I remember her as beautiful and extremely giving. Ms. Judy, my Head Start teacher, embodies my earliest memories of being in school. My parents enrolled me in one of the first Head Start classrooms in St. Louis, Missouri. At that time, Head Start was considered one of the federal governments “latest experiments” that would address the nation’s challenges for children growing up in poverty. Nevertheless, for the 15 or so children who were a part of my classroom experience, we gained beyond what the government might have expected. Essentially, the “experiment’s” greatest gift to us was a loving and caring teacher.

Our neighborhood’s Head Start program was located in the basement of a small Mennonite church. From a historical perspective, the Mennonite church’s mission and Head Start’s was similar in the sense that both entities focused on being change agents in communities with primarily working class and low-income families. In our hyper segregated all Black community the Mennonite church was viewed with circumspect because of its predominately White membership who many parents thought of as a group of hippie style do-gooders. However, even though the program’s administration and teaching staff was made up of person’s primarily from the church, the volunteers and some paid staff were parents from the neighborhood. Probably, the decision to hire parents helped to put families at ease and motivated them to enroll their children.

In Ms. Judy’s classroom the daily routine consisted of morning free play, story time, arts and crafts, a hot lunch, nap time, more free play, and then an afternoon snack of juice and Saltine crackers or juice and oatmeal raisin cookies just before it was time to go home. I remember a childhood filled with happiness and lots of excitement; rushing to get dressed in the mornings so that I could have fun doing pretend play, picture reading, and finger painting. However, the most indelible memory include insisting on sitting next to Ms. Judy during our reading circles and becoming enveloped in her voice as she pushed our imaginations to travel to places and experiences different from our familiar. Her tone was encouraging and inspired a room full of 4 year old children to think, question, and believe beyond our immediate. As a result, and with the consistent reinforcement from my parents, I became an emergent reader while in preschool and I entered Kindergarten reading.

Nevertheless, the transition from leaving preschool and entering Kindergarten was extremely traumatic. I was the kid who spent his beginning days of Kindergarten weeping, wailing, and kicking as I rolled across the classroom floor. Each day, for the entire first week, after making it to the school yard with my older brother, I would refuse to enter the building holding desperately to the fence screaming, “No! I want to go with Ms. Judy! Where is Ms. Judy?!” Consequently, Mr. Hughes, the Principal, would routinely pick me up gently and take me to class. There seemed to be absolutely no comforting me because I thought my parents had played some awful bait and switch trick by separating me from the teacher I loved to this new person I did not want to know.

Now this story is not necessarily about a kid with a great childhood and the progressive foresight of his parents to place him in preschool. No, this story is about the not so obvious. This story is about the POWER of one when they are acting out of the context of what we call Early Childhood “TEACHER”. Adults who teach young children tend to be the most under valued and disregarded within the profession of education. Yet, a wealth of scholarly research suggests that it is the early life experiences between the ages of zero to 12 years old that most accurately dictate success in school. As an early childhood educator, I am convinced that the formal early learning experiences between the ages of zero to eight years old not only accurately determines success in school, but also the propensity for achieving maximum potential in life. Therefore, at the core of my premise is the influence of a TEACHER.

Essentially, the type of activities routinely planned, the arrangement of an environment, the ideas that are discussed as important, the tone of a voice, and each demonstrated adult behavior can all tremendously impact early childhood development. I desire that every child benefit as I did from a “Ms. Judy”; and I am committed to the work that can make this happen. Her encouragement for children to trust their thoughts, ask questions, and explore is extremely significant for educators to model. I never saw her again after leaving preschool, but I have never forgotten about her purposeful and loving spirit. Maybe then, it is my memory and the lasting affect and impression she made on me that is the truest evidence of her power as an early childhood… TEACHER.

“There is POWER in my purpose… I have a reason for living….”
A Six Developmental Intellect

Julius B. Anthony, Education Consultant