Newsletter of the East Bay Chapter of STC
January/February 2004

Member Spotlight: Joe Humbert

by Marsha Howard
EBSTC Member

The walk up the narrow red steps between the shoulder-high shrubs leading to the white lattice archway gives no clue about the beehive of activity that goes on within the yellow clapboard corner house. The small porch, visible over the gate, gives nothing away. A sign over the doorbell, instructing callers not to ring between 1:00 and 3:00 P.M., offers the first hint. But it’s well after 3:00 P.M. now.

\When I ring the doorbell, a salt-and-pepper-bearded man swings the door wide, revealing a large country kitchen. In the center of the room are toddler-sized chairs surrounding a similarly sized table. It’s snack time at the Bernice & Joe Playschool and 12 hungry preschoolers are dining on cheese and crackers.

Creating Order from Chaos

After snack time, the man who always seems ready to have an eye-level conversation with his charges escorts the children through several toy-laden rooms to the sliding glass door that leads to the backyard. Talkative toddlers prepare expectantly for the outdoors as he patiently helps them don sweaters and shoes. Soon, they are enjoying their playtime. Overseeing them all is the man who has created order from chaos here five days a week, 11 hours a day, for the past 23 years.

A Family Business

Joe Humbert at his Playschool with one of his charges.

Meet Joe Humbert, East Bay Chapter treasurer, beloved caregiver to 26 tots, and aspiring technical writer. He and Bernice, his wife of 26 years, have run a child-care business in this house since 1980. Bernice began the family daycare, licensed for 12 children, when their children were babies. Joe, who has both undergraduate and master’s degrees in physics, joined her after spending a year as a data processing supervisor.

The Humberts had a banner year in 1992. They bought the house next door and obtained a preschool license permitting them to care for up to 26 children. Separate housing allowed them to convert the yellow house exclusively for child care. This meant, among other things, restructuring the existing bathroom, which now has two toilets and two tiny, toddler-sized sinks. They also added another lavatory exclusively for staff use.

STC Connection

After 23 years in child care, Joe plans to return to his science-based roots. Those roots include technical writing as well as programming. In the mid-80’s, he programmed software learning games for preschoolers for the then-popular Commodore computers. As part of that effort, he wrote not only the programs, but also the ads, brochures, and instruction manuals. He hopes to reuse those skills to move from writing marketing material for his childcare business to writing technical manuals and web site copy after earning a Certificate for Technical Communication at UC Berkeley Extension. To help the transition, Gwaltney Mountford, one of his instructors, encouraged him to join STC and run for chapter treasurer.

A towheaded girl interrupts, persistently requesting a lost item. Joe laughs. He seems to know that he’ll soon be the one asking the persistent questions.

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