[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 65 (Friday, May 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN HONOR OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HEAD START

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                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 1, 2015

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is my great honor and pleasure 
to extend my sincerest congratulations to the students, parents, staff, 
and supporters of the Head Start program as they celebrate 50 
remarkable years of eliminating poverty through education, services, 
and partnerships. Enrichment Services Program, Inc. (ESP) will 
celebrate Head Start's 50th anniversary on Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 
noon at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center in Columbus, Georgia.
  After President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the War on Poverty in his 
1964 State of the Union speech, Sargent Shriver, a key social and 
political figure, took the lead in assembling a panel of experts to 
develop a comprehensive child development program that would help 
communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children. The 
brainchild of this panel was Head Start, a program designed to help 
break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-
income families with the tools and resources to meet their emotional, 
social, nutritional, and psychological needs.
  In 1965, the Office of Economic Opportunity launched an eight-week 
program called Project Head Start. Fifty years later, Head Start has 
served more than 30 million children, becoming an integral component of 
America's education system.
  Enrichment Services Program, Inc. is a community action agency that 
provides essential services to alleviate poverty levels, promote family 
stability, and gradually build self-sufficiency. It was established in 
1964 and operated as the Community Action Development Committee. The 
Agency was incorporated in 1965 as the ``Lower Chattahoochee Community 
Action Agency, Inc.'' In 1974, when President Gerald Ford signed the 
Head Start Economic Opportunity and Community Partnership Act, Head 
Start funding was allocated to local community action agencies such as 
ESP.
  Enrichment Services Program, Inc. administers the Early Head Start 
and Head Start programs within a nine-county area, including 
Chattahoochee, Clay, Harris, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart, and 
Talbot counties, located in Georgia, and Russell County in Alabama. 
Each year, ESP serves approximately 1,000 children ages 0-5 from low-
income families.
  The Head Start program has been essential to the early childhood 
development and forward progression of many children and their 
families. Head Start evaluates and works to improve six domains of 
early childhood development: social/emotional, physical, language, 
cognitive, literacy, and mathematics. Through Head Start, ESP addresses 
the basic needs of each child and prepares them for entry into 
kindergarten. ESP also encourages parent involvement by offering 
services such as family literacy functions and parental input into the 
curriculum.
  In the 2013-2014 program year, children in ESP's Head Start program 
made remarkable accomplishments. In the Cognitive domain alone, an 
average of 96% of children exceeded growth range. There were 505 three- 
and four-year-olds who were ready to read by the end of the school 
year.
  Enrichment Services Program, Inc. has done an outstanding job of 
administering the Head Start program in the area that it serves. 
Because of the dedication and commitment of the teachers and the staff, 
thousands of children have gone on to achieve greater heights in 
primary, secondary, and higher education than they otherwise would have 
done. I firmly believe that Head Start's outreach will continue to help 
preschool children and their families overcome the cycle of poverty to 
lead successful and productive lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me and the more than 
730,000 residents of Georgia's Second Congressional District in 
expressing our profound gratitude to Enrichment Services Program, Inc. 
and to Head Start for working to improve educational outcomes for 
preschool children, which not only produces positive effects throughout 
their lives but also creates a ripple effect of improvement in the 
communities in which they live.

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