 | | Future College Graduates at Brookhaven College Head Start Center |
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Greetings!
When we were in the process of completing our formal education, whether it was pre-school or college, we were always attempting to get the best grades. The same applies to Head Start of Greater Dallas. We are always in pursuit of attaining the best evaluations, the best center reports, the best post-assessments of our children, and the highest accomplishments of our parents and staff. February 28 marked the last day of our fiscal year and we look forward to presenting you with our 2010-11 Annual Report showcasing our efforts to impact lives throughout the community during this time. During this legislative session, we are also committed to keeping you abreast of the anticipated impact of federal budget cuts to Head Start and its impact at the local level. The facts as we know them currently are below, read of the potential impact on our work. Thank you for your continued support of Head Start, our mission and the families we serve. Sincerely, Wanda J. Smith Chief Executive Officer |
| Get Involved - Spark the Love of Reading Book Drive |
 Help Spark the Love of Reading in a Child this Spring
This spring, the Head Start Board of Directors is hosting the "Spark the Love of Reading" Book Drive to collect books for Head Start children to take home. Many children are not read to at home regularly. Having age-appropriate books parents can read to them is one step in the process of helping parents become their child's first teacher.
Week of the Young Child, April 10-15th the board of directors encourages the community to collect new or gently used books for ages 3-5 and drop them at the Head Start center nearest you. Locations can be found by visiting our website. For more information on how your office or community group can get involved, please call 972-283-6472 for more information. Together we can spark the love of reading for families across Dallas County. |
| Volunteer Spotlight - ATI/DNI Partnership |
 ATI/DNI Expands Partnership
ATI Schools and Colleges, a leader in helping people achieve better lifestyles through career education, has added to its family of career institutions the Dallas Nursing Institute (DNI), a vocational training provider dedicated to preparing students for success in their chosen nursing career. By joining the ATI family, DNI will help ATI Enterprises Inc. better meet the growing needs and demands of health care employers and the medical industry within the greater Dallas and north-central Texas region. ATI students, staff and executives gathered with HSGD staff to talk about the new expansion of the partnership and future direction. This is the expansion of an existing partnership and will result in more than $359,000 toward the required nonfederal amount Head Start is required to raise through in-kind, volunteer and monetary donations. The students began volunteering in February 2011. |
| Congressional Budget Cuts Impact Head Start |
 Federal Budget Cuts Affect Head Start at the Local Level The U.S. Congressional House is proposing major cuts to the Head Start program. Nationally, the proposed cuts would eliminate more than one billion from Head Start. The fact is that the impact in Dallas would be a 22 percent cut to the program or more than $7.38 million in Head Start funding.
Should the cuts come to pass as proposed, 915 Head Start of Greater Dallas (HSGD) children would lose the services provided by Head Start. The services include high-quality preschool education, nutrition and health services, family advocacy and services to families with special needs children. Most of these children would not have access to such care without Head Start.
While many unknowns still exist, the organization can keep the community up to date on the impact budget cuts would have on the children and families currently served.
If you would like to get involved, contact your congress person and let them know what Head Start means to you and your community.
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| Head Start Teacher is Honored in Mayoral Address |
Tina Roberson, Head Start Teach er and Advocate
Before being a teacher, she was a Head Start parent. Her story is shows the impact Head Start can have not only on a child's life but on their parents and families as well.
In 2004, Tina's youngest daughter Jocelyn started preschool at the Mesquite Head Start Center, now the Jerry R. Junkins Head Start Center. At the time, her other two children were in elementary school; she was unemployed and became a regular volunteer at the center. After months of volunteering in numerous areas in the center, a substitute teacher position became available and the teachers encouraged her to apply.
Tina became a substitute in 2005 and during that time worked towards her Child Development Associates certificate. She completed the course in three semesters by going to evening classes. Throughout the course, she completed the competency goals in 13 areas, formed her own resource file of materials, was observed, interviewed and finally passed a completion test. She was hired as a Teacher III in July 2005.
Head Start believes in educating every member of the family and paid for her CDA education. "Knowing that they were helping with the cost motivated me to realize the dreams I have had since high school of working with children. Now I have 18 children in my life that I get to teach, nurture and watch their love of learning grow because of Head Start," Tina said.
Click here to read the rest of Tina's story on our website.
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Support Head Start - Volunteer Today!
Head Start of Greater Dallas' mission is to provide children with the foundation of skills and knowledge they need to be successful in school and life and foster self-reliant families and communities. The agency receives 80 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families. Head Start of Greater Dallas generates the remaining 20 percent or nearly $8 million through contributions, grants, community donations, and volunteer hours each year. Your time volunteering is valuable. We can't reach this goal without the support of the community.To become a community volunteer, contact Deneeco Young at 972.283.6457, or visit our web site. Community contributions of time, leadership, finances and other resources are much appreciated and allow us to serve the growing demographic that needs us so much. With your support, Head Start families are able to receive a range of services that are far beyond the scope of the program.
To learn more about our mission and comprehensive services to more than 4,400 children in Dallas County, please visit our website at www.hsgd.org. |
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 | | Coat Drive Wrap Up: | The first annual Coats for Kids Coat Drive was a huge success. HSGD would like to thank our board of directors, generous supporters and local drop off locations for helping us keep so many of our children warm this winter.
Overall, 250 Head Start children received warm coats just in time for the chill of December and January and the ice and snow of February. We are so thankful for the continued kindness of our community.
For more information on how you or your business can get involved next year, please contact Deneeco Young at 972-283-6457.
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 | | Robbie Wilkerson-Jones Head Start Center is Out of This World! | |
We are so proud to share with you that the Robbie Wilkerson-Jones Head Start Center was chosen as one of NASA's Face in Space schools.
Their photo flew on board the Space Shuttle Discovery February 24-March 9th. This photo was 220 miles above Earth, and flew at a speed of more than 17,400 miles per hour.
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 | | MARK YOUR CALENDARS | April 10-15th is the Spark the Love of Reading Book Drive during the national Week of the Young Child. Visit our web site for more information coming soon.
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