Nov 17, 2002 By Steve Ostrosky 4 min read

GREENSBORO – While dignitaries from Greene County and Community Action Southwest came together Friday to formally open the new Penn-Pitt Head Start/Early Head Start Center, it was the kids who stole the show. Leading the event with the Pledge of Allegiance, singing the alphabet and other songs, children in the Head Start program entertained those who gathered to tour the new facility. One of them so impressed Greene County Commission chairman Dave Coder, he joked that the little guy might be his running mate as he runs for re-election next year.

Coder joined his fellow commissioners in touring the facility, which opened in April and served 50 children, 38 in Head Start and 12 in Early Head Start. Coder, a Mapletown graduate, said he was pleased to see Penn-Pitt once again filled with the sounds of children’s voices.

“Head Start is a very important program in Greene County, and I appreciate the cooperation of Community Action Southwest and the Southeastern Greene School District to make all this happen here,” he said. “This truly is great for the community and for the county.”

Doug Kovach, Head Start/Early Head Start director for Community Action Southwest, said the Penn-Pitt site has one of only five classrooms in the state in which state funds were used to pay for a teacher, an aide and for services to 18 children. He said the facility has been a labor of love for the community, school district, county and state, and CAS could not have asked for a better site.

“This building is very developmentally appropriate,” he said. “The atmosphere, from the playground to the classrooms, is to support children and families.”

Frankie Crider, mother of two children in the program, said Head Start and Early Head Start have given her and her children opportunities that they might not have had otherwise. In fact, Crider has taken on such an involved role at Penn-Pitt that she serves on the agency’s policy council and is a parent representative to Community Action Southwest’s board of directors.

“I really enjoy what Head Start has done for me,” she said. “I am so impressed with this that my goal is to be working for Community Action Southwest to help other people the way they have helped me.”

Crider said her 5-year-old daughter Maria, born premature, had at one time been given only a 10 percent chance to live. Today, she said, she has watched her daughter achieve and improve as a result of being involved in the program.

CAS has 14 sites with 28 classrooms in Washington and Greene counties, with six sites and 12 classrooms in Greene. Children in the program meet 61/2 hours every day, five days a week, 12 months a year.

Unfortunately, not every parent and child who needs the services Head Start and Early Head Start provide are able to receive them, Kovach said. He said the development of Penn-Pitt enabled several children to come off the waiting list, but there are still more waiting for service.

“Money is just not available to serve every eligible child,” Kovach said. “Communities need to advocate statewide and nationwide to increase Head Start awareness and funding.”

Darlene Bigler, CAS executive director, said Early Head Start is still in its early stages, but Penn-Pitt features an Early Head Start socialization site and parent meeting room to offer more for parents and children.

She thanked officials with the school district for their help in turning a vacant elementary school back into a part of the community.

Head Start is a social service program for families that is funded primarily through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and focuses on a variety of needs, including education, nutrition, mental health, disability services and social services. For more information, call Community Action Southwest at 724-222-9100 or 800-437-1943.