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Your Friday evening update on Salem news

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Good evening, Salem.

Preschoolers in northeast Salem got a chance to show off mealworms and other bugs to some state leaders this morning.

Western University of Health Sciences Lebanon Oregon

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Head Start, officials including Department of Early Learning and Care Director Alyssa Chatterjee visited a class operated by the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency on Northeast Silverton Road.

Students were learning about the life cycles of insects, including live demonstrations in class.

Alyssa Chatterjee, Oregon’s director of early learning, visits a Head Start preschool classroom on Northeast Silverton Road. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

Head Start provides free preschool for low-income families and is intended to ensure all kids, regardless of their background, get an equal chance to succeed in school. It has historically enjoyed bipartisan support federally, though the White House’s budget proposal included eliminating the program.

In Oregon, many programs, including Community Action, mix state and federal money to provide Head Start preschool.

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