In collaboration with our community, we support and challenge families to help the recognize their strengths, while providing our expertise to educate and empower them to reach their goals, with the ultimate objective of eliminating the need for Head Start in Our Community.
The mission of the Shippensburg Head Start Program is to provide individualized, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and meaningful experiences for all enrolled children and their families in order to effectively prepare and assist them to deal with their current environment as well as for the future.
Shippensburg Head Start Program is an early childhood program that serves low income families and children 0-5 years old . We have Head Start/ Pre-K Classrooms in Carlisle, Newville, and Shippensburg.
An outdoor educational camp for youth rising into grades 4-6 is being offered at the Dickinson College Farm this summer. Dickinson College’s Center for Sustainability Education (CSE), Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM), and Farm are coming together to provide a one-of-a-kind opportunity to area children. D.I.G. campers will gain a better understanding and appreciation of our local resources by participating in hands-on learning experiences connecting them to renewable energy, stream health, sustainable agriculture and culinary discoveries. The camp is designed to foster a love of the outdoors, sense of place, skills in nature journaling and crafts, and practical experience in farming and science.
Hope Station embodies social sustainability in its emphasis on the need to start with children in building a stronger, cohesive community. Its programs promote the values of self-esteem, service, and respect for others that will be carried through the community from generation to generation. Hope Station also functions in an economic sense, building community capital and offering counsel to community members who are seeking work, the idea being that opportunities for employment begin with a foundation of confidence and community support.
The LEAF Project (Leadership Education And Farming) is a farm-based youth employment program. Launched by Heidi Witmer in 2013, the project envisions a community in which our youth, as well as all members of our region, are connected to the food that nourishes them, the land on which it grows, and to each other. To achieve this, LEAF provides paid internships to youth, ages 14-18, to work alongside farmers and chefs in the greater Carlisle region. These internships are meant to engage and inspire youth through the meaningful work of building a healthy local food system. Youth work, collaborate, and learn together, motivating personal and social change while increasing knowledge about and access to locally raised food in our community.
The Carlisle Arts Learning Center (CALC) serves and enriches the community by encouraging creativity and self-esteem through exploration and appreciation of the visual arts. It does this via classes and workshops, exhibits, and participation in community events. Since its founding in January 1992, CALC has offered a variety of courses for children and adults in a number of settings, including the Carlisle YWCA, Carlisle Community Center, One West Penn, Cumberland Crossings, and Memorial Park Train Station. Disadvantaged children and adults may participate in CALC classes at reduced charges via its scholarship program. In 2001, CALC began offering customized workshops at the request of organizations like the Girl Scouts and the YWCA summer day camp program. Since 1998 CALC has also mounted a variety of arts and craft exhibits that are free to the public.
