Toi Wells, M.Ed., is a preschool teacher at University of Illinois at Chicago Children’s Center, which provides high-quality early care and education for the children of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) students, faculty and staff. The UIC Children’s Center also provides valuable classroom experiences for UIC students majoring in early childhood education or related areas and advances our knowledge of young children and their families through university-based research projects. Wells, who believes that early childhood education lays the foundation for a successful life, works with preschoolers at the Center to foster the development of their cognitive, social-emotional and self-regulation skills. She especially enjoys working with the children on activities designed to foster the development of early math and literacy skills. Prior to her work at the UIC Children’s Center, Wells served as a KinderCare program specialist, an early childhood teacher at The Gardner School and an infant teacher at Green Beginnings Chicago, LLC. She earned her M.Ed. in early childhood education, with a concentration in special education and ESL, from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2016 and her B.A. in business administration, with a concentration in management, from Georgia State University in 2009.