County Commissioner Larry Hicks held a press conference Monday afternoon where he announced an “opportunity for us to continue advancing Geary County and Junction City with the objective of preschool education.”

Hicks announced that Geary County had been awarded a $1.5 million grant to re-establish head-start/preschool services in the County.

LaFarris Risby and her team at Loving Arms were named the recipients of the $1.5 million grant and Risby the Executive Director of the re-established Loving Arms Learning Center Head Start.

Risby is a Certified Family Life Educator and Director of the Loving Arms Learning Center.

“It has been a wonderful journey so far..Commissioner Hicks has been awesome, he brought the opportunity to me, we stayed up late nights, weekends going over and over the information…I would like to say thank you to everyone – my friends, my family, my colleagues, my Board, my Chairperson…and I just want to let you guys know, the work has just begun,” said Risby.

Some of the Board members include:  Tiffany Nakartoa, Joe Stratton (Geary Community Hospital CEO), Joesph Roberts, Brewer Curry, and Cathy Tucker, all of whom were in attendance at the Press Conference.

“This is a proud day for all of us here in Junction City/Geary County because this is going to represent an opportunity for us to continue the kind of efforts we’ve made over the years with regard to helping preschool children and families of the low, and low-moderate income category who can’t afford daycare services,” said Hicks.

Hicks said that when the program shut down in 2014, he began work immediately with the Regional Head Start Office to reestablish a program in Geary County.