Head Start gets Golden K Gift

By: Addison Penfield

 10/15/2008

ASHEBORO—Members of the Randolph Golden K Kiwanis Club of Asheboro have made their annual contribution to the three-county Head Start Program administered by Asheboro-based Regional Consolidated Services (RCS).

            Earmarked for the purchase of children’s books used in the Reading Is Fun (RIF) phase of the preschool curriculum, a grant of $500 was presented to RCS Executive Director Janice Scarborough by Golden K President Charlie Robbins at the club’s regular weekly meeting (Tuesday, October 14).

Scarborough punctuated what has become her traditional October appearance before the group by distributing copies of the RCS Head Start Outcomes Report for last Spring. The report details progress achieved by classes conducted in Randolph, Alamance and Caswell counties by teachers employed by the agency. Scarborough noted that the State-License-Star Rating at the end of the program year showed four and five stars, reflecting the highest achievement levels. Also, three centers maintained accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

            For example: Scarborough pointed out that three-year-olds in Head Start increased their social emotional skills from 14% in the Fall of 2007 to 56% in the Spring of 2008. Over the same period, four-year-olds earned an increase from 52% to 88%.

            She told the Kiwanians that “96% of our Local Teachers have two or four-year degrees in Early Childhood Education or a related BA degree with additional early childhood courses.

            Some 443 preschool children are enrolled in the three counties; Scarborough reported there are 141 attending classes in Randolph County’s two sites at the Connie H. Redding Preschool Building in Asheboro and Head Start Station in Ramseur.

            The program feels the effects of a troubled economy, Scarborough said. “There has been no increase in federal funding for three years,” she explained, “and consequently we’re having to cut back.”

            It was necessary to suspend the Wrap Around program, a convenience for parents, because it was not needed at the time.

            Scarborough praised the Kiwanians for maintaining their interest in the Head Start children as demonstrated for years by the club members’ visits to classes in the county where they read aloud to an eager audience. “The children love you,” she said.

            One club member responded by saying he was “rewarded” when he saw the improvement in the children “from one visit to the next.”