Immigrant and former Texas first grade teacher Blanca Enriquez served as the Director of Head Start. Photo Credit: The Prospector

Many times gifted classroom teachers rise to positions of rest influence in the educational community. This is true of Blanca Enriquez, a former elementary school teacher who served as the Director of Head Start.

Head Start is a national program created by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Since its founding in 1965, Head Start has served more than 31 million low-income children and their families from birth to age 5 through comprehensive early childhood education, health and nutrition programs, and parent involvement. Blanca has held the position of Director since 2015.

Blanca was born in Ciudad Juarez, and immigrated to the United States when she was only six years old. She was raised in El Segundo Barrio in El Paso, Texas. This neighborhood is one of El Paso’s oldest and most historic neighborhoods, but it is also one of the poorest ZIP codes in the nation.

When she graduated from the city’s Bowie High School, Blanca placed in the top 10% of her class. She went on to earn both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso, and she completed the requirements for her PhD in Education Administration and Management at New Mexico State University.

Blanca launched her career as a professional educator in 1973 when she accepted a position as a teacher’s aide in El Paso. After she earned her degrees, she taught English as a Second language to kindergarteners and first graders in El Paso public schools. By 1986, she held the position of the Director of Region 19 of Head Start, a position she held for 21 years.

In addition to these roles, Blanca has also served as a member of the Texas State Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Early Childhood Education. She was appointed by former President George W. Bush as an advisory board member for the National Institute for Literacy, and she is a member of the National Association for the Education of Children, the Texas and National Associations for Bilingual Education, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

For her work as an educator, Blanca was inducted into the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame in 1999.