Returning from Afghanistan and Finding a Family in Head Start

How Head Start helped a veteran working towards the American dream

By Shawn Wallick, Stark County Community Action Agency Head Start Parent Ambassador

I’m a combat Army veteran. I served five years in the United States Army. I did one tour in Afghanistan. I am a Head Start father which is a rare breed in my county. I am also honored to be a Parent Ambassador representing Stark County Community Action Agency and most importantly Ohio. My kids have been in Head Start for going on two years now, but my story goes farther back than that.

When my son was three years old, my wife Erica and I noticed that he wasn’t communicating as he should be for his age and we were lost on how to help him due to the lack of knowledge and resources that my wife and I did not have at the time. We saw a Head Start on my drive, my daily commute to school. I’m a full-time college student at Kent State University and every day I saw the building. I didn’t know what Head Start was at the time and we knew it was time to get my kids into Head Start because my son was going to go into the public education sector the following year and we applied and we got serviced and Head Start saw the issues that my wife and I have seen in our son.

They began testing him for a learning disability and through the partnership of Head Start and my local school district, we just formulated his IEP, as of May 2018 to receive extra help that otherwise he would never have received. When children start behind, they always stay behind. Head Start has really boosted my son.

They took a child that barely knew a couple of words and turned them into a boy with endless questions, endless spirit for learning, and I can’t thank Head Start enough for what they have done for my son. Because of Head Start, my son’s future in education is brighter.

I want to stress Head Start is not just a program on school readiness, for me, for some, it’s a new family. When I was separated from the Army, due to my injuries in Afghanistan, I was spiraling down mentally. It was hard being torn away from my military brothers and sisters and seeing them continue to serve our country and being left behind.

I struggled with it and I just wanted to end it all because it was such a disappointment in myself that I could not service my country — my country that has done so much for me. If it wasn’t for the love and care of my wife and children and the amazing staff at my center in Head Start, I would not be here today. I would be another statistic on veteran suicide. Head Start renewed my life. They gave me the motivation that I had in the military that I lost and almost immediately when I came into Head Start, I wanted to help my children succeed in education because for me I didn’t have that growing up.

I was a child of alcoholism, drug addiction, domestic violence, abuse, neglect, and it wasn’t until my mom made the choice to give me up to a family I didn’t know… I told myself when I would have children I would never do that to them and I would be there every single day for them and lived my life for them. So, I became an officer in the Parent committee in Policy Council. I received a voice that I lost when I exited the military and I was able to connect with other parents and leaders in my community. The stories that I get every single day, the impact that I see from my community is tenfold.

I cannot imagine a life without Head Start and where I can help families succeed just as a parent but we have brought resources that my center has never had before or have lost. We lost our bilingual translator and my wife was able to step up and fill that gap and help the Hispanic community to receive the help that they needed in the agency.

So you see if it wasn’t for Head Start, I would have been another statistic on a flyer, my son would never have received the help that he got and never have unlocked his true potential, and my wife would have just been another person working towards the American dream.

Head Start has allowed my family to blossom and become a ray of light for families in my community and use my voice and to help them in an otherwise dark world. I’m so honored to be here and I thank you for your time.

Shawn Wallick is an Army veteran and Head Start father. He currently serves as a Parent Ambassador representing Stark County Community Action Agency Head Start in Canton, Ohio. The text above is a transcript of his remarks at the National Head Start Association’s Congressional Breakfast during the 2019 Winter Leadership Institute.