Head Start alumni thank fed program for success

Afsha Bawany

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.

When Henderson's new Head Start facility opens Sept. 2 it will be filled with children from babies to 5 year olds.

But the decades-old program, which already has 17 centers in the Las Vegas Valley, reaches out to more than disadvantaged preschoolers. Through the children, the federally funded program reaches families, some of those families said Wednesday.

A ceremony celebrated the upcoming opening of a Head Start center near Boulder Highway and Major Street in Henderson, with dignitaries including Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson and several Head Start alumni attending. It also marked the groundbreaking of the Harry Reid Center for Families and Children, which will be adjacent to the Head Start center.

Laticha Henderson, whose 5-year-old daughter Jada Robinson has attended Head Start since she was 5 months old, said the program has helped Jada become more independent and expanded her vocabulary.

But it has done as much or more for her. The program has also helped Henderson become a better parent, teaching her to be more outspoken and active in her daughter's education.

"They catch you when you're down and help you pull yourself up," Henderson said. "As a parent, it has shown me my goals. It has changed me all around."

Tiffini Perez, who started off as a Head Start parent and is now one of the directors of the Economic Opportunity Board that sponsors Head Start, said the program helped her become more involved in children's issues.

"They opened the doors for a lot of options," said Perez, who is is finishing her education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, after it was put on hold when her children were born. She is majoring in political science and hopes to be a lobbyist in the future.

Her son, Chanse DeNoon, 6, graduated from Head Start and will attend first grade this year. His sister, Mariah Reyna, 2, will start Head Start in the fall.

Head Start teachers said they have seen positive changes in the children, who are enjoying learning.

"I've seen kids who are extremely shy that just blossom into outgoing kids," said Roberta Rosa, a Head Start teacher for the past eight years, who is now the Henderson Head Start director.

Since 1965 Head Start has provided free services to low-income parents and their preschool children, including mathematics and literacy skills, health care and social services. According to studies done by the Economic Opportunity Board, children who go through the program are more likely to graduate from high school and obtain employment.

The Henderson project cost $4.6 million, $500,000 of which came from federal funds, but Reid said more support is still needed.

"We have millions of kids that still need to be served," Reid said. "It's a great program. It gives an opportunity for children to catch up."

There are plenty of successful alumni of the Head Start program, and they visited the Henderson center Wednesday.

Twins Ramon and Ramona Denby attended a Head Start facility in Las Vegas in 1971, when they were 4 and 5 years old. Not only did the program help them academically, they say it helped family redefine their goals and strive harder.

"It's really about giving kids the exposure to the learning environment early, how to be successful and build a lot of self esteem," said Ramon Denby, now a Metro Police officer.

His sister agreed.

"It instilled in us a sense that we would succeed," said Ramona Denby, who is now associate dean of the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs at UNLV. "It exposed us early to college and activities in the community that kids who grow up in poverty don't normally get to see."