At one time, 34-year-old Carl Millender Jr.’s life seemed to be bursting at the seams. Millender was engaged with his full-time job, working to complete his master of business administration, committed to the sole care of his 4-year-old daughter and an avid volunteer with the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Head Start/Early Head Start program.
It was the above reasons and more that earned the East St Louis native the honor and distinction of winning awards as the 2012-2013 Regional V Head Start Parent of the Year and the 2012-2013 Illinois Head Start Parent of the Year. Millender’s capture of the regional award allowed him to be considered for the National Head Start Association Parent of the Year Award. Millender was notified Oct. 7 that he won first-runner-up for the National Head Start Association 2014 Parent of the Year Award.
Millender’s youngest of two children, 4-year-old Paulette, was a student at the SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start Lovejoy Center during the 2013-2013 school year.
Some of the accomplishments, activities and roles that Millender achieved and took part in included:
• Volunteering more than 50 hours
• Serving as vice chair of the SIUE Head Start Policy Council
• Being chair of the Lovejoy Head Start Parent Committee
• Being an Illinois Head Start Association Parent Ambassador
“I feel the primary responsibility of children’s education lies with the parent,” Millender said. “That is why I became so involved with Head Start.
“The more I learned, the more I realized the importance of the program and what a great resource it is for children and families. Not to mention, the Head Start staff led by Lynnie Bailey and Ethel Coleman is second-to-none.”
Bailey is the program director and Coleman is the assistant program director SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start.
The mother of the 4-year-old Head Start student was away on active military duty from 2009-2013, and Millender provided the primary support for Paulette.
Two years ago Millender was looking to place his daughter in a pre-kindergarten program when he first learned about the SIUE Head Start/Early Head Start program.
“I didn’t know Head Start provided quality early childhood education,” he said. “I didn’t know that their services included health care, dental and social, and mental services.”
Soon after Paulette was enrolled with Head Start, Millender became an active parent. “I didn’t feel I had an option not to become involved,” he said. “I was buying wipes for the entire class. If the class went on a field trip, I volunteered. The staff here is so motivating and inspiring, I’d put them up against any Head Start/Early Head Start staff in the country.”
Millender works full time at American Steel Foundry in Granite City, where they manufacture rail car undercarriage components. “My employer and supervisor, Mr. Ron Ruble, was very supportive of my volunteer work at my daughter’s school. Mr. Ruble would tell me to keep up the good work, and that he was very proud of me.”
Millender is a model of a great Head Start parent, said Carolyn Jason, program operations coordinator for the Lovejoy Head Start Center. “He exhibits all of the qualities of an excellent Head Start parent as far as becoming immersed into the workings of the program and volunteering at his child’s school,” Jason said. “He also benefited by the program’s encouragement and goal setting for parents to better equip and empower himself.”
Millender, who served 13 years in the U.S. Navy, has his bachelor’s in aeronautics from the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Head Start staff encouraged Millender to complete his work on the MBA that he had previously started. In June, Millender received his MBA from the University of Phoenix.
“It’s extremely important that my daughter see the passion I have for education,” Millender said.
He said he recalls the tough times of caring for a very young Paulette, and he’s grateful for the support he received from SIUE Head Start.
“The excellent Head Start program at SIUE makes life so much easier for me to manage,” he said. “I love knowing that my daughter is being well taught and cared for. I also love doing all I can to support Head Start, its children and families.”
Specifically, Millender made note of the hard work of Kay Robertson, Lovejoy Head Start Center coordinator, and Tonica Wright, Lovejoy Head Start Center community representative.
Photo Information:
Carl Millender Jr. with his four-year-old daughter, Paulette. Millender won the 2012-2013 Regional Head Start Parent of the Year and the 2012-2013 Illinois Head Start Parent of the Year. He was also named as first runner-up for the National Head Start Association 2014 Parent of the Year Award.