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Minot Head Start has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Head Start program with gusto, director Karen Knowles told members of the Kiwanis on Tuesday.
The program, which serves preschoolers with disabilities and from low-income families, has been in Minot since 1968. The Kiwanis is donating funds that will help the local Head Start program afford much-needed laptops.
Knowles said during the Kiwanis meeting that the program has measurable benefits for young children. It helps improve vocabulary, a child’s ability to pay attention, and helps parents become comfortable with advocating for their children at the school level. While they are in Head Start, children also receive vision, dental and health and developmental screenings from medical professionals. Knowles said the program also stresses parental involvement and has held fun nights for dads and kids. Parents serve on a council.
There are also challenges for the program, such as increased grant requirements and changing requirements for oversight of the Head Start program. It has been a challenge to keep the program staffed, in part because of lower wages than is typical locally. Knowles also said there’s a changing demographic, with more children in the program speaking foreign languages, which sometimes makes it a challenge to find translators. Knowles said she has also seen an increase in the homeless population. Some of those families double up in houses, switch houses frequently or live in recreational vehicles.
The program has locations in Minot, at Mohall and at Minot Air Force Base. The Minot Public School District maintains the Minot location. The Head Start building was renovated after it was damaged in the 2011 Souris River flood. The Head Start program in Mohall is located in the Mohall school. Knowles said the locations are pretty good compared with other Head Start facilities she has worked at elsewhere, including one building in another state that had black mold.
Knowles told the Kiwanis that she is also hopeful that the state Legislature might consider funding for Head Start programs for 4-year-olds.