Regional Managers Patrick DeCelles and Terri Fackrell attended the National Head Start Association Winter Leadership Institute in Washington D. C. the last week of January 2019. They attended sessions related to: EHS, Social Media, Childhood Trauma, Generations in the workforce, Homelessness, Funding, Connecting with local school and Developing partnerships in the community.
They also had the opportunity to meet with our Oregon Congressional leadership teams: Senator Wyden’s office, Senator Merkley and Representative DeFazio’s to thank them for their continued support of federal funding for Head Start, To discuss the need for increased funding for teacher wages, for a re-calibration of the poverty guideline levels. Senator Wyden’s office also noted that they were introducing a bill to gather funding for school buildings and that they would see how Head Start might be able to access these funds to support our facility development needs.
Another key element we gathered from the Institute was the need for consistent messages about the strengths of Head Start when telling our story. The strengths we can highlight include:
- Our comprehensive approach-we’re not just working with children-we are also working with parents and communities.
- Our inclusive supportive mindset-We have a deep respect for each child, parent and teacher we support.
- Our commitment to continuous improvement-We are constantly learning from each other, and bring the best ideas forward.
- Our Focus on the ‘Whole Child’-We are not just teaching children the basics of early education to prepare them for school. We’re teaching them the basics to prepare them for life.
