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Students in Lakeside Learners classroom play together on Wednesday afternoon at Mercer County Head Start in Celina.
CELINA - Mercer County Head Start is planning to throw a big party in April to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the federally funded early education program that serves some of the nation's neediest families and children.
From April 5-11, which also happens to be Week of the Young Child, a series of events, activities and a party will be held to honor the thousands of students and staff involved with Mercer County Head Start since its founding in 1975, 10 years after the the federal program was established.
"We want to put out an invitation to any Head Start staff that have ever worked here, and any Head Start alumni, children or families that were ever served in Mercer County," said Head Start Executive Director Amy Esser. "It'll be a celebration and like a reunion almost, those that have been served and those that are being served, sharing their Head Start experiences."
The weeklong bash paying homage to the countywide preschool program that serves children ages 3-5 who have a disability or whose families are income eligible will be all the more poignant amid financial uncertainty, as driven home by President Donald Trump's aborted effort to freeze federal grants.
Lakeside Learners teacher Angela Smith facilitates Heggerty, a literacy program, during large group time on Wednesday afternoon at Mercer County Head Start in Celina.
Esser, a fierce advocate for Head Start who was referenced in a March 2024 Associated Press story about Head Start teachers struggling to make ends meet, was in Washington last month when Trump paused federal funding.
"In March … Congress has to come together and they have to come together with a budget, and so I'm very interested to see what that budget's going to look like for us," she said. "When I was in D.C. I was advocating for increased funding because as we all know costs have increased, are continuing to increase (and) I need to be able to pay staff the wages that they are due. We do hard work here and staff need to be paid for that."
Her plans changed once she got off the airplane and found out that federal funds had been frozen. Esser reached out to the offices of U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, and Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green, and learned the directive would be rescinded and not affect Mercer County Head Start.
Other Head Starts weren't so fortunate.
Administrators around the country discovered they were locked out of a government website used to access grant funding for Head Start. Medicaid administrators reported similar problems.
The website went back online for many operators. But a week later, 45 Head Start grant recipients across the country reported problems accessing their funding, said Tommy Sheridan of the National Head Start Association. Some were still waiting for invoices to be paid a week after submitting them - a process that normally takes four to five hours, he said.
The delays can be catastrophic for Head Start operations, many of which are fully funded by federal money that is doled out on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. In the wake of the federal funding pause, a Michigan nonprofit that runs 17 Head Start schools had to close its doors for a day because it could not pay its employees. It reopened once the money was released.
The disruption coincided with a far-reaching directive from the Trump administration to halt federal grants, which sparked chaos throughout the federal government. The White House later clarified that the order was not supposed to include Head Start and Medicaid.
Tamim, a student in Starboard Sea Captains classroom, plays with sand during Head Start's sand study on Wednesday in Celina.
In the wake of the funding snafu, Esser recalibrated her message to lawmakers, emphasizing the important role Head Start plays not only in the lives of students and their families, but the local economy and county as a whole.
Head Start is not just a social program, but also a small business and integral part of the community, Esser argued.
"The educational piece that we provide, the specialized services that we provide, the mental health services that we provide, the social services, the connections that we have, our partners - Department of Job and Family Services, children's services, WIC (the USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), the health department, multiple physicians in this area," Esser said. "We are woven into the fabric of this community very, very tightly and people rely on us to be here."
From an economic standpoint, Head Start is currently the recipient of $2.2 million a year in federal funds, much of which stays in Mercer County.
"As much as we possibly can, we use local small businesses, like the grocery store because we provide food here for the kids," Esser said. "We get our milk from a local dairy farmer, so as much as we can we keep those dollars right here in the county. Most of the staff live right here in the county, so those dollars are coming here."
Furthermore, 86% of families served through Head Start are employed and depend on the program for child care.
"If I was going to have to shutter my doors, that would be like a moment's notice to let families know, 'You don't have child care,'" Esser said. "So then what about all of the businesses in this community where our families are working? … Some people may have had to resign because they don't have child care anymore."
Plus, Head Start provides each student with two-thirds of their daily food.
Lakeside Learners teacher Angela Smith and her students eat lunch together on Wednesday afternoon at Mercer County Head Start in Celina.
"That would be another burden on families that are already living paycheck to paycheck and trying to scramble to make ends meet," Esser continued. "I'm painting that picture for our legislators."
With all that being said, Esser said she's optimistic Head Start will be funded in the budget.
"In his first administration, President Trump … let Head Start do Head Start work. We did get a couple funding increases under him," she said. "So my hope is that under this administration that the president recognizes, again, the important work that we do in our communities and that he can find within that budget to continue to pay us and to have those incremental increases where we need them to be. Staff this day and age, you cannot have stagnant wages. We need our staff to be able to have a livable wage."
Marlese, a student in Anchors Away classroom, is using the iPad to engage in the Hatch Early Learning program on Wednesday afternoon at Mercer County Head Start in Celina.
Since taking root in 1975, Mercer County Head Start has grown by leaps and bounds, Esser said.
"(It) started out as an eight-week summer program and now for us here in Mercer County, it goes the school year. So it's 10 months out of the year now," Esser said.
After coming on board in 2015, Esser successfully applied for additional federal funds to expand Head Start from part-day to nearly a full day of programing.
"There was research that said the longer a child was in session, the more opportunity you have to provide them education, the more growth that they show," Esser said. "That was answering the call of the community. This is a working community, the lowest unemployment rate in the state."
Esser also oversaw an increase from two to three staff in each classroom.
And because the federal grant is funneled directly to Head Start, local officials are able to custom build the program to meet the community's needs rather than install a one-size-fits-all model, Esser said.
"Our approach to mental health services here is different from the neighboring programs. We contract those services out with local providers, but it's in-house," Esser said. "So our children and families can get mental health services on-site."
Also, Mercer Head Start can take on more students and offers a longer school day. Currently it has 158 students and about 30 staff.
"We go 7 1/2-hour days. Other Head Starts will go 6 to 6 1/2 hours, so we have our kids here longer, and again, that's to meet that child care (need). We wanted to decrease the amount of the time children transitioned in a day," Esser said.
- The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Emerson, a student in Lakeside Learners classroom, pours his own milk during family-style meals on Wednesday in Celina.
