Evening the Odds

Hopkins-Locke Center – Room 15
Mr. Mark Eichholz– BA-ECE, Hired 2014
Ms. Judy Broud – AA-ECE, Hired 1992


Mr. Mark and Head Start student Jaequan Edwards at the Wild About Learning Event

I was pleased to get back into a classroom this week. I picked a good one. Back in August, I stopped in the same classroom and the teaching team of Mr. Mark and Ms. Judy were on a mission to get the room exactly the way they wanted it. This time, the children were in small play groups using every bit of the space when I walked in. All that work done anticipating the arrival of children was still making a difference even as the school year winds down.

The hour and half I was in the room went very quickly. I played with Legos and Kinects, did yoga for Fun Fit Friday, had a Spanish lesson, completed a tornado drill, and sang some songs. Almost all of my time was spent with the children.

Before going to Fun Fit Friday, Mr. Mark asked the children to pair up. When they were done he asked if everyone had a partner. One young girl did not. Mr. Mark asked the children if this meant we had an odd or even number of children. Two children immediately called out, “odd.” The children are no way near being able to count by twos and yet they are already learning number theory from real life examples. Happily, I got to partner with the young girl. Sometimes when you are in the right place at the right time, you get to even up the odds.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MS. JUDY
In watching over the children, Ms. Judy took every opportunity she could find to have one-on-one time with them. She had a knack of interceding at just the right moments. She used the time to give individual care and individual encouragement to each child.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MR. MARK
Mr. Mark had a special way of talking to children. When they asked him questions, he tended to take a thoughtful pause before responding. As often as not, his reply came in the form of a leading question that helped the child figure out the answer on their own. There was one exchange with a child about classroom rules in which the child tried a Mr. Mark-approach on Mr. Mark in order to get permission to reclaim a toy. Turns out sharing rules are sharing rules no matter how the discussion goes.

MEMORABLE MOMENT
In explaining “yoga breathing” to the children Mr. Mark told the children it is like “sniffing a pizza and blowing out candles.” Admit it, you almost feel compelled to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

LINKING IT TOGETHER

Head Start, from its inception, has been about improving the odds for at-risk children. It has grown from a summer pilot in 1965 to a comprehensive early childhood education program being delivered by highly-credentialed and experienced staff in 2015.

Recruitment for next year kicked off a couple of months ago. I asked Mr. Mark if Room 15’s three year olds would be returning next year. He believed that every child not heading to Kindergarten planned to return. I consider that a testimonial. We know from our assessment data that the more services young children get the better their chances are of meeting expectations for children their age. Plainly speaking, Head Start has used the last 50 years to become exceptionally good at helping families overcome some pretty tough circumstances, and yet it feels like we have just gotten started.

Friday, May 1, I will be in Columbus for Community Service Block Grant training learning about new federal organizational performance standards for CSBG-funded agencies. CSBG funding is used in Lorain County for food pantry partnerships, winter coats for children, workforce development, computer training, the vehicle match program, and emergency home repair. I will be back in a classroom the following week.