[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 218 (Friday, December 17, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9302-S9303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JANIS SANTOS

 Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I would like to offer my 
congratulations to Janis Santos as she retires as CEO from Holyoke 
Chicopee Springfield Head Start after 48 years of leadership in early 
childhood education and care. She deserves recognition for her 
steadfast commitment to ensuring that children of all backgrounds have 
access to high-quality early education.
  A graduate of Holyoke Community College and the University of 
Massachusetts, Janis began her professional teaching career in western 
Massachusetts. She soon became a trailblazer in her field. After 
opening Parkside Early Learning Center in Ludlow in 1973, she went on 
to join Holyoke Chicopee Head Start, Inc., as executive director in 
1979. She continues to lead Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start, 
which has grown to be the second largest Head Start Agency in 
Massachusetts and one of the largest providers of early education in 
western Massachusetts. In her career with Head Start, she has held 
several leadership positions, including chair of the Massachusetts Head 
Start Directors Association, chair of the New England Head Start 
Association, vice chair of the National Head Start Association, and 
member of the national advisory panel for the Head Start 2010 Project.
  In 2003, while serving on the board of directors of the National Head 
Start Association, she testified before the Senate Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions in a hearing on the reauthorization of 
funds for Head Start. Her advocacy on behalf of the children and 
families in Head Start programs is powerfully important. I want to 
offer my gratitude to Janis Santos for her lifelong commitment to 
America's children and for all she has done to advance early childhood 
education and care in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I congratulate 
her on

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her retirement and wish her the best of luck in her next 
chapter.

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