17-05-2025
Head Start of Covington celebrate 60 years
COVINGTON, Ind. — The Head Start of Fountain and Warren, in Covington, Indiana, has been helping prepare kids and their families for school for the past 60 years. To celebrate the anniversary, and Field Day, the program hosted a 'Down on the Farm' themed event Friday, May 16, in Covington City Park.
For Dawn Tritten, director of the Head Start program in Covington, the Field Day is a rare opportunity for her to get out of the office and see all the kids playing together.
'We have seven centers. Their parents get together and plan what they want to see, and they did an amazing job,' Tritten said. 'I don't get out very much. So for me, it is amazing to see everyone together.'
There were several different play stations set up around a pavilion in the park, including an animal station with chickens and a corgi, as well as a Touch the Truck section, with a semi truck, firetruck, ambulance, and more.
'Sometimes we have these gentlemen with their vehicles come and read to us, and it's also an opportunity for us to bring it to them if they can't get out to see it themselves, so we have great community partners,' Payton said.
Jerry Mortimore, a truck driver, is one such reader. He brought his semi to the event so his son Zander Anderson, a Head Start student, could play in it and show his friends how fun it is to climb up into the cab and sit behind the wheel.
'He's been driving a truck forever, and they are obsessed with it,' said Mortimore's wife. 'Zander came up to him and said, 'Can you take it to my field day?' So, we're letting him bring it.'
After the fun celebration, Trittel and JJ Payton — Head Start Center Manager — gave out awards to several parent volunteers before presenting certifications of completion to those kids who were in attendance.
Among them was Hunter Marlatt, whose mother Keana Hiner said her son has grown so much in the program.
'He has been playing with kids a lot better and counting better, and he's better with his shapes and his colors,' she said, adding that he is just much easier to bring around other people now.
Those interested in enrolling in Covington's Head Start program can reach out to the director at 765-793-0473. The office is open year-round.
Head Start is a federally-funded program that provides free, comprehensive early learning, health, nutrition, and family support services to children ages 3-5 from low-income families, according to the First Five Years Fund.
It was established in 1965 as part of President Lyndon P. Johnson's 'War on Poverty.'
