From the Director

Wow! The program year will be ending soon! The children are preparing for Closing

Celebrations and are eagerly anticipating summer vacation. When I visit sites and

see how much the children have grown, I am amazed! It's hard to believe these are

the same little ones that graced the doors of Head Start in August. They are more

confident, more poised, ready for the next phase of their educational journey.

Teachers have been working hard and it shows.

I am eternally grateful for the parents who have entrusted their

children to us; for the teachers who have worked tirelessly to

prepare these students, for family service workers and all they

have done and continue to do to support parents, children and

teachers; for the drivers who transport our children; for the

cooks who come in early to ensure children are fed nutritious

meals; for the janitors for keeping our buildings clean and

ready for the children; for center managers who work to keep

centers running smoothly; and education specialists for as-

sessing, observing, modeling and supporting teachers and

children.

Thanks to everyone for making this year great!!!!

Jefferson County Committee For Economic Opportunity

Child Development Services Division

Newsletter For and About the JCCEO Head Start-Early Head Start Program and Its Families

Volume 9914, Issue 4 May 2015

Carmelita Poindexter

Director, Child Development Services

The first annual Alabama Governors’ Early Childhood Education Leader-

ship Summit convened in Montgomery, AL. on February 19, 2015. The

Summit highlighted the importance of the first five years in a child’s for-

mation as the critical years that form a foundation for school success. The

Summit referenced how Alabama has become a forerunner in utilizing

this research to consistently formulate systems to support the early years

through partnerships with state, corporate, and government partners.

Hosts for this event included the Alabama Head Start Collaboration office, Alabama Department of Human Re-

sources, and Alabama Partnership for Children. The over 300 attendees were welcomed with an overflowing room of early childhood advocates all

ready to cheer on the achievements of Alabama’s early childhood victories. Dr. Calvin Moore, Alabama Department of Human Resources State

Child Care Services Director emceed the event and also led a panel discussion with both state and national leaders. The presenters for the event

included leaders in early childhood brain development, and Linda Smith, from the U.S. Department of Education and Human Services, spoke on

the importance of Child Care and Early Head Start forging together to support the Early Head Start/Child Care Partnerships throughout the nation.

Child Development Services staff from JCCEO that were in attendance included: Carmelita Poindexter; Deputy Director of Child Development

Services, Diane Gibson, Education Coordinator, and Salaam Green, Associate Head Start Director.

JCCEO

Mission Statement

JCCEO seeks to reduce

poverty and help low-

income citizens of Jef-

ferson County, Ala-

bama to meet critical

needs and become self-

sufficient.

Executive Director

Dr. Marquita F. Davis

Associate Directors

Patricia A. Schmidt

Salaam Green

Family Days See center cal-

endars

Head Start Closing Ceremonies

May 13, 14, 18, & 19

See center calendars

Child Care Partner-ship Centers Open

June 1

Last Day for Early Head Start children

July 31

Hello Parents,

The end of the school year is approaching but we are still just as busy

as ever. The Transition Workshops to prepare our families for the

next step have been completed; our local education partners came out

and provided great information for those parents entering into the public

schools system for the first time.

The Annual Health Fair was held at Kingston and was fabulous! One

of our parents at Kingston, Mr. Joseph Kelley, father of Ajani Kelly, won

the coveted Regions bicycle. Several other parents won Walmart gift

cards and T-shirts. Congratulations to all of you. Everyone had a great

time. If you missed it, plan to attend next year.

We extend a sincere thank you to all of the community partners who set

up tables with information and goodies. A special thanks to Mrs. Flore-

sha Boyd, Marketplace Coordinator with Regions Bank, for facilitat-

ing the donation of the Regions Bicycle. We look forward to inviting

them and all of our partners back again next year.

The Parenting Classes were completed and the reviews were great.

Family Guidance provided incentives for those with perfect attendance.

These opportunities are provided to support our parents and help build

positive parent-child relationships. Please let us know if there are any

particular areas of interest to you.

The Grandparents Support Group closed out with a lively game of

Bingo! It was an opportunity to just have some fun and get to know one

another. Several grandparents won Walmart gift cards and shared

some wonderful stories about their lives. We will miss you guys over

the summer.

There are so many opportunities for you to be a part of your child‘s

Head Start experience. If you have not been as active this year as you

would have liked, make a commitment to become more engaged for the

rest of the year, over the summer, and in the coming school year. There

is much to be done. We need you to assist with the planning and imple-

mentation of all events. Your voice is most important as we explore

ways to serve you and your family educationally, socially, and in other

areas of need and interest.

Finally, thanks to the Parent Engagement-Social Service Specialists,

Ms. Watkins, Ms. Hampton, Ms. Weatherspoon, Ms. Swift and Mr. John-

son, for their support and hard work throughout the year as we plan and

implement programs to serve our Head Start families and the commu-

nity.

Have a great summer!

Michelle McAlpine, M.Ed., LPC-S

Parent Engagement—Social Services Coordinator

Page 2

JCCEO Asset Building and Housing Counsel-ing Coordinator Andre Taylor presented Fi-nancial Literacy Workshop during the Head Start Health and Resource Fair. April was National Financial Literacy Month.

Ms. McAlpine prepares to give away the bike Regions Bank donated.

THE JCCEO HEAD START-EARLY HEAD START PROGRAM TAKES THIS OPPORTU-

NITY TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND THANK ALL OF OUR PARENTS FOR THE VOLUNTEER WORK THEY DO. Included are Samantha Roubdioux (Kaydance) and Kiara Holt (K‘shon) who decorated tee-shirts for the ‗Busy Bees‘ class to wear at St. Francis Center‘s Family and Fun Day event; and Beatrice Cruz (Cinthia) who helped plan the Cinco De Mayo celebration at St. Francis Center. ALL OF YOU GET A GOLD STAR.

Shawanna Miller, Makel and Michael’s mom

(Kingston), who has a new job at Walmart as a

cashier.

Tremesha Clark, mother of Dwayne and Eric

(Kingston), on her new job in Guest Services

at Holiday Inn Express.

Janelle Jackson, mother of Tyrell (Kingston),

on her new job as a server at Chan Lees res-

taurant.

Keana Banks, mother of Navaeh (Kingston)

who has a new job as a cashier at Walmart.

Kerry Colin-Greaves, Taylor and Tristan’s

mom (Kingston), who has a new job as a

server at Barristers Beauty and Barber Salon.

Belinda Ramos, Lowrenzo and Miguel’s

mother (Kingston), on her new job as Head

Start teacher aide at JCCEO Kingston Center.

Page 3

Mr. Erick, made tee-shirts for his son Erick, Jr.’s class at Calloway Center to wear on Family Day, and spent time doing water play with the chil-dren in Ms. Mays and Thomas’ class.

Former Head Start Policy Council Rep-resentative Andria Gibbs shares im-portant lessons learned during new staff orientation at JCCEO, where she was recently hired as a teacher aide.

Parents, children and staff came dressed in tradi-tional clothing, prepared traditional food, and played traditional

games to celebrate the Mexican holi-day at St. Francis Center.

Earth Jamesse Bassett, Ke Ke Evans, and

LaKeitha Watts-Payne were among the parents who volunteered at Calloway Center

to plant flowers with children and staff on Earth Day.

Day

A workshop

was held on

April 15 to

help par-

ents with

the transition to kindergarten. Par-

ents were especially encouraged

to volunteer at the school and stay

involved in their children‘s educa-

tion. During Earth Day the children

planted flowers around the flag

pole. Parents and teachers con-

tributed seeds and flowers and

assisted children with the plantings

(pictures on page 3). Calloway

Center showed parents how much

they are appreciated by hosting an

appreciation breakfast on

May 1. Parents dined on

grits with all the trim-

mings, and enjoyed so-

cializing with other fami-

lies and staff. Closing

Celebrations were held on

May 13-14; the children

demonstrated what they

learned through singing,

dancing, and recitations.

Reporter, Blanche

Townsend, teacher aide;

Photographer, Veronica Minor, teacher

Calloway

Cluster

During the Week of the Young Child West Center Street Center was excited to welcome Officer Camp-bell of the Birmingham Po-

lice Department. The center also hosted cartoon charac-ters to entertain. Thanks to Renee, owner of Partyol-ogy,for sponsoring the performance for the children. Re-porter, Lecia Curry, teacher

At Arrington Center, teacher Ms. Dowdell lets children practice putting in their lunch-room code, a transi-

tion activity to help them get ready for kindergarten.

Debra Schneider, Director of the CHIPS Center at Children‘s of Alabama, visited the Fairmont Center to talk with the children about body safety and feelings. Brothers of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. volun-teered by reading a story to every classroom. Many thanks to Ms Schneider, the fraternity, and everyone who helped to make our Week of the Young Child a very special occasion. Reporters, Takeia Ford, teacher aide and Othessa Morris, center manager

Fairmont

Cluster

Kingston Center played host to the agency-wide Head Start Health and Resource Fair in April. Attendees were able to get blood sugar and blood

pressure checks. They also received valuable infor-mation from many avail-able resources in the Jef-ferson County community. Reporter, Cassandra Fra-zier, office mgr.

West Center

Street Cluster

Page 4

Kingston

Cluster

Children in Ms. Thedford’s class had a

blast dying eggs for Easter.

Teacher Ms. Hamilton

passes out goodies to the

lucky children on St. Pat-

rick’s Day.

Teachers Kenya Watts and

Sammeika Thomas class

hosted an event Pizza with Dad.

Thanks for the great participa-

tion from 9 moms and 12 dads.

At Lipscomb Center

Reta Haynes, Principal

of Lipscomb Elemen-

tary School read G is

for Goat to the class

during the Week of the Young Child. Children en-

joyed the story, and asked and answered lots of

questions about the story.

Cinco De Mayo Day was a won-

derful celebration at St. Francis

Center. Thanks to all of the par-

ents who attended and partici-

pated in making it a really special

activity. (more pictures on page 3)

St. Francis

Cluster

Children dressed in traditional clothing pic-tured with Bilingual Specialist Barbie Swift

Page 5

Birmingham Mayor Bell read The Kissing Hand

Berlinda Mill-house from Alabama Power Co. visited Ms. Pouncy & Valencia’s class to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Former U of Alabama quarterback Blake Sims talked about staying in school and being positive. Mr. Millican, owner of Century Plaza Mall read JamBerry.

Tarrant City Police Dept.

JCCEO Board of Directors mem-ber Charles Tyler & Miles College President Dr. French read The Little Engine That Could

Ronald McDon-ald, with chil-dren in Ms. Rice & Ms. Edwards’ class

Partyology characters entertained

Officer Campbell

West Center Street Center

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity members with children and Center Manager Othessa Morris

Ms. Schneider from CHIPS does skit with Emmaly about stranger danger.

Ms. Schneider uses stuffed animals to talk about feelings.

Bessemer Mayor Gulley read The Nap-ping House

Hard Center

Festival Center

Tarrant Center Calloway Center

Fairmont Center

Our Teachers Are Parents, Too! Day-o, Da-a-ay-o! The song from the movie Beetle Juice is a U-Tube sensation and a big hit with the children once their teacher Trayshay Myricks, starts singing it. They want to learn and sing it too. That spontaneity is one of the things that makes Ms. Myricks so much fun for the children and a great teammate. She works hard to give the chil-dren the same good experience her daughter Morgan had in the program.

Though she is now 7 and in elementary school, Morgan still asks to come back to Head Start sometimes. Ms. Myricks has been with JCCEO about 5 years but is in her first year in the Festival Cluster, where her flexibility has allowed her to fit right in. Besides singing, she loves to dance, so music and movement activities are favorites. But she loves to read with the children, too, especially the rhythmic books like Pete the Cat.

Children in Ms. Jackson, Chine and Richardson’s class (Fairmont Center)

participated in several science related events through the PNC project this

year. Here, they are experimenting with air led by McWane Center staff.

CLASS SCORE COMPARISON 2015

JCCEO teachers continue to shine on the CLASS assessment, with scores that are above the national average in Classroom Organization and Instructional Support, and within the national range in Emotional Support.

Page 6

Congratu-lations to Head Start Pre-K teacher aide Mr. Harrell Sherrod

who was selected to receive the Ralph Beeson Education Scholarship for scholastic achievement in the M.S.E. Policy, Organization and Leadership program at Samford University!

A New Era: Child Care Partner teaching staff joined traditional Early Head Start-Head Start staff at intro-ductory training session. JCCEO will launch the historic childcare partnership in col-laboration with the Alabama Department of Human Re-sources and the Birmingham Housing Authority. Centers at Cooper Green and Elyton Vil-lage will open June 1.

Taking It To The House

By Veronica Minor, Teacher

Parents are so creative! Rosie Bradley, a retired teacher and grandmother of Javan at Calloway Center, made a refrigerator

that had a working light in it! Parents were given a choice with the food/nutrition take-home activity to either make a refrigerator and put healthy food in it or make a collage of healthy food. Parents had a great time doing the activity with their children. Another example was the refrigerator Mr. Short and his daughter Cassie made which included real food! I wish you could see how creative these parents were with this assignment.

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Emotional Support

Classroom Organization

Instructional Support

JCCEO

National

By Kelly Grantham,

Nutrition Coordinator

327 –7500

Nutrition News

Better Bodies

Page 7

The Nutrition Component celebrated

―National Nutrition Month‖ with reminders

to choose healthy snacks and limit or omit

sugary

drinks.

We are

asking

our par-

ents to

help us

serve as

role

models

by drink-

ing water

instead

of sodas

and sugary drinks. JCCEO nutrition staff

are also partnering with UAB Preventive

Medicine in researching ways to reduce

health disparities in African-American

caregivers and preschool children. We

thank you for your continued support and

hope you enjoy your summer! Remember

to limit fast foods and make healthy snack

choices!

Dr. Crystal Spivey, DrPH

Health Coordinator, 327-7530

What is National Children’s

Mental Health Awareness Week?

National Children Mental Health Awareness week was May 3rd

-9th. . It was an entire week dedicated to teaching people

about children‘s mental health, advocating for improvement of

services, and celebrating

all the work that has been

done in the past.

JCCEO Head Start/Early

Head Start/Pre-K pro-

gram celebrated the hope

and strength of children,

youth, and families

through a week of activi-

ties. Each center re-

ceived an activity book on

mental health to be sent

home with the children.

Our theme was ―Mental

Health is Fundamental‖

and our goal was to raise

awareness and challenge

the stigma surrounding

mental health. On Mon-

day, May 4th, we kicked-

off our week-long celebration by engaging in activities geared

toward raising awareness about children‘s mental health.

Monday – Express by drawing pictures to convey feelings

Tuesday – Exercise to improve our mental health

Wednesday – Engage in conversations to reduce the stigma

associated with mental health

Thursday – ―It‘s Time to Go Green‖ to demonstrate our sup-

port by wearing green.

Friday – Educate parents and community about the impor-

tance of mental health

For more information about mental health please visit the fol-

lowing websites:

www.iristhedragon.com (books on mental health)

www.samhsa.gov/children

Children and teaching staff visit with Dr. Spivey on ‘Go Green’ Thursday at JCCEO Head Start Tarrant Center, to support Chil-dren’s Mental Health Awareness Week.

It’s Chemical Positive thoughts cause the body to re-lease feel-good hormones. Think about your blessings even during bad times to

reduce stress and feel happier!

The Promise of Community Action Community Action changes people’s lives, embodies the spirit of hope, im-proves communities, and makes Amer-ica a better place to live. We care about the entire community, and we are dedi-

cated to helping people help themselves and each other.

Page 8

JCCEO Head Start-Early Head Start-Pre-K Program

Family Services Resources for You

GED Online: Adult education classes are

offered by Lawson State Community College and the Family Guidance Cen-

ter for Families in Jefferson County. Call 929-6481 for more information.

Employment Opportunities: Open an account with Alabama Local JobNet-

work to get listings of jobs you qualify for. Job openings will be sent directly

to your email address as new openings are announced. To set up your per-

sonal account, call 877-343-8181 or go to www.metrobirminghamjobs.com

FYI.

Special Children, Special Support: Parent -to- Parent program matches

families with similar experiences for one-on-one emotional support and as-

sists in finding resources for families of children with special health care, dis-

ability of mental health issues. Contact Parent Connection Network of Ala-

bama 1-800-846-3697 or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/p2p AL/.

SAVE GAS, GET PAID!!

COMMUTE SMART CONTACT

JENIESE HOSEY, 205-264-8406

Congratulations to the Head Start Midfield Center which earned

NAEYC re-accreditation this spring. Accreditation is good for five years, providing programs remain in good standing.

100% of JCCEO centers are NAEYC ac-credited. Visit www.naeyc.org to learn more about best practices in childcare for young children. Be sure to visit the section designed especially for families.

Congratulations to

Victoria Terry, former

JCCEO Head Start

student, on her ac-

ceptance into the

Jefferson County In-

ternational Baccalau-

reate (JCIB) school

for the 2015-2016

school year. Her love

of reading was in-

stilled in her while

transitioning through the Head Start St. Joseph‘s

Center. Although she is focused on her aca-

demic success, she loves coming back to read

to Head Start children at West Center Street

Center. Her mom, Family Services Worker

Catherine Black-Terry, and the entire JCCEO

family are so proud of her.

The JCCEO-Girl Scout col-

laboration had a busy year for the 15 adult scout volunteers and 250 plus JCCEO Head

Start girls enrolled in the Daisy Scout program. Scout leaders held monthly meetings

where girls learned important life lessons that also reinforce the Head Start curriculum.

They ended the year with Daisy Day at Camp KPC by singing, planting, crafting, and en-

joying the great outdoors. Each girl will receive a scout transition pack to enjoy during the

summer and carry along to their Kindergarten troop. Thanks to JCCEO staff who took the

opportunity to practice important leadership skills as Girl Scout volunteers, and to our Girl

Scout liaisons Tiffany Bishop, Nakesha Scott, and Marisela Mendez for great support!

Leading by Example...Olivia Jones (above, left) com-pleted her Girl Scout Gold Award project at JCCEO West Center Street and Shades Cahaba Centers. (pictured with Center Manager Sandra Abston and girls who will continue the project next year.)

Volunteer Daisy Scout Leaders

Daisy Day