Authentic Family Engagement: Everything I Needed to Know About Families I Learned at Head Start

About the Presenter

Dr. Deborah Bergeron (or Dr. B, as she is known to students and educators) has spent over 30 years working to support the growth and development of children. She worked in public education as a middle and high school classroom teacher and an elementary and high school administrator, and holds a school superintendent license in Virginia. In 2018, Dr. B was asked to lead the Office of Head Start and the Office of Early Childhood Development at the Administration for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services. It was here where Dr. B developed her passion for Head Start, Early Head Start, and the early learning environment in general.

In January 2021, Dr. B joined the National Head Start Association as the Deputy Director of Community Engagement and Innovation. Dr. B advocates for programming that develops the whole child and embraces the value the family has in that process. “Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher,” is her favorite mantra, compliments of Head Start. Dr. B holds a B.S.Ed. from Texas State University, a master’s degree in education leadership, and a Ph.D. in education policy and education psychology from George Mason University. She lives in Virginia with her husband and has four awesome children who, although are all grown up, will always be her heart!

About the Moderator

As the Vice President for Professional Learning at Kaplan, Laura Wilhelm, Ed.D., draws on decades of experience teaching young children and early childhood professionals, starting with toddlers in the 1980s, followed by PreK-third grade in urban and suburban schools, and as a university lab school director. Since earning her doctorate in ECE curriculum and instruction in 1999, she has served as a program director, full professor, national validator for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and a site visitor for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Programs (CAEP). She enjoys planning professional development, speaking at conferences, leading study tours, visiting early education programs around the world, and returning home to her family. She is the author of The Neglected Child: How to Recognize, Respond, and Prevent (2013); Treasure Baskets: Heuristic Learning for Infants and Toddlers (2017); Enticing Environments for People Under Three (2021); and Living Loose Parts: Creatures of Curiosity (2024), all from Gryphon House.