July 2023 - Idaho Business Review article ‘IHSA names new executive director’

The Idaho Head Start Association has recently announced Megan Woller as its new executive director in Boise.

Woller, an honoree of the Idaho Business Review’s Accomplished Under 40 list in 2022, holds a master’s in public administration and a bachelor’s in health education and promotion. Her expertise lies in program and partnership development, fundraising, grant writing, leadership, and event organizing.

With a background in multiple nonprofits, she has contributed to improving various issue areas, including nutrition security, intimate partner violence, youth substance misuse and community health. Woller is a member of the Boise State Latino Alumni Chapter and has served on the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force and Jesse Tree Boards of Directors.

“Having been raised in a low-income household in rural Idaho, I am impassioned to advocate for the families and little ones served by Head Start programs,” Woller said in a news release. “My priorities are to increase awareness and support of Head Start, provide transformative professional development and growth opportunities for Head Start staff and parents, and to identify new ways IHSA can be utilized in furthering the mission of Head Start.”

The Idaho Head Start Association (IHSA) is a statewide organization consisting of representatives from Head Start, Early Head Start, Migrant Head Start, and Tribal Head Start. Established as a nonprofit organization in 1995, IHSA supports Head Start programs through advocacy, partnerships, collaboration, recognition, and professional development to achieve high-quality outcomes for Idaho’s children, families and communities.

Head Start is a federal program that has been in place since 1965, providing no-cost preschool services to children ages 3 to 5 and their families. Early Head Start services cater to families with children aged birth to three, with some programs also serving expectant families.

Head Start programs are available across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, including Tribal and Migrant and Seasonal communities, reaching over 1 million children and their families annually in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Idaho boasts Head Start programs in all regions of the state.

Policy change means more Idaho families qualify for Head Start

Idaho Press June 5, 2022

A small change in Head Start policy is going to make a big difference in the lives of hungry Idaho families with babies and young children. The Idaho Head Start Association is forming new partnerships to get the word out and connect families to Head Start’s early childhood services.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on April 21 that children who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will now be considered eligible for Head Start and Early Head Start prenatal-to-five school readiness, nutrition and family support services. This decision increases the number of families that qualify for the free comprehensive Head Start program and eliminates burdensome paperwork that prevented families from applying. Approximately 22,000 children in Idaho are impacted according to 2020 data.

Head Start and Early Head Start services are provided by local programs in 39 Idaho counties. Making sure children aren’t hungry has been important since Head Start was established in 1965, and programs support breastfeeding, offer free formula to families, provide healthy meals and deliver critical nutrition support to families. Programs are currently accepting applications for the 2022/2023 school year.

Idaho Head Start officials will work with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, The Idaho Foodbank, local Head Start programs and other partners to ensure SNAP recipients are informed about Head Start services and understand they meet the eligibility requirements. Children who receive Temporary Assistance for Families in Idaho (TAFI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are already eligible. Children in foster care and those experiencing homelessness are also eligible to participate in Head Start programs.

Bill Foxcroft, Executive Director of the Idaho Head Start Association, celebrated the change. “Living in a food insecure household impacts the health of babies and young children and they may fail to reach developmental milestones,” he shared in a press release. “Head Start provides nutritious food to children along with a comprehensive school readiness curriculum that puts them on the road to success in school and life. Idaho’s hungry children must not be left behind. We applaud the decision by HHS.”

Heidi Caldwell, Executive Director of the Western Idaho Community Action Partnership (WICAP), said, “Inflation is eating into families’ paychecks and SNAP provides critical emergency support. Head Start helps parents get back on their feet by giving them time to work and pursue educational goals so they don’t need SNAP anymore. Streamlining the application process will make it much easier for these busy Idahoans to provide their children with high quality early learning services like WICAP provides in southwest Idaho.”

Parents and caregivers can visit the Idaho Head Start Association webpage at idahohsa.org to get in contact with their local Head Start program.

Head Start can change families' lives

By Karey Perkins Robles. Published March 6, 2022 in the Idaho Press

In 2019, I picked up a flier from Western Idaho Community Action Partnership (WICAP) Head Start at the laundromat and followed the directions to enroll my 4-year-old daughter. Little did I know how dramatically this small action would impact my life and the lives of my children. It’s time for the Idaho Legislature to approve funding that will allow Head Start to serve more Idaho families.

I knew the benefits of early childhood education and was glad when first Kayani then Hopey were accepted into the Emmett Head Start. What I didn’t know was that Head Start focused on more than children. It took a whole family approach. Trauma I had experienced caused severe anxiety that left me isolated and timid. My traumatic experiences also affected my parenting. I wanted better for my children, but I was unsure of myself and how to create change. Head Start has been the change.

Head Start prepared Kayani for kindergarten where she’s thriving. My younger daughter Hopey only spoke about 20 words when she was 2, and early intervention from the Early Head Start staff made a profound difference. Hopey became engaged in learning and her vocabulary quickly grew to over 100 words.

Kayani and Hopey are just two of the thousands of children WICAP Head Start has helped. Established in 1966 they operate 10 centers in six counties.

The staff encouraged me to start volunteering at school. I overcame my fear and started learning about early childhood development. I learned to be the parent my children needed me to be. I decided to take advantage of the many opportunities Head Start provided.

My low self-esteem melted away as I was elected to numerous positions including chairperson of the WICAP Head Start Policy Council, and, recently, as the vicechair of the Idaho Head Start Association Board. I continue to add marketable skills to my resume. The negative mindset that once consumed me has been replaced with positive beliefs and self-confidence. My fear about the future is gone and excitement for life’s possibilities shines bright. I found purpose.

Head Start has changed my life, and I know it can impact other families as well. On behalf of those families I urge the Idaho Legislature to approve Gov. Brad Little’s request to allocate $3 million of federal funds to allow WICAP and other Idaho Head Start programs to serve more families.

Karey Perkins Robles is a wife and mother of four girls and lives in Emmett. She serves as chair of the WICAP Head Start Policy Council, vice chair of the Idaho Head Start association board, and as a member of the Thriving Families Safer Children Coalition.

Grandkids Blossomed in Head Start

Bonners Ferry Herald

By STEVE STUEBNER Contributing Writer
| February 4, 2021 1:00 AM

When Tom Jones decided to move from Texas to Bonners Ferry to meet up with a woman friend, Kelli, he had romantic intentions in mind. If things worked out, he was thinking about moving to Idaho.

A lawyer by trade, Jones went to a Boy Scout Jamboree at Farragut State Park in 1969 as a kid. The beautiful setting made a lifelong impression, and he thought, “Someday I’m going to live in Idaho.”

Then he got a chance Facebook message from Kelli, whom he had met in his 20s. Jones remembered Kelli, and he immediately set out to help her with some business and legal issues.

“I was like, oh yeah, I remember her. Oh yeah,” Jones said. “I was wrapping up a legal case, and I came up to visit in Bonners Ferry. Pretty quickly, we started dating.” Soon afterwards, Jones proposed to Kelli on New Year’s Eve. She said “Yes!”

Both Kelli and Tom had grown children. But one of Kelli’s daughters, a mother of three young children, was not able to provide a suitable home for her kids. Not long after getting married, Tom and Kelli Jones obtained permanent custody of her daughter’s three children. “They’ve been with us now for four years,” he says.

“It wasn’t what we had planned, but it’s what God had planned for us,” Kelli Jones quipped.

North Idaho College Head Start Sparked Learning

Soon afterwards, they enrolled the two oldest kids, Kaylee and Rayna, in Head Start at the Julian Bucher Center in Bonners Ferry. The center is operated by North Idaho College Head Start. They were able to qualify for the program through their grandchildren’s parents’ financial situation. Typically, families must meet federal low-income guidelines to qualify.

Jones was immediately impressed with the early-childhood education that the girls received at Head Start.

“Kaylee just thrived in Head Start,” he says. “She really started to love learning. She was a naturally curious kid, and she was constantly asking us questions. She had a lust to learn everything. The early spark at Head Start has continued in her enthusiasm for elementary school.”

Jones liked the combination of things the kids learned at Head Start, including art and music activities.

“Head Start was perfect for her,” he says. “I liked the learning experiences they were providing to her, and I liked the teachers. It was a half-day of classroom activities, and then we’d talk about what she learned on a 30-minute drive back to our farm.”

Everyone Has Chores on the Farm

In the midst of raising the three grandchildren full-time, Kelli and Tom settled on a 20-acre farm, known as Bent Tree Farm Idaho. They turned it into a small business where they raise cattle, pigs, chickens and bees. At harvest time, they sell free-range, non-GMO beef, pork and eggs, in addition to honey from the bees.

“We love it here on the farm. It’s a beautiful, lovely place,” he says. “It’s a great place to live.”

That also means the grandkids learn responsibility from doing daily chores on the farm. Kaylee and Rayna help with the farm chores, and they also have responsibility to take care of two of the family’s four dogs. Kaylee takes care of Chloe, a chihuahua, and Rayna cares for Lulu, a corgi.

“Having regular farm chores definitely builds character and helps build their work ethic,” Kelli Jones says.

“On Saturdays, we kick them out of the house and tell them to go play – use your imagination. See you at lunch,” Tom Jones says. “They run all over the farm and have fun.”

Grandparents Learn and Grow Too

As part of having their grandkids in Head Start, Tom Jones got involved as a parent volunteer, first on the policy council with other parents, guiding local Head Start activities at the Julian Bucher Center in Bonners Ferry. And then he was tapped to serve as a parent representative on the Idaho Head Start Association’s Board of Directors for two years.

Following that service, he’s now serving as a parent representative from the Northwest Region (Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho) on the National Head Start Association Board of Directors.

“Tom is a leader with high integrity and ideals,” said Bill Foxcroft, executive director of the Idaho Head Start Association. “I nominated him to the national board because he has been such an asset to me with his deep belief in Head Start, his perspective as a Head Start grandparent, his intelligence and his insights gained from his life experiences. I have been fortunate to have him on my team.”

By virtue of serving on the IHSA board, Jones visits the Idaho Statehouse during the legislative session and talks to lawmakers about the value of early-childhood education.

“It’s important to take the time to talk to legislators about the value of education for these young kids,” Jones says. “I like to put it in economic terms. And I tell them that early-childhood education is the smartest thing you can do for these kids. Head Start gets them interested and excited about learning. Head Start reaches them when they’re young, from age 3 to 5 before they go to Kindergarten.

“If you get them started correctly, that lust for learning will last a lifetime. You get them off of Medicaid, and they become an asset to society,” he says. “That’s what will happen with our daughter, Kaylee. She’s excited about learning; she loves to read. She’s a real go-getter who’s going to succeed in life.”

Passion for Head Start Spurs Advocacy

Despite their busy life running a farm and raising three grandkids, Kelli Jones said she’s not surprised that her husband has volunteered at the local, state and national level for Head Start.

“He’s very passionate about our children’s education, and he’s very grateful for the changes that Head Start has brought for our kids,” Kelli Jones said.

All three of their grandkids have gotten inspired by NIC Head Start, she says.

Rayna, the second grand-daughter, “she just blossomed in Head Start. She really found her own voice and become her own person at Head Start. She made her own friends, so she’s really grown both socially and academically.”

Their grandson, Malichi, 3, is in his first year at NIC Head Start. He’s been a quiet kid, a little slow in developing speech skills, she said. Through his education at Head Start, Malichi’s speech has improved, and “his confidence has increased. He’s doing great,” Kelli Jones says.

Kelli and Tom Jones expect to raise the children to adulthood. “The children have blossomed at Head Start, and we could encourage anybody to try to get their children into this program if given the opportunity,” Kelli Jones says.

Three grandchildren thrive at Head Start and at home

Three grandchildren thrive at Head Start and at home

Even the youngest can help with farm chores

Even the youngest can help with farm chores

Reading is encouraged at Head Start and at home

Reading is encouraged at Head Start and at home

Bent Tree Farm

Bent Tree Farm

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