In rural Alaska, the federally funded Head Start preschool program has helped parents earn college degrees
Family Educator Angie Malafronti gathers part of her classroom to release butterflies on the last day of school at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska. She was a teenager, and the mother of a 2-year-old, when a knock came on the door of her trailer. Two women were there to tell her about a federally funded preschool program calledthat was opening near her home in Chugiak.
“I learned so much," says Bayne, now 65. "How to take care of my children, how to advocate for them, how to have a voice for myself. ... They help you move forward to become a better person.”helped them earn degrees working at the nearby Target, which hiked its pay during the pandemic. And not when, with the same credentials, they can get a better-paying job at the local school district.of Head Start teachers left their jobs, some retiring early and others lured away by higher-paying work in retail or at school districts.
“It’s just tragic,” says Mark Lackey, executive director of CCS Early Learning. “There’s so many more kids we could be serving.” Kendra Mitchell, whose mother had her at 16, also went to Head Start, and sent her son Wayne to the Meadow Lakes school. He’ll head to kindergarten next year, but she said she’s seen how it’s shaped both his life – and hers.
That last week, there were small signs things were coming to a close. The classroom walls, still brightly decorated, were no longer draped with student art. On the final day, staff tried to keep things cheerful and celebratory, even as they struggled to maintain composure.
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