Just over 60 staff members holding vigil over more than 100 fun-loving, energetic children might seem like a mismatch. But it’s a task with rewards for the crew at the NIU Campus Child Care Center.

Now, thanks to a new grant from the federal government, they will be able to continue to do so for students and faculty children alike, and at the same level of care they have grown accustomed to providing.

The grant, from the U.S. Department of Education’s Child Care Access Means Parents in School program, will be distributed in $81,824 increments over the next four years. It is one of 222 new grants benefiting the center that surpass $10 million in total.

“I was very excited, and I was very happy,” said center director Christine Herrmann. “This is definitely needed. It’ll help us, and it’ll help our families.”

Staff members are happy that the status quo will be maintained.

“Working at the center is so much different from working anywhere else that I have ever worked,” said Sarah Kakkuri, an assistant teacher at the center. “The kids enjoy being here and that makes it a lot of fun.”

Kakkuri is just one of many dedicated employees, according to assistant center director Lisa Schmidt.

“We have a staff of more than 60, 12 of which are full-time professional staff. They are done with school and are degreed professionals,” Schmidt said. “Fifty of them are students, some of them are in the field and some of them are not. I think all of them are dedicated to their jobs and working here.

“I especially think the head staff — the assistant teachers and head teachers — are extremely dedicated to the center. During the first year, they all worked very hard at becoming assimilated to the new program and working towards making this a really quality program,” she added.

The staff assimilated to each other since the beginning of the program, Kakkuri said.

“Everybody here gets along really well. For the most part, everybody here started last August at the same time. We have been here for a year,” Kakkuri said. “You can tell the difference between a year ago and now because everybody was all quiet at first and now we all have a good time. We stick together and help each other out when it is needed.”

The money will support scholarships for student-parents who have a legitimate need for it as well as cover much of the annual $30,000 deficit between the cost of providing child care and state reimbursement.

A deficit that could not be sustained made a grant almost a necessity.

“Our original mission was to provide child care to students and this was an attempt to stay true to the original mission,” Herrmann said.

That mission began when the center, located on Annie Glidden Road next to Graham Hall, was established in 1978, but its program has continued to change and evolve to fit the needs of NIU’s parents.