Janet Orvis Cook

"What we often say is kids are 'just playing,'" said Janet Orvis Cook, director of child development for Modesto City Schools and former assistant executive director of Human Resources Council, the agency that oversees Head Start and state preschools in Calaveras County.

Panelists who will lead the discussion include Dr. Ryan Thompson, chief of staff at Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital; Michael Kriletich, Calaveras County's chief probation officer; Janet Orvis Cook, director of child development for Modesto City Schools; Jep Peckler, principal of Toyon Middle School in San Andreas; and Steve Wilensky, a farmer and a member of the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors.

Janet Orvis Cook, Director of Child Development, Modesto City Schools

Calaveras County was one of the last counties in California to start a Head Start program, said Janet Orvis Cook, assistant executive director of Human Resources Council Inc., the umbrella agency that oversees Head Start and state preschools in Calaveras County.

Janet Orvis Cook , HRC Assistant Executive Director

Jane Cook, Human Resources, RSSL, Lord Zuckerman Research Centre,Whiteknights Campus, Pepper Lane, Reading, RG6 6LA

La Contenta resident Janet Orvis Cook, 51, started April 1 as the new assistant executive director of the Human Resources Council.

The council is a nonprofit agency that provides food, education, child care, emergency services and other needs to low-income families in the county.

Orvis Cook has been with HRC the past 14 years as director of the HRC Head Start/State Preschool program.