COVID-19 challenge marks child care center’s first year
By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Jessica Mascara’s dreams came true — in more ways than one — when she gave birth to her daughter.
Jessica and Joel Mascara of Rostraver Township welcomed their daughter Mallory into the world Aug. 6, 2018.
Jessica knew her daughter would change her life, but she never could have predicted parenthood would change a long-time teacher into a business owner.
When Mallory was born, Jessica was a decade into what she thought was her dream job as a teacher for the Canon McMillan School District.
Jessica decided to take a year off from teaching to spend time with Mallory with the intention of returning to the job she loved.
After nearly a year of play dates and memories, Jessica, a self-proclaimed “planner,” threw her plans out the window last August. With the support of her family, she took a risk and opened Live, Laugh, Play & Learn LLC.
“I wanted to spend more time with my daughter,” Jessica said. “I could not see myself being away from her for so long, despite how much I loved my job. This has allowed me to have the best of both worlds.”
She started looking for a potential space for her vision in April 2019, committed to a location in June and resigned from her position in August.
Live, Laugh, Play & Learn, located in Rostraver Township, opened in November with help from her mother, Linda McQueen, who is now her business partner.
Live, Laugh, Play & Learn offers a variety of activities for children and teens, including open hours for children to play and socialize, events like “Mommy and Me” classes and birthday parties, story times, tutoring for students in kindergarten through 12th grade run by state-certified teachers, writing workshops, art classes, music classes, SAT prep classes and a lot more.
When the doors opened in November, Jessica knew she would fill a void she found as a new mother looking for activities to do with her daughter.
“The idea for this business came to me as just that, a fun idea,” she said. “I never thought it would actually happen.”
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