farmers market," Medina said in a recent interview. "We do a lot of fun things."

Activities at the center touch on everything from musical rhythms to imaginative dress-up. There’s also group games, obstacle courses, frequent storybook sessions and a regular hourlong naptime.

Medina said she’s continually learning how to work effectively in tandem with other teachers and staff members. "There’s a lot of emphasis put on collaboration and working as a team," she said.

In her classroom, Medina shares tasks with a co-teacher. Together they collaborate with the two teachers who lead the center’s other class for 4- and 5-year-old preschoolers.

UHMCC, which enrolls students whose parents are either students, faculty or staff at the Manoa campus, follows the university’s calendar. Throughout each semester, Medina said, the teachers "have meetings together and discuss the children and where they are in their development … and where we see the content going."

At the start of the fall semester, Medina will work alongside a new co-teacher as well as some older students due to the change in the kindergarten age requirement. Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, public school students will need to be at least 5 years old by July 31 to enroll in kindergarten. Statewide, there are about 5,100 who are born in the latter six months of the year.

The center is preparing for the added age group and taking the matter in stride, Medina said.

"As long as you know children and child development and what’s appropriate and what’s needed, then I just think it’s a progression and we’ll just adapt to the individuals that we have in the classroom no matter what age they are."