2
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, October 31, 1968
KU volunteers work with Headstart
By REBECEA MASSEY
Kansan Staff Writer
This year University of Kansas students are volunteering their time to work with teachers at the two Headstart centers in Lawrence.
Some of the students are members of the KU-Y Children's hour; others have no affiliation with organizations, but do it simply because they want to be active in the Lawrence community while they are attending KU.
Headstart gives pre-school children who come from lower income homes an opportunity to catch up and get ahead before they actually begin school.
The two Headstart centers in Lawrence, one at the Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vermont St., and the other at the Ballard Community Center, 708 Elm St., receive federal funds for
take them to a mirror—this is Eddie. Look at him.
"These children aren't retarded. They have just lacked so much. By the third or fourth grade they're really behind and potential school dropouts," she said.
Mrs. Murphy said people came from KU to check children's hearing, speech and give preschool tests. She said some of the children with speech problems go to speech clinics at KU.
After organized play the children have a snack of orange or apple slices and water. Then, if weather permits, they go outside and play. Mrs. Murphy said many of the children would never drink water if it weren't for their morning snack. She said meals provided for the children should give them all the vitamins they need for an entire day.
"Normally we don't eat the kinds of food here they're used
to at home," Mrs. Murphy said. At first they are dubious about eating it, because they've never had it before. And foods such as casseroles may not appear appetizing to a child unaccustomed to such a diet.
Student volunteers, who may come in an hour or more a week, do a variety of things. In a sense they act as baby sitters during free play, making sure nothing catastrophic occurs while the children finger paint, play with blocks or puzzles, or climb on the miniature jungle gym in the playroom. Sometimes they read books to the children, then ask them questions about the story.
It is hoped that Headstart will help the child by giving him the encouragement and the attention that he never receives at home, so that when he reaches kindergarten or first grade, he will be on an equal basis with his classmates.
IF I'D ONLY KNOWN 1
WAS GOING TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED TODAY.
Children ages three to five attend the two Operation Headstart centers in Lawrence, one at the Plymouth Congregational Church, and the other at the Ballard Community Center. Headstart is under the national poverty program.
BEST OF LUCK
JAYHAWKS
I TOLD YOU I COULD
EAT A WHOLE BROWNIE
IN ONE BITE.
Lunch for Headstart children at the Plymouth Congregational Church supplies them, without cost, all the vitamins they need for one day. Some of the food is government surplus, but the rest must be purchased with money from Headstart's budget.
--operating expenses under the national noberty program.
While at the centers the children are under the supervision of a licensed teacher, assistant teachers who are taken from the poverty area and the volunteers.
At the Plymouth center the children come in the morning, have some time for free play, then they have an organized play time at which the teachers instruct them in songs, let them listen to records, or teach them to play games together.
Sometimes attention is focused on one child, and he may be asked to say his name, or the color of shirt he is wearing, or asked what another classmate's name is.
"What color did we say this shirt is," asks the teacher.
"Billy Joe, what color is your shirt?"
"Some of them don't know what color means," said Mrs. Barb Murphy, head teacher at Plymouth.
"They (the children) lack someone in their lives who really cares. This is what we try to do in Headstart—make a child realize that he is important—not that he is the youngest of six brothers and sisters. A positive self-image is what we strive for."
"Some of the children haven't even been called by name. We
A BRITE idea for your winter wardrobe!
Our Specialty...
Knit dresses and suits cleaned and blocked.
Betty Brite DRYCLEANING
OUR
FAVORITE
WORDS
ARE...
"I DO!"
Entering marriage is the happiest and most exciting part of most people's lives. We're very happy to be in the jewelry business, for we get to see a lot of this.
happiness in our customers. We're even happier to be ArtCarved jewelers, for Art-Carved has the best first choice in wedding rings for far more than a century.
ArtCarved WEDDING RINGS
If you're looking for that very special wedding band, ask us if we have it. Thanks to Art-Carved, we can say "I do."
A MINUET SET
A— MINUTE SET
His $39.50 Hers $37.50
B— CASCADE SET
His $60.00 Hers $50.00
His $60.00 Hers $50.00
Expert Jewelry & Watch Repair
743 Mass. Ph. VI 3-4366
Your I.D. Card Is Your Pass To Instant Credit.
Authorized ArtCarved Jeweler