Head Start classes and home visits began this week in the nine-county Green Hills area, including Daviess County.
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Head Start classes and home visits for the fall term will begin Tuesday, Aug. 24, in the nine- county Green Hills area.
Head Start, sponsored by North Central Missouri College of Trenton, operates 11 centers and seven home base programs in this region. The centers are located in Bethany, Brookfield, Chillicothe, Hamilton, Gallatin, Milan, Trenton and Unionville. In addition, Home Visitors visit rural homes throughout the nine-county area bringing educational activities to children and families in their homes.
Begun in 1965 as a part of the War on Poverty, Head Start has since provided comprehensive child and family development services to millions of children. Studies have shown that Head Start has made an impressive impact not only on improving each child’s success in school, but on their preventative health care, nutritional habits, and upon their parents as well.
Direct involvement of parents in the Head Start program has given families a greater role in the development of their children. Head Start has also had a strong impact on the training and employment of parents. More than one-third of Head Start staff are current or former Head Start parents, many of whom are certified by or trainees of the Child Development Associate (CDA) program. Large proportions of parents achieve educational and employment goals while in Head Start with the assistance of the literacy efforts incorporated in the regular Head Start services.
The local program, which is funded to serve 280 children, at least 10% of whom receive special services because of disabilities, provides early education activities designed to prepare the children for public school. Each child obtains medical and dental examinations, and parents are helped to bring the child’s immunizations up to date before kindergarten. “To clarify our objective for school readiness, Head Start focuses energy on the entire child, his family and his environment, rather than exclusively his ability to count to ten,” commented Beverly Hooker, Head Start Director.
In Gallatin, children attend full-day classes Tuesday through Friday. Karla Michener, Teacher/FSA, directs the center-based services at the Gallatin Center located at 502 South Olive. Other staff members are Vicky Hiley and Susan Hill, Teacher Aides; Madelynn Adkison, Cook; and Carolyn Calhoon, Driver/Aide.
For more information, contact Karla Michener, 660-663-8976.