Scholarship and Awards

Legacy Scholarships — Advancing Head Start

Head Start touches the lives of more than 130,000 children and families in the four western states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific Region. Serving those children are more than 30,000 adults in a variety of roles. Each adult is essential to ensuring the child and families success.

Support Scholarships & Awards

Interested in supporting the R9HSA Scholarships and Awards?  Each year we will distribute funds to the Head Start community, based upon the amounts we raise from our generous membership and allies. 

Click HERE to donate today!

Click HERE to view past years’ scholarship winners.

Head Start Advantage

Over the past 55 years, Head Start/Early Head Start has served families who are vulnerable.

Head Start/Early Head Start improves the lives of children from at-risk backgrounds by providing family-focused child development and school-readiness services including early education, health, nutrition and mental health.  The overall goal of the Head Start/Early Head Start program is to bring about a greater degree of social competency in children of income eligible families.

Through Head Start/Early Head Start children will gain the social skills needed to enhance their present and future school experiences.  The advantage Head Start/Early Head Start believes in is…

• The combined strengths brought to the program by parents who aspire for greater opportunities for their children,
• Teachers and administrators seeking to offer the most high-quality environments, and
• Communities willing to invest resources of urgent need.

Community Impact – One Family, One Child

Head Start/Early Head Start has grown from the eight-week demonstration project in 1965 to include full day/year services and many program options. In 2017, nearly 900,000 families with children pre-natal to age 5 are served in Head Start/Early Head Start.  Currently Head Start is administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Head Start/Early Head Start serves children and their families each year in urban and rural areas in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Territories, including many American Indians and migrant children. 

In the Federal Region IX (States of Arizona, California, Hawaii/Outer Pacific Territories, and Nevada) more than 115,000 (13% of national enrollment) families and children are served.

Head Start/Early Head Start serve a diverse population.  Thirty seven percent identify as Hispanic/Latino, 29% as Black or African American.  In addition, the program serves Native America Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Asian and American Indian/Alaska Native. (2017 Program Information Report). 

Our ‘Secret Sauce’ Education Staff

In Head Start/Early Head Start, more than 130,000 staff provide educational services.  In Region IX, Head Start/Early Head Start programs employ more than 17,000 teachers, assistant teachers, family advocates, and education support staff.  These individuals are the front line of program services.

They provide the curriculum, design the environments, and calm the fears as well as offer the cheers to both children and parents.  In 2007, the Head Start Act was reauthorized updating a wide range of planned improvements. 

Core to these policies was the goal of significant expansion staff education requirements.  By 2017, more than 73% of teachers have acquired a bachelor’s degree or higher.  However, there remains a significant challenge for new teachers, assistant teachers and family advocates.   Post-Secondary education is extremely expensive, and the salary base of Head Start Teachers is $31,000 per year. It is essential for the Head Start/Early Head Start community to support the ongoing development of our education staff.

The Region 9 Head Start Association Legacy Scholarship

Each year, the Region 9 Head Start Association awards several $1,500 scholarships to Head Start teachers who are attending college. Individual and corporate donations are accepted. Donations are tax deductible and can be made online at region9hsa.org/donations/donate/ or by mailing a check to: 

Region 9 Head Start Association
Legacy Scholarship

2131 Capitol Ave., Suite 317

Sacramento, CA 95816

Donations will receive a prompt invoice.

For more information, contact
Edward Condon, Executive Director,
916-259-0971 ext. 101, econdon@region9hsa.org

To download the 2019 Scholarship Report, click on the picture below.