Julie Bellehumeur: Giving children in Duluth’s Hillside a Head Start
Shelves lined with puzzles, children’s books, toys, and boxes of crayons are typical of the office of a person who specializes in early childhood development. In the office of Julie Bellehumeur, a Head Start family advocate at Duluth’s Myers-Wilkins elementary school, typical ends with the shelves.
The typical day at Myers-Wilkins, is not the typical day at most schools. Located in the Central Hillside neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota, nearly 80 percent of the students are eligible to receive free or reduced lunch according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
At Myers-Wilkins a typical day includes children that are hungry.
Kim Nelson, a para-professional Head Start teacher at Myers-Wilkins, has known Bellehumeur since she was a nanny and a student. Nelson described why Bellehumeur was so vital to the community at Myers-Wilkins.
“She has a gentleness that people can relate too,” Nelson said. “It is a gentleness that is needed.”
Begun in 1965, Head Start is a federally funded, income-based education program for children from birth to the age of 5. It has served over 33 million children since it began, providing services in parenting, nutrition, pre-K education and special needs assessment. Incorporating classroom-based learning for 3–4 year olds with assistance and guidance for entire families of children of preschool age, it has grown to become a model for universal pre-K education in many places. At Myers-Wilkins there is a wait list each year.
Myers-Wilkins Principal Elisa Maldonado, new to the school this year, describes it as a great asset for the community.
“It is a great stepping stone for the kids,” she said. “It really is a vibrant place.”
The Head Start program and Bellehumeur are at Myers-Wilkins to help address the issue of hunger, among many other issues surrounding families living in poverty. Offering more than free breakfast and lunch, Head Start also provides information and family classes on nutrition, helping establish healthy habits that carry outside of the walls of the school.
Bellehumeur received her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She has nearly 20 years of experience working with children and their families, including work as a teaching assistant and serving as the Fond Du Lac Band of Ojibwe school’s Head Start director.
“I first was involved with Head Start about 15 years ago,” Bellehumeur said. “This is my fourth year at Myers-Wilkins.”
Bellehumeur says her work at Head Start allows her to give children, and their families, a safe introduction to public school. This includes many cases where a parents’ experiences may have led them to a belief that school is not necessarily a safe or worthwhile place.
Bellehumeur also spends time as a “Parent and Tot” instructor at a private school in Duluth, the Spirit of the Lake Community School. Similar to her duties as a family advocate, she engages in whole family education, emphasizing the education that children receive is one that communities can share in.
Spirit of the Lake Community School is a Waldorf Education school. According the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America the Waldorf teaching method seeks to develop each child’s unique potential. This is done by incorporating play and imagination into the curriculum.
An example Bellehumeur gave was in regards to math education. Traditionally done with a teacher at the chalkboard guiding students to solve a math problem on a piece of paper, in a Waldorf school they would count physical objects such as bean bags.
A parent herself, Bellehumeur finds value in this type of education for her own children, though this choice is not without some reservations.
“I am a big believer in public education,” she said. “I believe in what it is meant to do, although I also am a supporter of educational choice.”
She emphasized this with the fact that she homeschooled her own children for many years.
“It bothers me that by having my son in a private school it potentially takes money from the public schools,” Bellehumeur said, “but also public education is not a blanket that fits all.”
“Every child is different and has different needs. My son would not have done well if his first exposure to a group setting was a public school. My daughter would probably have adapted easily,” she explained.
With years of experience, including time in administration, it is this belief and commitment to public education, children, and communities that keeps Bellehumeur doing what she does — even with what she described as often stressful moments.
“I had a parent in my office the other week, and she was angry. She probably had reason to be, though perhaps not at me, and I let her yell at me,” Bellehumeur said. “Sometimes people need to vent. She has been trying to do what she can and has been receiving assistance from various programs, but still faces many obstacles for her and her child. She eventually calmed down and said that Head Start was the only program that has been consistent and reliable for them over three years.”
That consistency and reliability pays off in other ways too, as does the gentleness Bellehumeur’s co-worker described.
“Another parent, who refused to attend a parent teacher conference a few months ago had me in his home to discuss his child’s education just a few weeks ago,” she said. “These kids and families need to feel arms around them. They need community that cares.”
