LEOMINSTER — Little fingers gripping crayons and lots of kids excitedly showing off their creations was the scene at the library on Thursday, where many community members gathered for the annual Head Start Art Show.
There were lots of happy faces at the April 16 affair held in the community room at the Leominster Public Library. Head Start students and their teachers and loved ones milled around taking in all the beautiful art on display and happily chatting with each other.
Hosted by the Fitchburg based Making Opportunity Count Family Resource Center, the yearly tradition has become a favorite for everyone involved with Head Start, a nationwide program that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. According to Wikipedia it is the oldest and largest program of its kind and Head Start’s services and resources are designed to foster stable family relationships, enhance children’s physical and emotional well-being, and establish an environment to develop strong cognitive skills.
Five-year-old Theo Crispim was at the art exhibit with his parents Matt and Anna coloring a picture of a frog holding an umbrella. The young boy’s teacher Yoselin Ferreira has been teaching at the MOC Child Care and Head Start Center in Leominster for decades.
“My first students are now 31,” Ferreira said with a warm smile, adding that her own son was four years old when she began her Head Start career.
When asked how their Head Start experience has been overall for their family, Anna said “awesome” and shared that their 8-year-old daughter also went to the Leominster center in their hometown. And she was beaming when she disclosed that Theo, whose native tongue is Portuguese, “is speaking more and more English” thanks to his time there.
Ferreira warmly greeted Theo and his family and talked to her students, including four-year-old Arianna Morocho, who proudly showed off a three-dimensional canvas art she made with twigs and paint and glitter.
“I love the ages and to see their growth,” Ferreira said of what she enjoys most about teaching the 3- to 5-year-olds in her classroom.
MOC Chief Early Education Officer Nancy Mahone has been with the organization for 43 years, first as a Head Start teacher and now many years in her current role.
“The program was much smaller then,” she said. “I taught in the morning and did administrative work in the afternoons.”
Some of the beautiful art created by youngsters on display at the annual Head Start Art Show held on April 16 at the Leominster Public Library. (DANIELLE RAY/SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE)She reported that MOC oversees seven Head Start centers in the region — Leominster, Fitchburg, Clinton, Winchendon and three in Gardner — and that they serve over 400 children a year for preschool plus 100 more for childcare, which is offered through independent contractors.
Mahone said she enjoys “seeing what the program does for families” and shared that they have “a lot of success stories” — there are former Head Start students whose children are now in the program, and some have gone on to become Head Start teachers themselves.
Mahone was joined at the art exhibit by MOC Board of Directors member Maryann Kane, a retired Mount Wachusett Community College early education professor who instructed many of the Head Start teachers during her career.
“They are dedicated to what they are doing,” Kane said of seeing her role as an educator pay off in a very tangible way with her students’ accomplishments.
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