Completion Nears For Head Start Building In Wolf Point
For The Children
The long journey to create a new Head Start facility in Wolf Point is now almost a reality.
“I’ve been going on five years with this,” Fort Peck Tribes’ Head Start director Hilary Gourneau said while touring the building, which is scheduled to be completed in midfall, said last week. “It’s being able to provide a school that fits our children and community. It provides healing for our children. It’s a place for them to be loved and safe.”
The facility, located off of Sixth Avenue South, has a square footage of 13,859 feet.
The Wolf Point building will feature five classrooms, a gym, a restaurant-style kitchen, a walk-in freezer, a family engagement area and a laundry area. Playground equipment for all abilities including the musical aspects will be provided.
A potential 120 students could take part in the program.
There are plenty of windows to provide a great amount of sunshine and beautiful views for the young students.
“It’s crucial for their brain development,” Gourneau said of the amount of windows. She added the very holistic approach also will include countertops and sinks in classrooms.
Cost for both the Wolf Point Head Start building and Poplar Head Start building is projected to be $18.9 million. The Fort Peck Tribes is using American Rescue Plan Act money to fund about $16 million of the projects. The rest of the funds are anticipated to come from the federal Head Start program. Building leaders of the project have included JGA Architects, Interstate Engineering and Fort Peck Tribes’ construction manager Tom Weeks.
The local Head Start program provides free instruction for both tribal and non-tribal children between the ages of three and five years. The hope is to expand the offerings to children aged zero to three in the future. If interested in an application, call 406-768-2511 or -2517.
Gourneau started duties as the director in August 2020 after earning a masters degree from Portland State in school counseling.
Gourneau, who was a teacher for five years in Poplar, explained that one of her assignments at Portland State was designing a “dream school.”
“I always think back to that, when you think of a dream school, this is it,” Gourneau said of the Wolf Point facility.
The Head Start program locally is currently being held in a trailer. “It’s a tight squeeze. We’re serving the children the best that we can,” she noted.
Her journey of creating a new building started with social media posts to increase awareness of the unhealthy conditions of the old buildings.
“I felt bad because no one was speaking up for these poor conditions,” Gourneau said.
Gourneau is thankful the Tribal Executive Board approved the funding in 2021. She said both former tribal chairman Floyd Azure and current chairman Justin Gray Hawk Sr. have been supporters of the project. Many other members, including education committee chairs, have also been good supporters.
Gourneau explained that too many indigenous people have educational facilities that are less than acceptable.
“Our story isn’t unique,” she said. “It’s unique that our tribes are doing something right now.”
She feels young children in the area face a lot of challenges such as poverty, violence, historical trauma and culture healing.
“Kids will get excited,” Gourneau said of going to a first-class building. “I really want these facilities to be innovative, healing and safe. Give them a healthy start, they deserve it.”
Roxanne Gourneau, tribal education chair and Wolf Point School Board chair, notes all the improvements on Sixth Avenue including the Head Start building, a school bus barn, a feeding site and a school wrestling room.
“All is targeting the children,” Roxanne Gourneau said.
