Cintron joins board

Cintron Joins CSC Board

Iris M. Cintrón recently joined the board of directors of CSC. She served the Bethlehem Are School District for 37 years as a teacher, counselor, school social worker and administrator.  She held the position of supervisor of minority affairs, governmental programs and grants for the last 18 years.

Mrs. Cintrón has always been active in community organizations such as the Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations, the Governors Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, Northampton County Children and Youth, the Puerto Rican Cultural Organization, Northampton County Interim Board of Health, Great Valley Girl Scout Council, and Puerto Rican Beneficial Society.

She received the United Way of the Lehigh Valley Lifetime Service Award, Northampton County Community College award for Distinguished Service to the Community, the National Coalition of Title I Parents VIP Award for Exemplary Service to Title I Children, Bethlehem Partnership for a Healthy Community Recognition for Outstanding Support to the Partnership, and the Puerto Rican Beneficial Society award for Dedicated Community Service, to name a few.

Mrs. Cintron has a Bachelor’s degree from West Chester University and a Master’s degree in Secondary Education from Lehigh University.

CSC administers Head Start of the Lehigh Valley, Northeast Regional Key/Keystone STARS Quality Initiatives, and Child Care Information Services of Lehigh County, affecting the lives of over 40,000 children in 13 counties annually.

3S33d_admin October 28th, 2010

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AAD Shade Structure

Thanks to help from Dr. Greg Brady, an Allentown dermatologist, and the American Academy of Dermatology, CSC has purchased skin-saving shade structures for its unique outdoor play area for Head Start and Early Head Start children. The structure and additional shade trees cost $8000, paid entirely by this generous grant. Dedication of the new structure takes place Tuesday, August 31, 4:30 pm in the Playscape on the Donley Children’s Campus, 1520 Hanover Ave, Allentown.

Skin cancer caused by exposure to the sun is one of the most preventable cancers of all. Even young children should be protected from its powerful effects through shade, spf skin lotions, and covering exposed areas. CSC provides education to parents and children about preventing skin cancer. Dr. brady has been very helpful in this education.

For information, call Amanda Buss, Development Coordinator, 610-437-6000, x 2112.

3S33d_admin September 22nd, 2010

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1965 Head Start

Head Start’s Founding: 1965

Celebrating Head Start’s 45^th anniversary, CSC pays homage to both Judith H. Chase and Patricia W. Levin.

Mrs. Chase founded Head Start in the summer 1965 in Easton immediately following President Lyndon Johnson’s announcement of the new program to help disadvantaged children prepare for school. Head Start quickly became a school-year program (year round when funding was available) and involved parents as equal partners in governance.

Head Start now has 2000 programs nationwide involving about one million children ages 0-5. It remains a two-generation program with equal emphasis placed on working with parents to achieve goals that will sustain their child’s achievement throughout school.

Head Start family income cannot exceed 100% of the poverty guideline, currently about $22,000 for a family of four. Unfortunately, more children qualify in the Lehigh Valley than there is funding. Consequently, we enroll the most at-risk children. Family income averages $13,000.

Mrs. Levin became director of Head Start of the Lehigh Valley in 1972 and grew the program from a few hundred children to more than 1000. Today, more than 1200 children are enrolled in Head Start and its baby/toddler counterpart Early Head Start. We operate in 56 classrooms, about a third of which are cooperative programs with the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Northern Lehigh school districts.

Mrs. Levin’s vision aided by the Donleys and many other community supporters led to creation of the Donley Children’s Campus composed of model teaching classrooms and facilities, public children’s library, and outdoor Exploratorium. In 2011, we are planning the next phase of the vision by constructing the region’s only therapeutic center for abused babies and toddlers called SafeStart.

We estimate that since beginning in 1965, Head Start of the Lehigh Valley has served 23,000 children and families.

3S33d_admin September 21st, 2010

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Fall Into Reading

3S33d_admin September 21st, 2010

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PNC Presents Stars

In a huge mobile planetarium, hundreds of Head Start preschoolers experienced the night sky with help from Sesame Street characters. PNC’s ‘Grow Up Great’ project, intended to infuse millions of dollars into Head Start in several states over a 10-year period, now features a traveling planetarium large enough for 30 preschoolers and 10-15 adults. Recently, the planetarium and PNC educators visited St. Michael’s Head Start in Allentown and SPARK in Bethlehem. In advance, teachers received curriuclum and suggested book titles to prepare the children.

3S33d_admin September 21st, 2010

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Susquehanna & Science

Susquehanna Bank, CSC and DaVinci Team up for Scientist in Residence Program
Head Start children in four Allentown classrooms get a weekly visitor from Jennifer Pritchard, the Outreach Coordinator at DaVinci Science Center, made possible by an ILMS grant to DaVinci. Jennifer works with the teachers and children to bring more science into the classrooms. Jennifer is working with the teachers on how to incorporate what is typically found in the preschool classroom and use it in a scientific way.

Susquehanna Bank has just joined CSC as a partner, too, with the intention of providing assistance with science kits the children can take home. In Head Start, a major focus is placed on showing parents how they can support what their children learn in the classroom by doing activities at home.

In the classroom, one typical experiment teaches the children to “predict” how many water drops it will take to cover a paper circle. They then perform the experiment, observe, and compare their predictions with the results. During this experiment the children learn science terminology and use various science tools. Probably their most fun is painting with worms (the worms are not harmed!).

CSC is grateful to Susquehanna Bank for teaming up with the IronPigs and other ball teams to raise donations and awareness for various programs, including CSC’s Scientist in the Classroom Project. Susquehanna’s donations will be used to purchase home science kits for the children.

Integrating science and math in the classroom helps preschool children expand their vocabularies, learn concepts around comparisons, improve their observation, develop math skills, and of course have fun.

3S33d_admin September 21st, 2010

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45 this summer

Head Start Turns 45 this Summer

LBJ State of Union War on Poverty
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfT03Ihtlds

LBJ – Poverty 1964 Election Ad
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=plCkZ38ftlI&feature=related

On May 18^th, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the beginning of Project Head Start: “We set out to make certain that poverty’s children would not be forevermore poverty’s captives,” he said in a Rose Garden press conference.

He and Sargent Shriver, then director of the Office of Equal Opportunity, conceived a radical plan to attack one of the roots of poverty – poor education. That summer, Head Start began with slightly more than 500,000 children from low-income families with the goal of giving them a “head start” on their future.

Years later, brain research would prove the importance of the earliest years influencing a child’s growth and development. Long-term research would also prove the positive impact on graduation rates and reduction in juvenile crime, among other effects.

Judy Chase took up the challenge in Easton that summer, founding the area’s first Head Start program. She hired Pat Levin in 1972 to direct the fledging program.

Chase began Head Start with a few dozen children. Today, Head Start in the Lehigh Valley, operating in both Lehigh and Northampton counties, has 1200 children.

Since 1965, an estimated 25 million children have been enrolled in Head Start nationwide. We estimate that our Lehigh Valley program has enrolled 23,000.

3S33d_admin September 21st, 2010

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No waiting

Funds available for subsidized child care (not a current program – archived post from Sept. 21, 2010)

Thanks to an infusion of federal stimulus ARRA funds, the PA state Office of Child Development and Early Learning made enough funds available May 6th to fund all families on waiting lists – first time since 2003.

Additional eligible families are encouraged to contact their local Child Care Information Service (CCIS) agencies to apply. Families who have been deterred by the lengthy lists (as long as 800 or more in Lehigh County at various times, for example), are encouraged to apply immediately. CCIS agencies expect shorter waiting times for new families applying.

To be eligible, family income cannot exceed 200% of the federal poverty income guideline and each adult family member must be employed 20 hours per week or attending an accredited training program for 10 hours plus 10 hours of work per week. Children must be citizens of the US and up to date on immunizations, among other requirements.

To apply, families may go to www.compass.state.pa.us or call 610-437-6000, x 506 if a Lehigh County resident. Call 610-419-4500 if a Northampton County resident.

Child Care Information Services, Inc, administers the subsidies in Northampton County.

Community Services for Children (CSC) administers child care subsidies in Lehigh County.

3S33d_admin September 21st, 2010

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Volunteers

CSC Thanks Volunteers, Partners

CSC, provider of Head Start/Early Head Start of the Lehigh Valley and other children’s programs, recognized volunteers and community partners at its 4^th Annual Circle Awards breakfast, April 30, 2010.

Those receiving special recognition this year included:

Jean McGonigle, Outstanding Volunteer

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Allentown, Education Services

Dr. Eugene McGuire, Health & Nutrition Services

St. John’s Lutheran Church of Whitehall, Family Services

Crayola, Corporate Friend

Lehigh County Children & Youth, Community Partner

The Leonard Parker Pool Healthcare Trust, Friend of the Agency

“Community kindness and goodwill are essential to our mission, preparing children and their families to succeed in learning and in life. We could not be successful without the help of others. The Circle Award recipients every year represent our ‘better angel,’” said Jane Ervin, CEO/President of CSC.

CSC enrolls 1200 children in Head Start/Early Head Start & PreK Counts, provides childcare subsidies to Lehigh County to 3500 families, and works with more than 900 early education providers in 13 counties to improve the quality of their programs. In total, CSC affects an estimated 40,000 children annually.

3S33d_admin September 21st, 2010

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PNC Star Show

PNC One World, One Sky Planetarium to visit Head Start Classroom in Allentown and Bethlehem

The planetarium show is a cross-cultural, trilingual (English, Spanish or Mandarin) interactive program, geared toward children ages 4-6. The show provides an enriching, exciting and interactive introduction to astronomy. The inflatable dome can hold 35 students and the show is 27 minutes long. In advance of the planetarium show, a complementary astronomy-based curriculum will be sent to the early childhood education center to share with teachers whose students will attend the show. The program will travel throughout the PNC footprint and visit early childhood education centers and other venues where the children do not have the opportunity to visit a planetarium in their area.

The interactive Planetarium will be at:
Head Start Classroom at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church
916 Turner St., Allentown
on Monday, May 10 and Tuesday, May 11th beginning at 9am until 1pm

They will also visit:
Head Start Classroom SPARK
3144 Linden St., Bethlehem
on Wednesday, May 12 starting at 9am until 2pm

3S33d_admin September 21st, 2010

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