Take a few minutes to talk to Karen Kidner and you will soon see how qualified she is to be the coordinator of Little Bucs, ETSU’s on-campus daycare for the children of students.
Kidner’s easy manner and interest in people are evident as she sits in her office on the first floor of Warf-Pickel Hall, the new home to Little Bucs.
Born in Knoxville, Kidner calls Tennessee home, although she has lived for short periods in other states. She graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1994 with a degree in human ecology, a major with a focus on family-life education.
Like many students, Kidner had no idea what she wanted to do with her life.
“I started in psychology, then special education, then I moved to human ecology because it was very family oriented,” she said.
At UT, she had the choice to concentrate on child development or family-life education.
“I wanted to work with the whole family rather than just the child,” she said.
The summer before graduating, Kidner went to Boston to work with children with severe behavior problems.
The children were bordering on being sent to a residential facility. Her experiences that summer made quite an impact on her.
“It was a rude awakening of what goes on in kids’ lives and how they are affected by what goes on in their family or parents’ lives,” Kidner said.
After graduating from UT, Kidner moved to Johnson City. She lived here until 1995, when she went back to Knoxville. She returned to Johnson City a couple of years later to begin working at Little Bucs.
When Kidner started at little Bucs in November of 1997, the program was just getting started. She said Little Bucs began the summer before as a project run by students for students, a philosophy she appreciates.
Kidner credits her listening skills and desire to help others help themselves as qualities that enable her to do her job and assist families.
But first, family members must come to her.
“Parents have to come to you for help,” Kidner said. “You can let them know you’re here, and that’s it.”
Although she is not sure she will stay in the same position, she hopes to stay with the Child Study center, the parent program of Little Bucs.
Little Bucs is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and is scheduled for reaccreditation next year.
Kidner has high hopes for the program.
“It started off on the right foot, and it’s continuing to go in the right direction,” she said.

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