Cary Beth Duffel, the new Preschool Director for Grace Place, has always had a passion for working with children.

"I started my first job as a paying babysitter when I was nine or 10 years old," Duffel said.

She was 13 years old when she began helping with Vacation Bible School.

Duffel graduated from Carson Newman College with a B.A. and continued her education in a seminary studying missiology (the study of missions). Her degree is in communications, but she also has experience in child care where she helped with summer camps for five years as program director.

In Nashville, she worked at their program called Nashville SEES, where she was a preschool director.

"They trained me extensively and I was able to get the opportunity to work with a lot of different preschools", said Duffel. "I had the opportunity to work with experienced teachers and get a lot of ideas".

Duffel's passion has always been to invest in children's lives.

"I remember my experiences when I was a child. A harsh word can ruin a child's day," said Duffel. "Kids are fun and can get excited about anything."

What Grace Place has to offer is they try to give children a vast range of experiences by exposing them to learning about God, Bible verse and learning their basics.

"Our job is to invest in these children emotionally, because what we do matters for eternity," said Duffel.

Duffel is the daughter of Bro. Jim Duffel and Pam Duffel of Lepanto. She has three siblings: Jody Kelly, Casey Duffel and Matthew Duffel. She also has one niece, Kelsey Kelly, and three nephews, Kyle Kelly, Bryce Kelly and Peyton Kelly

Grace Place will begin a new program called The After School Care Program. It is for 5-10 year olds and helps children with homework, plays games and has snacksFor more information call Duffel at 475-3333. There are also openings in the Toddler and Preschool Classes.