Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 4/9/99
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   68

Editors: Photos accompany release
APPLICATIONS BEING ACCEPTED FOR SOUTHEASTERN HEAD START
     HAMMOND -- Southeastern Head Start, which opened in January on the Southeastern
Louisiana University's North Campus, is now accepting applications for the fall.
     Students, staff and faculty who meet federal income guidelines can enroll their three and
four year olds in the program, which offers educational and social services for income eligible
pre-schoolers and their families, said Director Susan Cooper.
     Ninety three- and four-year-olds, six pairs of teachers and aids, and a staff of five have
settled into Southeastern Head Start's new complex at 135 W. Tornado Drive. Connected by
walkways of wooden decking, series of buildings forms an "L" around a large graveled play area
dotted with playground equipment. The preschool, which is part of a 30-year-old national
program and is one of 12 Florida Parishes facilities administered by the Regina Coeli Child
Development Center, has room for 120 youngsters, Cooper said.
     "Like all Head Start programs, we follow income eligibility guidelines," Cooper said.
"But Southeastern Head Start is special because we give priority to students' and staff's
children."
     The guidelines, outlined by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, are
based on a combination of family size and income, Cooper said. For a family of one, she
explained, the income limit is $8,240; family of two, $11,060; family of three, $13,880; family
of
four, $16,700; family of five, $19,520; family of six, $22,340; family of seven, $25,160; and
family of eight, $27,980. For each additional family member above eight, the income guideline
adds $2,820.
     Ten percent of the school's enrollment can exceed the income guidelines if the children 
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SOUTHEASTERN HEAD START   Add One
have identified special needs, such as hearing, speech or vision disabilities, Cooper said.
     In addition to its educational offerings, Southeastern Head Start also provides services
such as dental, eye and mental health care, if a pupil's family cannot obtain those services
elsewhere, Cooper said.                  
     Cooper said the program operates from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., but has extended care hours from
7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Most of the pupils are children of Southeastern students. In August,
Southeastern Head Start hopes to add an "Early Head Start" program, serving 28 infant-to-three-
year-old children.
     Through an agreement with the university, Southeastern Head Start also provides
educational opportunities for Southeastern students. Students who take Family and Consumer
Science 213 (Child Development) spend two hours a week observing 40 of the program's
children. Speech, language and hearing program students and nursing majors also help with
various diagnostic screening.
     Faculty can use the center as a resource for research, such as psychology professor
Heather Holmes-Lonergan and her graduate student, Kaki York, who are working with the
children to learn more about cultural responses to emotions, Cooper said.
     Volunteerism and parental support is one of the cornerstones of Head Start success and
has also been a big factor in getting Southeastern's facility up and running, Cooper said.
     "The (Southeastern) moving crew helped us so much that they have just become our
buddies," she said, smiling. "They still drop by to see the children." So do University Police
officers, city firemen, Acadian Ambulance, librarians, and America Reads tutors. Area
businesses such as Walmart, P.J.s Coffe & Tea and Susan's General Stores have generously
provided supplies. Cooper said campus organizations looking for community service projects
will be welcomed with open arms. find welcoming arms at Southeastern Head Start.
     Recently, members of Southeastern's Pan-Hellenic Council pitched in to put on an Easter
egg hunt for the children. Although the weather was less than cooperative, the children
enthusiastically ferreted out colorful plastic eggs, first on the playground, then, when the rain ran
them inside, in the classrooms and hallways.
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SOUTHEASTERN HEAD START   Add Two
     Working with the children has been "really cool," said Frank Harding Jr. of Norco, a
member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, one of six fraternities and sororities staging the egg hunt.
     Cooper is pleased with the program's first months. "When I see what we've done, how
hard the staff is working, how the children are happy and the parents volunteering, I think,
'We're doing okay.'" she said, smiling.
     Applications for Southeastern Head Start are available at their office on Tornado Drive on
Southeastern's North Campus. For additional information, call 549-5948.
                            - SLU -
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