INITIATIVES

MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Johnson & Johnson Management Fellows Program

• Mary Ann Cornish, Executive Director-Head Start Johnson and Johnson Management Fellow, 1997


• Sandra Hagan, Chief Financial Officer (1994-2007) - Head Start Management Fellow, 2006

The UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Head Start Management Fellows Program provides a unique opportunity for Head Start administrators to participate in a two-week intensive management training session, held annually at UCLA Anderson School of Management. This program is generously supported by Johnson & Johnson. Participants are selected through an application process to represent a cross section of all Head Start managers and programs. There are specific criteria for admission to the program which are noted with the application.

The program builds both executive and entrepreneurial management skills. Eighty hours of classroom instruction include lectures, group discussions, case studies, and workshops. Designed from a strategic planning perspective, subject materials from human resource management, organization design and development, finance, computers and information systems, and operations and marketing, the curriculum focuses on applying concepts to relevant Head Start needs and interests. The curriculum represents a course of study developed by UCLA faculty, the Program Advisory Board, and field research and focus groups.

Faculty members for the program are drawn largely from UCLA Anderson. Specific faculty from other UCLA schools, other universities, and practicing members of the Head Start community are selected based on the needs of each year's participants.

Graduates of the Fellows Program are awarded a certificate from UCLA and are given the option of receiving academic graduate-level credits or continuing education credits.

Mission

The principal mission of the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Management Head Start Fellows Program is to strengthen the management skills of Head Start directors by:

• Providing them with modern management theories and principles.



• Increasing their ability to plan, lead and control the effective delivery of Head Start services in an increasingly changing and challenging environment.



• Fostering an entrepreneurial competence and promoting a bias for action.



• Enhancing their capacity to find alternate funding sources and collaborate with other social service programs in their communities.
  
• Developing strategies that they can quickly implement in their programs and share with other Head Start managers.



• Establishing a network of Head Start Fellows who will assist in the management education of other Head Start directors nationwide.

SpecialQuest Birth – Five

Higher Horizons has a unique collaboration with Fairfax County Child Find and Early Intervention- Infant and Toddler Connection (ITC) to provide inclusive services to children with disabilities in their Head Start and Early Head Start classroom. Higher Horizons utilizes the SpecialQuest approach, materials and resources to support the services provided by the collaboration. SpecialQuest Birth – Five, a program funded by a grant from the Office of Head Start, is designed to communicate to a broader audience about the relationship – based SpecialQuest approach designed to touch the “head, heart, and hands” of families and professionals working together to create inclusive communities for young children with disabilities (Source: http://www.specialquest.org/about.htm).

The goal of SpecialQuest Birth – Five is to create welcoming, supportive, and inclusive communities for young children with disabilities and their families across the country, with a specific focus on improving practices in Early Head Start and Head Start Programs. SpecialQuest Birth – Five plans to accomplish their goal by supporting and expanding the SpecialQuest Community and by supporting the use of the SpecialQuest approach, materials, and resources.

HEALTH/NUTRITION

UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute

In 2004, The Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute at UCLA chose Higher Horizons as 1 of 13 Head Start programs to participate in their 3 year program designed to educate parents so that they can properly manage the health care needs of their children. Dr. Ariella Herman of the UCLA Anderson School of Management started the program as a way of fighting rising health care costs, increases in Medicare spending and overuse of emergency programs. The focus of the Health Care Institute is to train culturally diverse families such as those in the Falls Church/Bailey’s Crossroads area. In addition to this training, parents received the book titled What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick along with various Johnson & Johnson products. Recently, The Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute provided funding for Higher Horizons to offer Health Care Institute training for families during the 2009-2010 school year.

Established in 2001, the UCLA / Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute was created to help educate and empower Head Start parents so that they can properly manage the health care needs of their children and improve their overall parenting skills. The Institute also strives to provide Head Start agencies with the tools and the resources to lead effective health care training programs on behalf of Head Start parents. It achieves this through a novel program that trains parents to become better informed about their children’s health and develop the skills to treat ordinary illnesses, such as fever, cold, or cough, at home.

Now in its sixth year, the successful program has trained 9,240 parents in 35 states – impacting nearly 20,000 children – and is making a real impact on families, children and communities. Parents who participated in the training reduced unwarranted visits to the ER and clinic by 58 percent and 42 percent, respectively. In addition, health literacy training improved parents’ confidence and resulted in a 42 percent drop in the average number of days lost at work (from 6.7 to 3.8) and a 29 percent drop in days missed at school (from 13.3 to 9.5).

Health and Diabetes Training

Higher Horizons was selected to participate in the UCLA Head Start Low Literacy Nutrition and Physical Activity Intervention: Evaluation of a Pilot Project in 2009 .The purpose of the training program is to increase awareness and knowledge of the important factors in prevention of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. Participants of the program were taught the importance of healthy eating habits, nutrition, and exercise as the main factors in preventing diabetes and obesity. The training program equipped parents and teachers with the knowledge to teach children how to make healthy food choices, be more active, and live long and healthy lives.

The goals of the project were (1) to demonstrate the effectiveness of a new low-literacy nutrition and physical activity intervention designed for Head Start families (2) disseminate a successful and sustainable program nationally, in order to prevent obesity and Type II diabetes and in order to improve the health of at-risk Head Start families.

Garden Project

At Higher Horizons, the children gain firsthand experience in planting and maintaining a garden by participating in Higher Horizons’ Garden Project. Higher Horizons has a garden space to teach the children about the benefits of gardening. When the produce is ready, the fruits and vegetables are used for nutrition education activities. The Garden Project plays an essential role in creating a healthy nutrition environment that teaches children about the importance of healthy eating habits. Children that participate in the Garden Project learn about fresh foods, make healthier eating choices, and are physically active. Research demonstrates that children who plant gardens are more likely to eat the fruits and vegetables that they grow (Source: A Healthy Nutrition Environment: Linking Education, Activity, and Food through School Gardens).

Let Me Play Head Start Challenge

The National Head Start Association (NHSA), Nike (one of the NHSA’s largest private funders), and SPARK (Sports, Play and Active Recreation for Kids) formed a partnership to create the Let Me Play Head Start program in an effort to battle childhood obesity. Formerly known as NikeGO Head Start, the goal of Let Me Play Head Start is to get children and their families more physically active.

The program consists of three components:

• Head Start teachers receive a “playbook” of activities that are fun, inclusive, developmentally appropriate and aligned with Head Start Child Outcomes. From “Knees Up Mother Brown” to “Beanbag Boogie,” parents and children learn how ordinary objects like socks and scarves can be used for movement and physical activity
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• Head Start teachers, staff and parents are trained by SPARK using a custom curriculum developed for the Head Start community.



• Participating Head Start sites receive all of the equipment necessary to implement the program, including parachutes, easy-to-catch balls, beanbags and balance beams.

Let Me Play Head Start currently has 322 participating sites and is still expanding. Additional locations will be selected based on the prevalence of childhood obesity in the area, as well as other health problems related to physical inactivity among preschoolers. Challenge grants of $5,000 will be offered to Head Start programs that have been working with the program for at least 1 year.

EDUCATION

Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts

This program, based in Vienna, VA, was established in 1981 under a grant from the Head Start Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The main goal of the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts is to train childhood professionals in the use of performing arts techniques that help young children learn basic literacy, academic concepts, and life skills. The Institute believes in teaching children through arts-based experiences. Higher Horizons has participated in the program by attending educational field trips at Wolf Trap. The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts is an internationally respected program that provides innovative arts-based teaching strategies and services to early childhood teachers, caregivers, parents, and their children from 0 to 5 through the disciplines of drama, music, and movement.

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Each year, the Wolf Trap Institute's local, regional, national, and international programs provide educational services for 35,000 young children, their parents, educators, and teaching artists.

Professional Development Workshops for teachers, Classroom Residencies, and other collaborations between performing artists and early childhood professionals serve to:

• enrich and motivate the teacher's professional development;
  
• engage young children in active, creative learning experiences;



• energize efforts to bring parents and caregivers together into the classroom; and



• enliven the classroom environment.
  

As Wolf Trap Institute activities are woven into the curriculum, the arts become a new way of teaching, learning, and knowing.

The Institute employs Teaching Artists—professional actors, dancers, storytellers, and musicians—to provide services to the early childhood community.