Our Staff

Patricia Horton

Patricia Newman Horton is director of the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center. She has more than 20 years of childcare experience, working with ages six weeks to five years in an accredited, 3 Star Program. Mrs. Horton is a graduate of Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in child development and family relations. Her husband, Bobby Sr., works for Metro Housing and Development, and her son, Bobby Jr., attends Maplewood High School.

“I want to be a positive role model to those who I come into contact with,” she says. “My goals are to continue to be committed to the children and families of the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center, and to carry out the WRCCC mission: “to provide hope and strength for the families we serve.”

Jackie Conwell

Jackie Conwell serves as the family specialist/social worker for the Wayne Reed Christian Child Care Center. Before joining the WRCCC staff, she worked for 21 years in the Metro Nashville Public Schools. She received her degree in social work from Lipscomb University, where she earned the Jeanne Bowman Social Work Award. The award is given annually to recognize the graduating senior who most exhibits perseverance and determination in pursuit of professional social work education.

“In my role at the Wayne Reed Christian Child Care Center, I work to identify barriers to a brighter future,” Conwell says. “Then I can assist families in identifying resources to remove those barriers. Through accessing community resources and bringing those resources to our families in need, we can minister to the social, spiritual, emotional and physical needs of those we serve. It is very rewarding.”

Conwell and her husband have been married for more than 40 years, and they have two sons. She volunteers in prison ministry through an organization she founded called Millennium Focus: Community A.L.E.R.T. (Alliance for Learning, Educating, Recruiting and Training).

Kenetha Boyd

Kenetha Boyd, administrative assistant, has been with the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center since February 2006. Boyd has a background in business administration. She has served organizations in various capacities for more than 19 years, five of which in childcare. She studied business at Roane State Community College and Lane College and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in child development from Kaplan University.

Boyd, originally from Oak Ridge, Tenn., has been in the Nashville area since 2001. She has one son and enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Kisha Reaves

Kisha Reaves is a teacher in the Tiny Angels classroom. She has worked with the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center since 2001. She received her Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials in 2004 and graduated with her Technical Certificate in 2006.

Erika Fletcher

Erika Fletcher is a teacher in the Tiny Angels classroom. She has been working in childcare for more than 10 years and has been employed at Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center since August 2007. She is now attending Nashville State Community College, working on her Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials and Technical Certificate.

Yolanda Doss

Yolanda Doss is a teacher in the Busy Bees classroom. She has worked at Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center since February 1999. She has received her Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials and Technical Certificate, and she is currently working on her associate degree at Nashville State Community College.

JaTarra Coffee

JaTarra Coffee is a teacher in the Busy Bees classroom. She has worked at Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center since 2006. She has received her Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials, and she is currently pursuing an early childhood education degree.

Jacklin Malone

Jacklin Malone is a teacher in the Preschool Bears classroom. She has worked at the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center since 2001 and has more than 15 years of experience in childcare. She earned her bachelor’s degree in health. physical education, recreation and dance from Mississippi Valley State University. She also has her Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials. Originally from Tunica, Miss., Mrs. Malone has been in Nashville for 15 years. She is married with two children, and her hobbies are shopping, reading, traveling and technology.

Paula Antionette Odom

Paula Antionette Odom is a teacher in the Preschool Bears classroom. She has been working in childcare for more than 20 years, and she has served at the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center since 2005. Odom is married and has four children and six grandchildren. She often tells WRCCC parents, “Your children are like my grandchildren.”

Linda Newsom

Linda Newsom is a teacher in the Metro Pre-K classroom. She is a graduate of Fisk University and is certified to teach Pre-K through grade 9 in the state of Tennessee. She is married and the mother to two and grandmother to four. Newsom enjoys traveling and listening to music.

Hattie M. Rivers

Hattie M. Rivers is a teacher in the Metro Pre-K classroom. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary and child development education from the University of Tennessee, and she has also received her Early Childhood Education Technical Certificate. Before coming to WRCCC, she worked as a classroom teacher for the Sumner County Board of Education and Metropolitan Public Schools. She has two daughters and six grandchildren, and she enjoys reading books, watching movies and volunteering in the community.

Sonya Benson

Sonya Benson is a teacher in the Metro Pre-K classroom. She has worked at the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center since 2004. Previously she worked as a site director for the East YMCA for three years. She graduated from Volunteer State in May 2010 with an associate’s degree in early childhood education. She has two sons, a pet fish and hermit crab, and she enjoys reading and gardening.

Natasha Newman

Natasha Newman is a floater for the Metro Pre-K and preschool classrooms. She was born and raised in Nashville, Tenn., and has worked at the center since 2008. She is in the process of earning a nursing degree from Tennessee State University and a cosmetology license from Tennessee Technology Center. She enjoys spending time with family and friends and “loves working with the children at the daycare.”

Tanesha White

Tanesha White has been a teacher in the Metro Pre-K classroom since January 2011. Born and raised in Nashville, she graduated from East Literature Magnet High School. She attended Tennessee Technology Center and obtained her certificate in early childhood education. She plans to obtain her associate’s degree in early childhood education later in the year.

Shirley Lockridge

Shirley Lockridge is a teacher’s assistant in the Tiny Angels and Busy Bee’s classroom. She began working with the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center in 2010. She has more than 19 years of experience in the child-care field working with children of all ages. She obtained her Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance (TECTA) certificate in 2007. Ms. Lockridge is the mother of two.

Peggy Ladd

Peggy Ladd provides delicious and nutritious meals for the children of the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center. Born and raised in Indianapolis, she has worked at the center since it first opened. Before she took the position as cook, she worked for David Lipscomb Food Service and as an administrative assistant for the school. She even had a brief stint as a teacher in the WRCCC Busy Bees classroom.

Ms. Ladd, a widow, has six children and 15 grandchildren. She says, “I’m grateful God has allowed me to be in a great place to further service in his ministry.”