{"id":208426,"date":"2020-01-16T18:07:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T18:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?p=208426"},"modified":"2021-10-15T19:58:54","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T19:58:54","slug":"victoria-ankrah-06-ma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/2020\/01\/16\/victoria-ankrah-06-ma\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria Ankrah \u201906 MA"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Head Start<\/strong><\/p>\n

Victoria Ankrah \u201906 MA remembers how, while attending Montclair State, early childhood education instructor Elizabeth Kendall made her want to devote herself to nurturing children.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was extremely inspiring,\u201d Ankrah says. \u201cShe made you just want to change the world of little people, little people we had to inspire and educate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now the accolades are about Ankrah, who is executive director of the Acelero Learning Camden Philadelphia Head Start, which serves more than 1,400 children up to age 5 in eleven facilities. Acelero was named by Bellwether Education Partners, a national nonprofit organization focused on reforming education to better meet the needs of underserved children, as having one of the most effective Head Start programs in the country, and praised for its professional development for teachers, engagement with families and specially designed instruction for dual-language learners (primarily English and Spanish).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people who think that funding for Head Start should be cut and that it\u2019s not making a difference and it\u2019s not changing lives,\u201d Ankrah says, \u201cbut I\u2019m an example that Head Start works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ankrah says she took lessons from her time early in her career as a teacher in Paterson, New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was deeply concerned about the children who were in my class. A majority of them were not on grade level. That was heartbreaking,\u201d Ankrah recalls. \u201cI knew if I wanted to make a change in this field, then I had to go back to the source of it. I knew that early childhood would have to be the source of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ankrah might be emulating Kendall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what makes me an effective leader is my ability to inspire others,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I\u2019m passionate about something, I\u2019m drawn to create that passion in others.\u201d<\/p>\n