Page 36 - BusinessWest December 8, 2021
P. 36

A Class Act
Janis Santos Reflects on 50 Years in Early-childhood Education
By George O’Brien
During the early, and darkest, days of the pandemic, Janis Santos recalls, she con- sidered it vitally important to remain
positive and find ways to permit her positive attitude to trickle down to every employee and every facet of the Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start operation.
“I will stay connected to Head Start; I’ve devoted my life to advocating for America’s most vulnerable children, and I will continue to do that.”
And so, in her daily communications with staff, she would include quotes designed to inspire and uplift others at a time of unprec- edented challenge. She borrowed quotes from many, but leaned heavily on Fred Rogers (bet- ter known to most as Mister Rogers) — whom she described as a hero for the way he forcefully drove home the message about how very young children learn through play — and also the poet
Maya Angelou.
From the latter, there was one passage she
remembers using more than a few times: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
But as powerful and effectual as those words were, it was probably some from Santos herself that helped propel her staff through those tumul- tuous times.
When asked to recall and paraphrase, she said, “everyone needed to hear that we’ve been through things before, maybe not as bad as this ... but we do this for children. Why are we here? What is our purpose? We’re committed and dedi- cated to America’s most vulnerable children. We have a big challenge to face — we need to keep the children safe and their families safe — so let’s do it together.”
Those comments are quite poignant because they sum up not only what Santos was saying at the height of the pandemic, but what she’s been saying — and doing — during a remarkable, nearly half-century-long career in Head Start that will come to a close — officially, but not in reality — on Dec. 31.
Indeed, from the time she opened a Head Start facility in the basement of the Boys & Girls Club in Ludlow in 1973, she has been dedicated
Janis Santos has spent nearly a half-century as an administrator, but she never lost her enthusiasm for being in the classroom and reading to children.
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        36 DECEMBER 8, 2021
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