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Learning, ingenuity, creativity and collaboration went into dressing up the foyers of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Head Start/Early Head Start centers with the colors, elements and excitement of fall. 

“The SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start Program held a ‘Welcome to Fall and to Our School’ decorating contest to encourage our Head Start/Early Head Start students, parents and staff to celebrate the beauty of this season, while learning and working together,” said G. Lynnie Bailey, SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start program director. 

SIUE’s seven Head Start/Early Head Start centers competed in good fun Wednesday, Oct. 12 for first place.

The decision ended in a tie – with SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start Helen Davis Center and SIUE

Head Start/Early Head Start Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center both capturing first place. 

“Helen Davis’ theme for the contest was Fall into Learning with the Pump-Kids,” said Wanda Brown, Helen Davis Center coordinator. “We involved the entire Helen Davis family in the brainstorming, planning, creating and decorating.” 

The Centers were assessed using the following criteria:

• Did the entrance reflect the fall season?
• Were materials utilized age and school appropriate?
• Did the entrance appear clean and clutter free?
• Did the materials reflect a focus on language and literacy?
• Did the materials connect to Head Start/Early Head Start Program school readiness?
• Did the display include a school-home connection?
• Did the display promote individualization and creativity? 

Helen Davis decorated the front outside of the building with a wreath, bales of hay topped with pumpkins, mums and garnished with cornstalks. Some of the foyer attractions include a classroom with four Pump-Kids reading books about the fall, scarecrows, pumpkins and leaves, as the teacher sits at her desk to prepare for the field trip to the Relleke Pumpkin Patch in Granite City. 

“You all did a great job and the children’s artwork really takes it over the top,” exclaimed Tanya Graham, mother of 3-year-old Kynnedi. 

Over at the Jackie Joyner Kersee Head Start Center, the staff and students decorated their entrance to tie into their trip to Relleke, said Marcia Oliver, center coordinator. 

“We had 54 parents go with us on our trip, which was wonderful,” Oliver said. “The students brought pumpkins from the farm, took them home, decorated them with their parents and returned to school with them the next day. They are featured in the decorations. It was important for us to include the home to school connection.” 

JJK’s display consists of the student-decorated pumpkins in a wagon, the children’s drawings of their trip to the pumpkin farm and quotes from the children about their trip to the pumpkin farm: “I jumped on the hay,” said 5-year-old Kandace Hughes. “We fed the animals,” said 5-year-old Alivia Harris. 

Judging the contest were Bailey, SIUE East St. Louis Center Executive Director Jesse Dixon, Head Start Business Family Engagement Center and Support Services Collaboration Coordinator Donna McNeal, and Head Start Transportation and Facilities Program Coordinator Lloyd Cotten. 

Prizes will be distributed to all Head Start centers this week and each site received a new fall-themed book to read to students. 

The SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start program serves more than 1,700 families and youth from birth to age five (including children with special needs) in St. Clair County. The program includes 14 early childhood centers, seven managed directly and seven collaborations. Services include a rigorous school readiness program, educational programs for family members, and health and dental screenings. 

Photos:

SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center tied for first place in the Welcome to Fall and to Our School decorating contest. 

Also receiving first place for its decorating feats was the SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start  Helen Davis Center.