Chris Dodd for President

This morning Senator Dodd joined Colleen Mehaffey of Cedar Rapids, Iowa to walk a day in her shoes. Colleen is a teach at Urban Head Start -- every day she gets up at 6:30 AM to get to work by 7:15. Her class of 14-20 three and four year-olds (size varies depending on the time of year) arrives between 7:30 and 9:00. Today the kids ate breakfast, shucked corn, churned butter, and wrote in their journals -- all before lunch time. Walk A Day is facilitated by the SEIU, as Colleen and her coworkers at Head Start are all SEIU members. Walking a day in her shoes allows presidential candidates like Senator Dodd to have a chance to see what a woman like Colleen goes through on a typical day. For most candidates who take part in this program, the hope is that seeing how funding from Washington effects working Americans and their children will impart on them a sound belief as to why it's critically important to keep programs like Head Start well funded. Colleen was happy to learn that Senator Dodd is already a strong supporter of Head Start. For nearly 20 years, Chris Dodd has worked to expand access to the Head Start program, to ensure that it is fully funded, and to constantly seek new and innovative strategies to improve the program, including facilitating collaboration between Head Start and other early childhood development programs. For his efforts, the National Head Start Association named him “Senator of the Decade.” Senator Dodd talking with Colleen Mehaffey Breakfast time at Head Start: "Kid tested, Senator Approved" Reading to the kids