Head Start Carolers Bring Good Tidings to UAMS
| Dec. 6, 2017 | A jolly group of UAMS Head Start preschoolers strolled the Central Building halls on a chilly Dec. 5, singing holiday classics that warmed every heart.
They continued a 17-year tradition eagerly anticipated each year by staff and students alike.
UAMS Executive Vice Chancellor and College of Medicine Dean Pope L. Moseley, M.D., applauded the children’s caroling and wished them a happy holiday season.
The children of Kennedy Head Start school Room 1 arrived midmorning at UAMS, clad in bright holiday red t-shirts, some featuring superheroes. They attracted plenty of attention as they merrily made their way down the halls, bidding passersby good morning until they reached the office of Interim Chancellor Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D.
Gardner, in matching bright red, knelt near the children as they sang, smiling and clapping along. Led by teachers Cassandra Roy and Romonda Lipscomb, the kids excitedly belted out holiday hits such as “Let It Snow,” “Up on the House Top” and “Feliz Navidad.”
Gardner’s suite became the site of a standing-room-only concert as UAMS administration and onlookers laughed, clapped, sang and used their cell phones to record the performance.
After their singing was complete, the kids presented Gardner with a framed class photo. As Gardner knelt and asked them to point themselves out, so many children happily crowded around her that she all but disappeared in a sea of red.
Upon emerging, Gardner handed out clementine “Cuties” to each child, gave hugs, and posed for photos. As they filed out, each child clutched his or her orange and repeated their class mantra to “make good choices.”
Outside the offices of the UAMS College of Medicine, Executive Vice Chancellor and College of Medicine Dean Pope L. Moseley, M.D., and his staff were treated to a concert of their own that attracted its fair share of admirers. He thanked each child in turn, wishing them a happy holiday season.
The tired but happy preschoolers made their way out to a waiting school bus, their short but memorable concert tour complete, and their adoring public left wanting more.
UAMS Head Start serves 928 preschoolers at 17 sites in Pulaski County. UAMS has administered the Head Start program in Pulaski County since 1998.