An important barrier to our working as a team was that we did not share all the same values. This became clear when we began to develop our Head Start mission statement, which was guided by our agency mission statement. If we were going to work together as a team, we had to agree and commit to the values we felt were important. During weekly meetings, we spent time talking about why we chose to work with Head Start children and families—the values we share with each member of the program and agency, from the bus driver and the classroom aide to the policy council and the executive director. We realized that we shared three basic values that we could use to build our mission statement. These values are love and commitment for children, enthusiasm for creating an environment of learning for all, and the desire to respect one another. Agreeing on these three basic values took some time. It meant building trusting relationships, respecting each staff member's opinion, and understanding how we communicate and interact with the different areas in the program and agency. Our mission statement became very important to us. It was our vehicle to deal with difficult issues.

With our Head Start mission statement in place and approved by the policy council and board of directors, we could look objectively at our program. Our first step was to examine how the impact of work in one area of the program affected the overall program quality. At one of our weekly meetings, we made a breakthrough. Margaret, the family service specialist, said, "Yesterday I visited the Lawrence family. I saw that Liddy, their nine-month-old, is still very sick. Also, Sam, their seventeen- year-old, is interested in volunteering with us for the summer until college begins."

Darlette, the health specialist, said, "I am glad you told me that. Tomorrow I will make sure I give Mrs. Lawrence a call. I'll check on Liddy's diet and immunization schedule."

Then Maria, one of our teachers, said, "And I will see how her brother Jonathan is feeling in class tomorrow morning. I'll also ask Stephanie, the volunteer coordinator, to give Sam a call."

Margaret added, "Now I really see how my work affects your work. I think we could serve our children and families better if we could find a way to share this information."

Summary Question

• What characteristics of a quality Head Start program are described in this scenario?