Head Start teacher recalls program's role in supporting her large Maricopa County family

Teacher Cathy Nossett, a Head Start teacher with Maricopa County Human Services, recalled her experience as a Head Start student and said the program provided early education, meals and transportation that helped her family when she was a child.

Nossett said she attended Head Start in 1965 as one of 10 siblings in a low-income household. "I feel that being a head start student, it provided us with a solid foundation, how to share. We were able to get nutritional meals. Sometimes that we weren't able to get 3 meals a day at home," she said. Nossett also described transportation provided by the program: "They had a school bus that took us from our home to our school."

The program, she said, offered classroom activities and family supports that she and her mother relied on. "They also provided with resources for my mother to be able to help her be more of a successful mother with 10 children and a low income family," Nossett said. She described the classroom environment as caring and formative: "I remember it being lovey. I remember it being fun. I remember having friends. I remember the dramatic play. I felt like our teachers really cared about us."

Nossett said the experience influenced her career. After decades in early education and returning to Arizona, she said she decided "to return to my roots" and work to serve low-income families through Head Start. "I love being a head start teacher because I love children," she said. "I would like to give back to our community to be able to serve our low income families, to be able to provide them with good education."

The remarks reflect personal experience with the Maricopa County Human Services Head Start program; the transcript does not include details about program funding, enrollment numbers or any formal action by a government body.