Head Start Staffer Earns Certificate

posted 5/8/23 -- After 10 years with LCCAA Head Start, LaToya Alexander knows better than most the importance of continually “building my skills and keeping my brain working.” In other words, she’s a lifelong learner.

Alexander just completed a certification in business management at Lorain County Community College. This builds on her 2009 associate’s degree earned at the University of Phoenix and puts her one step closer to her bachelor’s degree, she said.

“I love business and learning more skills that give me more depth,” she said. “There are a lot of things I learned that are going to help me and help the agency as well.”

Alexander’s position provides support for the Assistant Head Start Director including administrative coordination for parent engagement and recruitment activities. Her responsibilities include a lot of accounting tasks such as processing purchase orders and communicating with vendors – two areas where her recent classes are really helping, she said.

Earning her credentials wasn’t easy, thanks to COVID, Alexander said, but the support of family and friends and her thorough and thoughtful advisor were very helpful.

For inspiration, she looked to quote from Dr. Seuss that was often repeated to her by her grandmother: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go!”