LOXLEY, Ala. — It ws a day of balloons, speeches and visiting dignitaries.

But for the 40 youngsters, ages 3-5, who are students at Ellisville Head Start, the best part of the whole affair was getting to release a bunch of red, white, and blue balloons outside the school. They watched them float over the nearby trees and squealed excitedly when a balloon that appeared to be caught on a branch, freed itself in the rain-cloud darkened sky.

The occasion was to mark October as “National Head Start Awareness Month.” The first proclamation making October a month for people to be aware of the Head Start program wa given in 1982 by President Ronald Regan. The program began in 1965.

“Perhaps the most significant factor in the success of Head Start has been the involvement of parents, volunteers, and the community. Their commitment and the services provided by dedicated Head Start staff have been instrumental in creating a quality program that truly provides young children with a "head start" in life,” said Regan.

For Alfredia Watson and Marlo Edwards, both teachers at the Ellisville Head Start program, the result — seeing youngsters grow and develop is always exciting.

“We stress basic learning skills,” said Edwards. “We teach letters, shapes, colors, numbers and letter sounds.”

These are the building blocks that allow youngsters to proceed with formal learning, and make up for any “deficits” they may have at home.

Watson ha been with the program for seven years, and says that her first crop of students are now in high school.

“Every now and then they let me know they are still doing good in school,” she said. She knows that one former student is becoming a registered nurse.

“That’s the happy part, knowing they did well,” Watson said.

Edwards has been a teacher for just few years, and was looking forward to the ceremony.

“I want to see what goes on,” she said.

“They know visitors are coming,” said Edwards. “For them, it’s like a field trip.”

Nettie Edwards, am attendance officer with the Baldwin County Public Schools, and a former elementary teacher said that she knew, “The program teaches school readiness. It gets the children ready for school.”

While addressing the students, She told the audience that her own daughter was a Head Start student and she was on welfare while attending university getting her teaching credential.

“You are all prepared to go on to big boy and big girl school,” she told the students.

Billy Middleton, the mayor of Loxley, presented a proclamation to the school, and told the teachers that, “know that you have touched lives years earlier.”

Baldwin County Commissioner Wayne A. Gruenloh also brought a proclamation from the county and told the youngsters and staff that the Head Start story reminded him of one of his favorite movies, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

“You never know how many other lives you will touch,” he said.

For Velma Smith, the Child Development Director for Baldwin, Escambia, and Clark counties, the 44 years that Head Start has been in existence it has proven itself to be, “One of the best child development programs we have in the country.”

“You are somebody,” she told the students.