HEAD START FOUNDING FATHERS, JOHN KERRY TO HELP MARK
40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS AT NHSA TRAINING CONFERENCE IN ORLANDO
WASHINGTON,
D.C.///May 18, 2005///The surviving founding fathers of Head Start and closing session speaker Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) are among the highlights of the 2005 National Head Start Association (NHSA) Annual Training Conference, which will take place May 24-27, 2005, in Orlando, Florida. The NHSA gathering is serving as the largest commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the successful and popular Head Start program, which gets America's most at-risk children ready to learn in kindergarten and beyond.
More than 5,000 Head Start educators and parents from across the United States will participate in the intensive five-day program, which includes more than 400 educational training sessions and several celebrations to mark the fourth decade of success for Head Start. During the NHSA gathering, the spotlight will focus at several points on Head Start success stories, including both students and parent volunteers.
Sen. Kerry will be the conference's main speaker at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 27, 2005, during the closing general session. Other major conference presenters include Head Start founding fathers Edward Zigler, PhD, and Robert E. Cooke, M.D. Professor Zigler is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Psychology and director of the Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University. Professor Zigler is often referred to as the "father of Head Start" due to his leadership role as a member of the National Planning and Steering Committee of Project Head Start. Dr. Cooke is Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at the State University of New York and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation. He was the chairman of Project Head Start's 1965 planning committee.
Other major speakers will include: Julius B. Richmond, M.D., former U.S. Surgeon General and first director/associate commissioner of Head Start; Samuel J. Meisels, Ed.D., president of Erikson Institute, a Chicago-based graduate school in child development; Michael Petit, president and founder, Vote for Kids and Every Child Matters Education Fund; Marjorie Kaplan, general manager, Discovery Kids; Barbara Bowman, Ph.D., founder and past president, Erikson Institute; Larry Schweinhart, Ph.D., president, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation; Betty Castor, former Florida state senator and commissioner of Education and founder and president, Campaign for Florida's Future; and Ron Herndon, chairman, Board of Directors, National Head Start Association and director, Albina Head Start program.
The credentialed news media is welcome to attend the NHSA annual training conference. For full program details, go to www.nhsa.org/training/annual_conference/32nd/ on the Web.
ABOUT NHSA
The National Head Start Association is a private not-for-profit membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting the needs of Head Start children and their families. It represents more than 900,000 children, 200,000 staff and 2,700 Head Start programs in the United States. The association provides support for the entire Head Start community by advocating for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children and their families; by providing extensive training and professional development to Head Start staff; and by developing and disseminating research, information and resources that enrich Head Start program delivery. Tell your success story as a Head Start graduate or volunteer parent at http://www.IGotAHeadStart.org.
CONTACT
Ailis Aaron, for NHSA, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com
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