Head Start Classes Bring Holiday Cheer to UAMS
| Dec. 18, 2008 | Singing traditional holiday favorites like “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” a group of preschool carolers brought a dose of Christmas spirit to UAMS administrators and staff this week.
The group of 3- and 4-year-olds from the Pine Head Start site in North Little Rock visited the offices of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., and Debra H. Fiser, M.D., dean of the UAMS College of Medicine.
They presented handmade cards to Wilson and Fiser in addition to singing holiday favorites that also included “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and “Silent Night,” among others. The 19 students each shook a small ring of bells as they sang and were accompanied on guitar by their teacher, Tracy St. Clair. The group was assisted by several Head Start staff members, including Dee McLemore, education coordinator, and Judy Jackson, transportation coordinator.
The visit to the College of Medicine’s administrative office concluded with a Happy Birthday song to Fiser, as well as a handmade tiara.
The group was accompanied by Mary Kaye McKinney, UAMS Head Start director. The caroling has become an eight-year tradition.
UAMS runs the Head Start-Early Head Start program in Pulaski County, with 22 locations serving 1,090 students from low-income homes. Head Start offers health, education and social services to its students.