Lindsay Sandelius, a 2009 Pine River graduate, initially went to school to become a physical therapist’s assistant.
However, while doing her clinicals, she quickly realized that wasn’t the career for her. She was meant to be a teacher. So she switched to early childhood education and never looked back.
These days, you can find Lindsay at the Eagles Nest Daycare at Marion Elementary, where she’s the director. She loves working with kids, encouraging their curiosity, and watching them grow.
But there’s more to Lindsay than just the daycare. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Justin, and their 3 kids. The Sandelius family keeps busy with sports, and homesteading: you can find them taking care of their garden, fruits, maple syrup, chickens, and pigs.
We caught up with Lindsay recently, where we learned a little bit about her life, and life at the Eagles Nest. We learned that Lindsay Sandelius is certainly more than just another face in the crowd.
Marion Press: What is the Eagles Nest? What all do you offer?
Lindsay: So we do before and after school care, along with summer care. We eventually will have infant through 12-year-old. Right now, we have 3 years old to school age. We’re open 7 am to 5:30 pm. We have 10 students enrolled right now. We try to do as many hands-on activities as we can. We do large groups and small groups – with the small groups, we focus on the ages of the kids, and what they would be doing in the classroom.
The older kids have been working on telling time and counting money. Some of the younger kids are working on sight words and letter sounds. All the kids are working on learning sign language. It’s all age appropriate and educational. We go outside frequently. We try to do a science-type experiment at least once or twice a week.
MP: What do you enjoy the most about working at the Eagles Nest?
Lindsay: I really enjoy the kids, and the curiosity that they have. This group is really into writing and art. They’ve been doing a lot of process art type stuff. And they really want to learn how to spell everything – and you usually don’t see that. The kids are really great; they’re super fun. I try to be fun with them. I enjoy my job.
MP:How did you get into early childhood education?
Lindsay: Previously I was a Head Start teacher – I taught Head Start for five years. Before that, I was actually going to college to be a physical therapist’s assistant, and I just decided that that was kind of boring! Doing the same thing over and over again. It was when I was doing my clinicals that I started working with a child. The mom had asked, “Have you ever thought about being a teacher?” And I said no. So that’s kind of how I got started. I switched [programs] in college and started working with kids.
MP: Where were you born and raised? What kept you busy growing up?
Lindsay: Tustin. We were really involved in sports. My family’s a really big sports family, so I played a lot of sports. Softball was my favorite. I graduated from Pine River in 2009.
MP: What were your favorite memories of growing up at Pine River?
Lindsay: I really enjoyed the close-knit community. Everybody knew everybody, and everyone was really supportive. It was just a lot of fun.
MP: Are you married? Kids? Tell us about your family. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Lindsay: I’m married, my husband is Justin. He has a daughter, and I have a son previous to our marriage, and we have one son together – kind of like a “his, mine, and ours”. Our kids are all into sports, and we kind of dabble in a little bit of homesteading. We have a really big garden, and fruit. We do maple syrup, and we raise chickens and pigs, and different kinds of birds.
MP: So you really are kind of doing the homestead hero thing. How many chickens do you have?
Lindsay: We kind of got sucked into that movement during Covid. We have 50 meat chickens right now, and we have 30ish egg layers. We have ducks, and geese, and pigs.
MP: What do you enjoy the most about living in Osceola County?
Lindsay: I think I just enjoy the calmness, and the surroundings. There are so many things to do. We can go kayaking on the weekends. We can go to the beach, we can go hiking, we can go hunting. I enjoy the area, and all the options that we have.
MP: What’s the best advice that you’ve been given?
Lindsay: Just be patient, and let the process work itself out.
MP: Who have been your role models over the years?
Lindsay: My Aunt Cindy was a really big role model. She was a teacher, and she’s helped guide me a little bit. And one of my college professors, Kristin, she helped me a lot.
MP: How do parents enroll their kids at Eagles Nest?
Lindsay: They can call 989-544-7856. We do have a Facebook page, so they can message that. We have some who are signing up for just the after-school portion, so if they’re thinking about that, the quicker the better. There are part-time options, and full-time options.
