{"id":18882,"date":"2025-10-23T15:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=18882"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:18:12","slug":"kyma-fulgence-making-an-early-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/23\/kyma-fulgence-making-an-early-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyma Fulgence: Making an Early Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Kyma Fulgence<\/strong>\u2019s daughter, Maya<\/strong>, turned 3, the young mother faced a challenge familiar to many parents. \u201cI wanted to go back to work full time, so I started looking for childcare,\u201d she says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really happy with some of the places that I visited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That feeling of dissatisfaction persisted even after she enrolled Maya in a center\u2019s program. When Fulgence went to pick her up, she saw children sitting around a table, unengaged. \u201cI say to people all the time that even if a family is low-income or economically struggling, it doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re uneducated or don\u2019t care about education,\u201d says Fulgence, who had previously attended classes at St. John\u2019s University in Queens before relocating to Wilmington in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Determined to be part of the solution, Fulgence worked at a daycare center, opened a childcare service in\u00a0her home, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education and Teaching<\/a> from Wilmington University. Today, she is the executive director of Teach Zen, the nonprofit that she founded to enhance emotional resilience in young children and the educators who care for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulgence\u2019s journey to \u201czen\u201c required determination, resilience, and empathy. She began her career with a job at a suburban childcare center. \u201cI saw how quality childcare was supposed to be,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to see children have an excellent childcare experience and know the children in your own neighborhood aren\u2019t getting that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to centers and commercial childcare providers, many families turn to in-home care, either in the child\u2019s or the business owner\u2019s residence. Maya did well in the latter setting, which inspired Fulgence to open Young Expressions after purchasing a house. She was 29. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My degree adds to my credibility as an SEL technical assistant, early education consultant, and public speaker. I\u2019ve been able to present at conferences because of my combination of experience and degree. It all goes hand in hand. <\/p>\n\u2014 Kyma Fulgence<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

While working, Fulgence took classes at Delaware Technical Community College and then received an institutional scholarship from WilmU. It would take her 10 years to complete her degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had 12 children in my home and could only take like one or two classes a semester,\u201d she says. When she had fewer students, she upped the class load. When Young Expressions\u2019 enrollment was high, she took only one course or skipped a semester. The adult conversation in class was a treat. \u201cAnd I loved early education, so it excited me,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Fulgence received her diploma. That year, she was working an 80-hour week, she says. She wasn\u2019t alone. In the support group she\u2019d founded, other home-based educators echoed her exhaustion. Time off was brief and rare. When she reached a breaking point one summer, her sister-in-law, an educator, stepped in for a month so Fulgence could rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulgence spent the time in deep reflection. \u201cI was a child who went through a lot of abuse, a lot of poverty,\u201d she says. She realized that she had a calling to help young children, but she had to take better care of herself and address her childhood traumas. She began meditating and exercising. Years of holding babies and young children had taken a toll on her back, so she scheduled massage and chiropractic appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, when Maya was 18, Fulgence made the difficult decision to close her business. There had to be other ways she could make a difference, she says. From 2016 to 2018 \u2014 her so-called \u201chippie years\u201d \u2014 Fulgence immersed herself in personal development. She read self-growth books, expanded her meditation practice, and took long, thoughtful walks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Children<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She reentered the field with newfound skills and a fresh outlook, first working in a school and then joining the Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood at the University of Delaware as an infant and toddler specialist. She later became the professional development coordinator for family childcare professionals. She was part of the team that created \u201cShining the Light on You,\u201d a wellness program for home-based childcare educators.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With extensive coaching and training experience under her belt, Fulgence founded Teach Zen in 2023. The nonprofit marries her expertise in early childhood education and trauma-informed practices. Its signature program, \u201cOne Love, One Heart,\u201d is a five-phase social-emotional learning (SEL) program that uses music, movement, and mindfulness to help children develop healthy identities, manage emotions, and achieve goals. \u201cWe work directly with the children in the classroom in front of the teachers,\u201d Fulgence says. \u201cThey can observe and take notes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another initiative, \u201cNourish and Nurture,\u201d is a partnership between Fulgence and Lanice Wilson, director of Delaware Urban Greens, a nonprofit that seeks to make fresh, organic produce accessible to everyone. Fulgence represents the \u201cnurture\u201d aspect, while Lanice Wilson, who is also the owner of the Juice Joint 2.0, brings the \u201cnourish\u201d element. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNourish and Nurture\u201d is a mobile mini-wellness retreat for teams in offices, communities, and schools, including the nine pre-K through ninth-grade schools in the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. It makes sense to bring the program to the schools. Teachers often have multiple jobs inside and outside of school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fulgence\u2019s years of experience make her an expert, but she says her WilmU degree took her to the next level. For instance, when she reentered the field after taking time off, she earned more money than she would have without it, she says. Moreover, her degree was a bonus when it came to interviewing for her positions with the Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy degree adds to my credibility as an SEL technical assistant, early education consultant, and public speaker,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to present at conferences because of my combination of experience and degree. It all goes hand in hand.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, credentials alone aren\u2019t enough. \u201cYou have to have a passion for it,\u201d Fulgence says of working with young children. \u201cIt\u2019s something you really, really must want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Teach Zen, she\u2019s extending that passion to educators as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Pam George<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n