Forbes bids farewell to Head Start

After 30 years with Head Start in Saratoga, which operates under Carbon County Child Development, Pat Forbes is retiring as director.

Forbes had an interesting journey before working at Head Start. While she always loved kids, childcare was not a career she planned on from the start.

“I was going to be a stewardess. I had a degree in Spanish and Sociology. In 1974, when I graduated from college the first time, there was a fuel embargo. Everything shut down in the United States, including Pan Am,” Forbes said. “So I went, ‘Oh! Divert!’”

After her initial plans changed, she used her secretarial skills to work for her advisor in Laramie. While there, she met her late husband, Neal Forbes, and eventually moved to Alabama.

“Lo and behold, two months after, I was pregnant! I didn’t want to start anything great with a baby, so I substituted and I did Sunday School at the church in Alabama,” Forbes said.

She loved teaching, so when they moved back to Wyoming she went to school at the University of Wyoming and earned a degree in Elementary Education.

Forbes started teaching preschool in Saratoga through Saint Anne’s Catholic Church. She taught there for eight years, before shifting focus and teaching third grade at Saratoga Elementary School for another three. Finally, she got a job at Head Start.

Childcare has changed a lot in the 30 years since Forbes started out. In the beginning of her career, there was not a solid curriculum or standard to follow for teaching preschool. That changed over time, as everything became more regulated.

The No Child Left Behind Act greatly reformed education, especially in regards to preschool. Forbes said new requirements were given on what needed to be taught.

“I feel like with canned curriculums I don’t get to teach as much the fun things that I used to do,” Forbes said.

One example of something she used to do involved raising baby chicks with the children.

“We used to incubate eggs and we’d have baby chicks. I could still do that, but they can’t touch them because of salmonella. I could tell them to wash their hands and stuff but we stopped doing it,” she said.

She said new curriculums are typically based on cities and that some aspects don’t always transfer over. Despite this, Forbes always found ways to incorporate the things she liked into the canned curriculums.

One of her favorite things was teaching kids about nature and wildlife in Saratoga.

“A lot of these kids are not from Wyoming. We talk about Wyoming and the animals and bring people in. That’s been fun,” Forbes said.

The thing she’ll miss the most from her career is the kids and her coworkers.

Forbes said that she has given Head Start her whole life but now it’s time to spend time with her own family.

In retirement, she still plans to help out at Head Start, but will only be working there five hours a week. Additionally, she plans to travel and see old friends.

“I want to see things in the fall, to actually see the Tetons when the aspens turn. Those kinds of things that I’ve always wanted to do but never had the time,” Forbes said.

Her final thoughts shared her gratitude to Carbon County Child Development for being good to work for.

“It wasn’t for the money. You’re never going to be rich doing it. I’ve always been passionate about having a purpose, I’m still going to do things that give me purpose … but it was good for the soul,” Forbes said.