Dedicated to Helping People Help Themselves

Carol Cronin – Education Services Program Manager

Carol Cronin always has been dedicated to helping other people. Her current position as Education Services Program Manager for Head Start allows her to put this dedication to action on a daily basis. Not only for the Head Start families, but also for the 97 staff members she supervises. According to one co-worker, “Carol has a way of welcoming the new employees and making them feel comfortable when we know most of the new teachers that come in are truly overwhelmed. She also has a way to warm up to the more tenured teachers. She is a true team player in that she would never have her staff do anything that she wouldn’t be willing to do herself.”

Even though she is not in the classroom, Carol still has contact with the parents and with the children when she visits the sites. “The children know who you are when you walk down the hallway. The kids run to see you. That’s special,” she states. One little boy who sticks out in Carol’s mind was brought to her attention by the teachers because he was eating an abnormally large amount of food at lunch time. Carol investigated the situation and learned the meal served by Head Start was the only hot meal the boy received all day. “I realized where the family came from and how fortunate I was.”

Carol believes the Community Action is fulfilled by the Head Start program. “Day-to-day we watch families change. Every aspect of child development is there to improve the family. We work with the parents, provide training, education the children. For our families, it does give them hope. They are bettering themselves. The agency as a whole moves people from poverty to self-sufficiency. There are so many areas of expertise we can offer.”