Text Box:   Margaret Sjostrom is a remarkable person who has accomplished extraordinary achievements by utilizing her diverse skills and abilities. She has demonstrated her talents in Head Start, in her community, her personal and professional life. Her personal attributes of intelligence, determination and resourcefulness combined with her empathy, compassion and optimism have ensured success. Margaret’s life has challenges and yet she is full of self-determination and self-sufficiency. In 1995, Margaret and her son left an unhealthy home situation, friends, a job and her home. She made her new home in Idaho as a single mother receiving welfare benefits. Margaret and her son began their Head Start experience in 1997. She was involved in her center’s activities volunteering in the class, fundraising and as a bus monitor. Margaret served on Policy Council for two years and as the program’s parent representative to the Idaho Head Start Association. During her term, she was appointed to the finance committee. The following year she was elected Community Representative, where she continued her role as an advocate for young children and families. In 1999 she received an award for Outstanding Community Service at the Regional Head Start conference. Margaret also was an Americorp volunteer, supporting the PAT program that is designed to engage parent of children less than three years of age. Margaret’s commitment to community advocacy continues. She served as secretary of the grange; taught Sunday school and was a member of her church’s Social Action Committee; started a Parent/Teacher Organization; advocated to have a canal running adjacent to schools fenced, and has offered a photography mentorship for the school’s Gifted and Talented program. In 2002, Margaret was selected by NHSA to testify supporting the Dodd-Miller Act, S48/HR936. She opened with this statement: “I attribute much of my present success – I am a law student in the top of my class and member of the Idaho Law Review – to my exposure to Head Start.”  Margaret continued seeking opportunities to further her education. From 1994 to 2000 she attended two community colleges, studying Early Childhood Education. In 1999 she applied to various universities’ law programs and was accepted by five. In 2001 she enrolled in the University of Idaho’s’ College of Law, where she served as a member of the Idaho Law Review Board, was selected as the Women’s Law Caucus Vice President, and was honored by Rutgers’s School of Law as High Academic Promise Scholar. In 2001, Margaret attended the National Head Start conference, where she received information on a summer internship with Feldesman Tucker Legal Aid Service in Washington, D.C. After her first year of law school she submitted an application and received a summer internship. In 2004, Margaret graduated with her law degree in the top 10% of her class. Margaret’s Head Start experience combined with her legal education has fulfilled her dream of advocating for children and families within the legal system. She will definitely leave her mark in this world.