Pete Harter is a retired educator whose career began on the Navajo Reservation, moved to a small Eskimo village in Alaska, and finished as an elementary principal at Needham Elementary in Durango where he served for 23 years. He supported an early partnership between public schools and Head Start as he helped establish two Head Start classrooms at Needham, and that partnership continues today. He has long been an advocate for early childhood education and has served as a Head Start Board member for 15 years. He and his wife have been active in the Durango community since 1987.