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Helen Talks Too Loud!

by Beth Kane

I met Helen Taylor shortly before her death. I had hoped to write a children’s book about Helen, but even though her life affected millions of America’s most needy children and families, I had trouble capturing her story. Maybe Commontales.com will change that. I hope the people who loved and admired Helen will edit the body of this story or add their comments to it.

Helen’s mother was one of the first people I talked to after her death. She told me a story that said it all...

When Helen was in kindergarten, her teacher summoned her mother to the school. "Helen talks too loud," the teacher complained. Little did she imagine that Helen’s voice would become so loud, it would completely change the lives of millions of poor children and families throughout the United States.

The fact is, Helen Hollingshed Taylor started talking early, passionately, and persuasively and she just never stopped.		    

Helen’s never-ending curiosity kept her mother very busy. One day she asked, "Where does the bus go? Where will it take me?"

Helen’s mother knew she had a very special little girl who questioned everything and wouldn’t take 'no' for an answer. So her mother decided to show Helen the great big world outside their neighborhood. Every Sunday , right after church, Helen and her mother took a bus ride to a new destination
"The bus will take you to Cincinnati, but you must pay close attention. It will be your job to find our way back," said her Mama. Helen always did. She never lost her way.

When Helen grew up and left home to attend college, students were not allowed to leave the Howard University campus until they passed a test showing they knew their way around the city. Everyone struggled, they got lost over and over again before passing the test -- everyone except Helen. Her bus rides as a child paid off, and soon Helen was taking in everything she could. She learned all about the city.

Helen planned to become a doctor, but when she went to college, something troubled her. There were so many poor people who seemed to have nowhere to turn and no one to help them. President Lyndon Johnson was troubled, too, and he did something no president had ever done before. He declared war on poverty! Can you believe it--declaring war on poverty and having the government and the people go along with it? Well, it happened. Maybe this is becoming a children's book. Anyway...

Helen wanted to fight in the war. The president set up a program in 1965 to help poor children get ready for school. At first it was just a summer program. The idea was to give kids a head start, and that is exactly what LBJ decided to call the program.

Helen’s mother became a Head Start teacher, and when Helen came home for summer vacation she helped her mother in the classroom. Helen told her mother that summer, "I don’t want to be a doctor. I want to help these children and their families in a different way."

"You can be anything you want," her mother told her. "You’ll do a great job."

Helen decided to become a social worker. In 1966, she went to the Institute for Youth and Community Studies at Harvard, then she earned a master's degree in early childhood education. She became a researcher and director of early childhood learning centers.

Helen Hollingshed Taylor started out teaching poor children then became executive director of the National Child Day Care Association of Washington. For 14 years, Helen oversaw 20 school centers, serving 1,300 children.

In 1994, Helen was named associate commissioner of the Head Start Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), a $5.3 billion program serving more than 865,000 preschool children of low-income families. Helen was the first person from the field to serve in this capacity. Under her leadership, Head Start enrollment increased by 145,000.

In 1995, Helen pushed for an expansion in the Early Head Start program for infants and toddlers up to the age of 3 ultimately reaching 525 programs serving 39,000 children. Helen led the Head Start Bureau in creating the first performance standards for centers serving children under 3. The standards covered such areas as education, nutrition, health, and partnerships between families and community.

As the national leader of Head Start, Helen urged her staff to emphasize parent and community involvement. "Keep the faith and trust the common sense of people," she once said. "Listen to your parents. The best programs involve families, local staff and communities."

On Helen’s watch, computer use in Head Start programs increased. "Computer literacy is as critical to children today as literacy was to their parents and grandparents," she said.

This page is dedicated to the memory of Helen, who saw the value of every single person she ever met, and to her mother, Helen Southall, who knew just how to help a little girl develop and use her powerful voice to speak for those who thought they had no voice. Together, they made sure people listened and made the world a better place for poor children and their families. Helen was active with the National Academy of Early Childhood Education (www.naeyc.org) and the National Black Child Development Institute (http://www.nbcdi.org/Welcome/).

The National Head Start Association (www.nhsa.org) instituted The Helen Hollingshed Taylor Memorial Scholarship fund to allow Head Start leaders to pursue master's and doctoral degrees. Almeta Keys (below) was the first winner of the scholarship.

Helen Hollingshed Taylor was born in Fort Valley, Georgia, on July 27, 1942, and grew up in Cincinnati. She came to Washington, D.C., to attend Howard University, where she graduated in 1964. In 1966 she received a National Institute of Mental Health fellowship to the Institute for Youth and Community Studies at Harvard and received a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education Curriculum and Instruction at Catholic University. In 1994, Helen was named Associate Commissioner of the Head Start Bureau. Helen worked from her hospital bed until the day she died of cancer on October 3, 2000.
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"Helen Hollingshed Taylor is an unsung hero among many who may not know about her. We have our own "Mother of Head Start Children". Her passionate and caring nature (Spirit) is inbred into our head start programs. Now I understand why I felt a 'nuturing' environment when I became involved with head start. Ms. Hollingshed Taylor's legacy is beyond tests, reports, budgets,etc. It is an energy which we know (energy) never dies. Energy only recreates itself in various forms. Her 'energy' is in the children, parents, staff and all who support it. We share it with world. Thanks Beth."

by Lynette Love 

"Oh, what manner of woman is this Helen Hollingshed Taylor? Simply put, she is a legend in her own right! There is no other phrase to describe Helen other than to say she was “a phenomenally remarkable pacesetter.” While serving as a drum major for the impoverished, disheartened, and vulnerable Head Start families across the country, Helen never ceased to use her God-given talents and abilities to pursue solutions to the terrible problems our families were facing. Her goal was to ensure that every Head Start family would be self-sufficient, productive members of society. Helen’s used her powerful voice (her kindergarten teacher described it as “loud”) and a keen sense of direction throughout her early years to reach the goals she set for herself. In her adult life, she bravely used the attributes that defined her as a leader to advocate for disadvantaged families. This was clearly visible in the manner in which she stood firm on controversial issues that may have lessened the parents’ roles as major players or contributors to their families’ well-being. When it came to regulations concerning parents, Helen was more concerned about them being morally sound than politically correct. Parents, Helen believed, were vital to Head Start’s success, and she always worked tirelessly to ensure that they had a voice in their children’s education. Helen’s philosophy centered on having Head Start staff engage parents in meaningful training opportunities relative to life-sustaining skills. She knew that this would help parents move up and out of poverty while also creating opportunities to become better parents. Helen believed in cutting red tape and providing parents with learning opportunities that would empower them with confidence and self-reliance and equip them with what they needed on their road to success. She often talked about how staff should rally around parents to help bridge the gap between the home, Head Start, and the public schools. I can still hear her saying, “Never underestimate the parents.” Helen knew that many people inside Head Start and outside the program believe that parents are incapable of making sound decisions on behalf of their children just because they are poor. Some people still think that way. Helen made sure, in no uncertain terms, to promote parent involvement at every level in Head Start. It was important to her that the “powers that be” knew the real story. Just because parents were poor did not mean they were not a forced to be reckoned with. She told the story often so that everyone would “get it.” And still, some did not get it, but that did not stop Helen from telling it over and over again. Helen was never one to simply give up. Helen was also concerned about how staff was treated and how they treated parents in terms of delivering parental involvement activities. Her major belief was that staff should always treat parents as they wanted to be treated and that they should be very sensitive to the issues parents deemed important. She felt staff should listen to their parents and give them the opportunity to participate in forums where they could have a voice and advocate on their own behalf. Often she expressed that as staff, we need to take care of business and that even though sometimes the work was going to be tough, there is no substitute for quality. She believed that every Head Start Staff had a responsibility to do their very best everyday and that if you were not a part of the solution; you were a part of the problem. Helen was always challenging staff to a higher level of thinking and learning by encouraging them to continue their education and stretch their creative abilities. I can remember the last time I had a heart-to-heart talk with her. It was at a National Head Start Association Executive Challenges Institute in Alexandria, Virginia. If you take a closer look at the picture that is posted with this story, you will notice the sleeve of another person. I submit that if you saw the entire picture, you would notice that I am the other person in the photo. At that training meeting, Helen paused a moment to take a picture with me, but it wasn't just a photo opportunity. I believe that if you really take a good look at the picture you will see a summary of her life story. At the time we were talking about the progress I had made toward getting my bachelor’s degree. She knew that I was a former Head Start parent and that my accomplishments did not come without me paying a great price. She was telling me how proud she was of my accomplishments and encouraged me to continue being the best that I could be. As a wife, mother of five, grandmother, Head Start Director, Louisiana Head Start Association President and full time Dean’s List college student, you can certainly see how I could have used all of the encouragement that I could get. This was a very special time for me, because I was ending my final year of college, and even though I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, it appeared as though I was never going to get out of the tunnel. It was Helen, along with her beloved Sarah Greene, National Head Start Association President and CEO, who constantly reminded me that I had to keep going; I would graduate one day, if I just kept the faith and continued to move forward toward my goals. Who would have thought that Helen would not have been around to witness my announcement of graduation? Even thought I knew she was ill, that was the farthest thing from my mind because Helen’s heart never skipped a beat. Even during her illness, she was a real trooper for Head Start. When I learned about Helen’s death, I was filled with mixed emotions. I was deeply saddened, because I had lost a great mentor and friend, but I felt very rich in that I had gained an opportunity to be mentored by a living legend, one who literally wrote the book on Head Start. She always made me fell like I mattered in Head Start and that I had a lot to contribute to the program. Her encouragement led me to apply myself and soar in Head Start activities that I never dreamed that I could accomplish. She would be very proud to hear that my latest accomplishment of being a visiting professor would not have been possible if it were not for her literally pouring her time and talents into me. Upon Helen’s death, the National Head Start Association created a scholarship fund in her honor. It was called the Helen Hollingshed Taylor Memorial Scholarship Award. When I first learned about the scholarship, without a doubt, I knew it was for me. How could I not apply? The scholarship stood for everything that Helen Taylor was. Since I wholeheartedly supported and believed in her, I knew right away that the best way I could honor and thank her for all that she had poured into my life was to apply for the scholarship, win it, and go on to further my education. On December 16, 2004, on the birthday of my first Head Start child, Fabian, I did just that by graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Lafayette, Louisiana. There is so much to tell about this phenomenally remarkable pacesetter that can not be illustrated in one article or one story. It is my prayer that others around the country who have been deeply touched and influenced by Helen Hollingshed Taylor will help keep her dream and memory alive by telling her story. This giant of a person walked softly, spoke loudly, and left a lasting impression on all who knew her and even on those who didn't. Long live the memory of our Head Start Hero, Helen Hollingshed Taylor."

by Almeta Richards Keys