STUDENTS in the Head Start program of M.U. Lujan Elementary sang “I’m a Head Start Kid” for Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio, dignitaries, and parents after Tenorio proclaimed October as Head Start Awareness Month yesterday morning.
Head Start Awareness Month strives to educate the community on how important the formative years of a child’s life are and how the Head Start program can help the child to develop.
Guam Department of Education Superintendent Jon Fernandez said: “The Head Start program is just phenomenal because it provides the support and the education for our youngest children and involves the parents.”
Catherine Schroeder, program director of Head Start, said the program not only develops children, but the parents as well.
There will be a “Take it Outside!” week from Oct. 15 to 19 to encourage children to participate in healthy outdoor activities to explore nature, improve health, and learn. Activities will be planned by each Head Start center.
In addition, Oct. 20 to 21 has been scheduled as “Remembrance Weekend” to support the Head Start initiative of working with faith-based organizations.
From Oct. 22 to 26, reading will be celebrated with Family Literacy Week during which parents are encouraged to participate in story times at their child’s Head Start center.
Other activities
A parade will also celebrate Head Start pride at each center on Oct. 24 during which Head Start children will march around their school with banners wearing red, white and blue.
The month will wrap up with the Families in Motion Parent Conference and an Open House.
The Families in Motion Parent Conference is on Oct. 27 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The location of the conference has not yet been confirmed. The conference provides annual parent training and includes parents, family members, staff, and clients of community partners.
All Head Start centers will be hosting an Open House from Oct. 29 to 31. The Central Office will host its Open House on Wednesday, Oct. 21 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Head Start success stories and photographs from former or current Head Start children and parents or family members will be presented at the conference and the Open House. The deadline for submissions is Oct. 15.
Finally, parent, child or parent and child projects or artworks are being collected for display at the parent conference and at the Central Office Open House. The deadline for this is on Oct. 19.
