Tarik Kanaana

Tile and Department:

Health and Nutrition Coordinator
The Children's School

How did you end up going into your current role or field and what do you enjoy most about the work you do?

My child attended the Children's School about 20 years ago and I got to know the school and its teachers and staff. I told the director at the time, Lia Thompson-Clark, that if this position, the one I'm in now, opens up to let me know. A year later I applied for the job and here I am. What I enjoy most is getting to be around kids all day. They have a unique way of looking at the world. We should all learn from them.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the Sonoma State community?

Being part of SSU gives me personally, and us as a school, access to resources and opportunities that we wouldn't otherwise have. Things like a diversity of backgrounds, cultures, and ideas.

What do you find most fulfilling about working in higher education?

This quote from Kahlil Gibran's “The Prophet” sums it up pretty well. It applies to both the preschool age children and the university students. 
"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts." In other words, helping these young minds reach their potential.

In what ways does your work make an impact on students, the campus or the broader campus community?

I have two main goals in working with children between the ages of 1 and 5. First, to provide them with healthy, nutritious meals essential to their learning and development in these formative years of their lives. Second and perhaps more important, to build lifelong habits that will help them make healthy choices to sustain their bodies and minds in the future.
At the same time, by providing a healthy and safe environment for the children, the Children's School makes it possible (or at least easier) for their parents to attend the university and pursue their goals. As part of the Children's School team, we are contributing to a healthier, stronger community.