Kansas Recognizes State Champions

Tue, 2010-06-08 14:51 — admin

On Tuesday, May 25, 2010 State Champion Awards were presented as part of the opening session of the Region VII Head Start Association Leadership Conference.  The award recognizes leadership on issues that positively impact young children.  The state of Kansas chose to recognize Laura Cano, Jim McDaniel, and Dr. Robert Morton as their champions.  The three recipients are administrators with the three school districts involved in the Demonstration Learning Communities project funded by the Kansas Early Childhood Block Grant.  Mary Baskett, Executive Director of Kansas Head Start Association, introduced the recipients and presented the awards.

Laura Cano currently serves as the Director of Federal Programs for Liberal USD 480.  Her duties include overseeing the Title 1, ESL, Migrant and Preschool Programs for the district.  She has been a preschool classroom teacher, ESL teacher, and school principal.  Mrs. Cano knows education is the key to success and strives to be an advocate for children of underrepresented groups.  As an immigrant herself, she believes dedication and perseverance are important traits to instill in children.  Mrs. Cano leads the school district's partnership with Head Start and child care partners in Liberal. 

Jim McDaniel has been a Kansas Superintendent of Schools for 10 years, providing leadership in three districts, currently Kaw Valley Schools in St. Mary's, Kansas.  Before becoming a superintendent, Mr. McDaniel was an elementary teacher and principal whose goal has always been to provide quality services and opportunities for all children.  Mr. McDaniel works with a number of community partners on the Demonstration Learning Communities project in Rossville.  He sees the benefits of proactively doing things right from the beginning with children to prevent the many reactive educational interventions that provide far inferior results.

Dr. Robert Morton is the Superintendent of Schools for USD 445 in Coffeyville, Kansas.  He taught science, coached and sponsored many activities before moving into school administration.  Teaching continues to be a passion on his and he implemented a Superintendent's Leadership Class which meets every other day.  Dr. Morton has been very actively engaged in early childhood education over the past three years.  He has worked with a number of partners to implement the Demonstration Learning Communities model in Coffeyville.

More information about the Demonstration Learning Communities project and its partners can be found at kspreschoolpartners.org.

I think this project is an exemplary model for combining resources, dollar resources and people resources, to collectively do something stronger and better for kids and families.

-- Jim McDaniel, Superintendent, Kaw Valley USD

I don’t know what we would have done without the preschool this year.  They have helped our whole family.  They have found us food banks and helped with doctor appointments. I live way...

-- Parent, Rossville

I really like that our daughters are in classes with a variety of children -- different backgrounds -- everything. That is so important, because that's life.

-- Heather Heslip, Parent, Coffeyville

Each partner program brought its strengths to our collaboration, so that we find we’re doing better things together than we were doing separately.

-- Ann McCullough, Principal, Kaw Valley USD

By combining state and federal resources, we are able to keep our program more stable and make the most of what we have, to provide the highest level of service.

-- Phyllis Marmon, Director (Rossville), Community Action, Inc., Head Start

In the first two weeks that our son was here, they identified the things he needed help with and came to us... It's just so exciting to see him develop and change and become the little boy that we...

-- Foster Parent, Rossville

By collaborating, we truly serve the whole child and family by developing academic readiness and providing comprehensive services, such as general health, mental health, dental, and nutrition.

-- Linda Broyles, Director (Coffeyville), SEK-CAP Head Start

It's exciting to enhance our programs for young children by combining our efforts and strengths with other agencies in our community.

-- Laura Cano, Federal Programs Director, Liberal USD

In our new early childhood center, it’s amazing to see adults and children, sitting around a table in their classroom and eating a meal together, just like a family would eat dinner at home. That’...

-- Robert Morton, Ed.D., Superintendent, Coffeyville USD

The inclusion program has helped my son with more than his academics.  His self-esteem is up, he is learning good social skills, and he’s having a fun time doing it.

-- Lexi Amos-Lyddon, Parent, Liberal

Read more...

Local and state K-12 leaders are finding that collaborating with community-based providers such as Head Start programs, child care centers and faith-based organizations can help them develop and implement high-quality pre-k programs that meet the needs of young children and their families in a comprehensive way.

Read the report, "Beyond the School Yard: Pre-K Collaborations with Community-Based Partners".

 

School districts across the nation are blending preschool classrooms.  Mary Baskett, Executive Director of Kansas Head Start Association, and the Demonstration Learning Communities project are featured on Early Ed Watch, a blog from New America's Early Education Initiative.

Read the article, "All in One Classroom: Blending Head Start and Non-Head Start Students".