Head Start turns 60 and parades by cheerful kids mark the event

That was the scene on Thursday as Head Start of Northeastern Nevada’s two campuses in Elko celebrated the national organization’s 60th birthday with parades. The program for small children has been in Elko since 1971.

At the campus on Golf Course Road across from the Elko County Fairgrounds, about 100 children ranging from crib-riding kiddos to preschoolers marched in front of their school on Golf Course Road and then up and back along Flagview Drive. The children, among the 10 classes at the campus, were accompanied by teachers, volunteers and family members along the walk.

“Today is a great day,” said Cheri Moring, executive director of the local Head Start programs. “Today is definitely a happy day.

Along with the little ones were former Head Start pupils who are getting bigger. One was Naidely Casique, 15, who attended as a child. She’s now a Miss Teen Elko County delegate. Her former Head Start teacher at the Silver Street campus, Leslie Pawlik, now works at the front desk of the Golf Course Road campus and said she had nice memories of her former pupil. Pawlik said she, too, is an alum of Head Start.

Moring and Stacy Valdespino, the family services manager, along with many others, coordinated the organization’s birthday celebration, right down to the three giant cakes from the Raley’s market in the Elko Junction plaza.

“We’re celebrating 60 years, plus 60 more,” Valdespino said.

Head Start has served the Elko region since 1971 and about 10,000 children have gone through the program since then. About 145 families currently are enrolled at one of the two Elko campuses, Moring said. Nationally, the program was launched in 1965 under the Johnson administration as part of his War on Poverty.

And while many feared the initiative might be cut under the current administration, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday told Congress there would be no cuts to the funding for Head Start.

While testifying before a Senate subcommittee, Kennedy said the administration would “emphasize healthy eating in Head Start, and ensure the program continues to serve its 750,000 children and parents effectively.”

Samantha Lee and Ruby Soriano had two of the many important jobs of the parade. Lee carried the 6 and Soriano the 0, noting for parade watchers just how old the organization is.

As for the children, they were thrilled to wear their birthday hats, blow into their noisemakers and march in celebration of Head Start.

And they — along with parents and community members — enjoyed two of the three giant birthday cakes.