This edition of Alumni Spotlight features the journeys of two members of the Head Start ‘parent-staff-alumni’ club — a unique designation but not an uncommon one. Head Start has the distinction of impacting children, who as adults, enroll their own children for the same quality educational programming they received, and then decide to join the Head Start workforce as a way of paying forward its dividends.

Tashia Lemon-Guillory

Director of Lawtell Head Start Center — Lawtell, Louisiana

After I graduated college with a degree in early education, I wasn’t sure what I wanted my focus area to be. At that time, I thought I might pursue an advanced degree in social work but I was unsure. It was a visit to my Head Start program that brought the clarity I needed. During an outing with a friend, I paid a visit to my former Head Start center in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, and encountered my former teacher. I was struck by how after so many years, she was still inspiring children and families. It was then I realized I wanted to have that kind of impact on children and families, and Head Start was the exact place to do that.

I am currently the director of the Lawtell Head Start Center in Lawtell, Louisiana, and I have been here for 18 years. I cherish the opportunity to give back what I received to the same parish where I attended. On a regular basis, as an educator, I get to clearly see the academic and social differences between students who attended Head Start and those who have not.

Interestingly, as a proud member of the ‘parent-staff-alumni’ club, I have the triple honor of being a Head Start alumna, working in Head Start, and having a child who also attended Head Start. My son, Collin, recently graduated high school and is attending Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He is studying biology and considering a possible career in physical therapy. Like so many others, our family is living proof of the impact Head Start has on children, families, and their trajectories. I attended Head Start, came to work with Head Start, and I remain with Head Start because Head Start changes lives.

Favorite HS Memory: Riding the van to school and playing in the interest areas like cooking, nature, and science, and of course, with the blocks.