NHSA

This story of accomplished alum Mike Holt, from the very first class of Head Start in 1965, was published in the Birmingham News on January 14, 2015.

"JWJ Head Start, we will always be together. We will never forget, all the lovely people we've met. You have treated us so kind, at our first day at school. Kind hearts, tender care, that's what we got here at Head Start," Sandra Chapman sang as she stood proudly on the stage preparing to graduate from James Weldon Johnson Head Start. It was only 2 ½ years earlier in the early 1970’s that Sandra remembers being so excited to attend school that she insisted on joining her sister at Head Start in Spanish Harlem, New York City.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Head Start this year, we shine a spotlight on those special alumni who have been there from the very beginning and are making a difference today. Ford Foundation President and Head Start Alum Darren Walker is among them. “Almost fifty years ago,” Darren said, “right around my fifth birthday, a young woman knocked on our door. She was from an organization called Head Start. And she gave me mine.

The Little Traverse Baby Bands Head Start Center of Michigan has a very strong relationship with the Native American Community.  Native American children account for 85% of those served and most reside on a nearby reservation or in local rural areas. 

Today’s alum, Don Owens, graduated from Dare County Head Start in 1978, in Manteo, North Carolina.

Throughout Head Start Awareness Month we will be spotlighting Alumni from across the country. Check back every weekday as we publish new stories!

Deion Sanders is a former Football and Baseball player. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 and currently works as an NFL Network analyst.

Chuck Mills attended Head Start in St. Louis, Missouri and Shreveport, Louisiana. “Head Start helped me not only live the American Dream,” Chuck said, “but to exceed the expectations of all of the social scientists and naysayers.”