HACAP Head Start intern Erich Boomgarden has received a Presidential Scholarship that will pay his full tuition to St. Louis University, where he will attend medical school. He is also going to participate in the Pre-Med Scholarships Program which gives him a 98% chance of entry into med school by his sophomore year.
Working with children 5 and under this summer as an aide in the Head Start program has provided invaluable experience toward Erich’s chosen field of pediatrics. “I really enjoy working with everyone on the staff and the other interns” “I like the kids at HACAP…the activities, the smiles, the laughs” Head Start Aides assist the childcare services team in planning, implementing and maintaining a safe and nurturing environment for children. Duties include: promotion of children’s communication skills, participation with children in exploration of indoors and outdoors, dining with children and sharing menu in promotion of manners and self help skills, assisting designated children with “helper jobs” in relation to food service to promote independent responsibility, and cleaning classrooms, kitchen, bathrooms, etc.
Boomgarden is a 2007 graduate of Cedar Rapids Xavier high school where he was a two-way starter, playing both guard and defensive end for last season’s state championship football team. He credits Xavier for his determination and success “The mission at Xavier is to assist students in being the most complete people that they can be” Erich is the son of Mary Jo Boomgarden, a nurse in HACAP’s Women Infants Children (WIC) Program, and Kevin Boomgarden, a Rockwell Engineer. He has two sisters, one attends the University of Northern Iowa and the other is a student at Regis middle School.