Head Start and Job Corps break new ground - San Diego, California

Children Today, May-June, 1990 by Linda Bona

Head Start and Job Corps Break New Ground

Together, the Job Corps and Head Start boast a combined half-century of working to improve the quality of life for young people and their families across the United States.

Each marks its 25th anniversary this year, and in San Diego, California, this is a very special coincidence. The local Job Corps training site, located in the sunny San Diego suburb of Imperial Beach, has become the home of a state-of-the-art Head Start center. (*) Neighborhood House Associaton/Head Start of San Diego County moved into temporary quarters on the grounds in January 1990, and construction on the center and surrounding play area is now nearing completion.

With luxury of being "built to suit," the facility, which is designed to accommodate 30 children, includes a parent/staff meeting room, media center, administrative offices and play areas. The bathroom sparkles with its lineup of child-high fixtures, and the compact kitchen is framed with rows of cabinets, cubby holes and counterspace.

The sprawling grounds, soon to be landscaped, allow for an elaborate array of play apparatus. A high-tech slide/junglebar combination sits adjacent to a stair bridge, and a castle for exploring is being erected. Several little model "retail shops"--including a bakery, a carpentry shop and a "garage" that will house tricycles--surround the area, creating a tiny village.

What makes this scene remarkable, though, is that the construction is being done by the Job Corps students themselves, several of whom have children enrolled in the Head Start program. This is on-the-job training at its ultimate for the young people who take part in the 2-year Job Corps training program.

In addition to the children of Job Corps participants (about 20 percent of the enrollement), the Head Start program serves other eligible children from the community. Also attending are children of aprents enrolled in "Options For Recovery," a local agency for drug and alcohol rehabilitation, which has arranged to bus the children to the site.

Job Corps provides opportunities for participants to acquire a high school equivalency diploma, as well as comprehensive training in such skills as the culinary arts, retailing, computer sciences, electronics, carpentry, and construction. Many of these skills have been put into practice in building the Head Start center. Job Corps workers are learning and practicing other skills here, too: The site boasts its own bowling alley and a cafeteria operated by the Marriott Corporation. And both parents and children can take advantage of the comprehensive services offered by Head Start in a year-round, full-day program.

This collaborative effort is the brain-child of Prudence Price, Director of Education at Job Corps in San Diego, who set out to meet the need for child care at the site. Because this Job Corps program leases its facilities from the United States Navy, there was much negotiation and red tape in the beginning, but with perseverance and determination, the Head Start program was incorporated into the system.

"When things get too hectic around here," Price beams, "I just peek in on the children, and it has a soothing effect on me!"

Bill Marsden, who has been with Head Start for about 10 years, is now the head teacher at the new center. He enjoys showing visitors the grounds, pointing out the Culinary Arts Building, where students prepare meals twice a week and serve as hosts, waiters and waitresses and busboys. "For under $2.00, you get to dine out restaurant style," he notes.

At the recent dedication ceremony, Boyd Barger, Executive Director of the Job Corps, and Howard H. Carey, Executive Director of Neighborhood House Association, expressed their admiration of the collaboration. "This natural union of Head Start and Job Corps is likely to become one of the most successful programs of its kind," Dr. Carey asserts.

And well it should. In an environment of learning, caring, striving and "doing," the young children at this site are getting a Head Start in life that will truly make a difference.

(*) Readers are cordially invited to visit this model site, which is located at 1325 Iris Ave., Imperial Beach, California. Further information may be obtained from Barbara Y. Fielding, Head Start Director, or Angie Fischetti, Administrator for Special Projects, at (619) 239-9281.

Linda Bona is Secretary to the Director, Neighborhood House Association/Head Start of San Diego, California.