Surprisingly little is known about Head Start teachers; who teaches, why they teach, and how they think and feel about their work. To begin to address these issues, a survey was developed and distributed to Head Start teachers, assistant teachers, and aides in one three-county program to examine their motivation and well-being. Follow-up interviews were then conducted to gain deeper insights into the teachers' lives, values, beliefs, plans, and concerns. Results suggest that Head Start teachers are motivated by a deep service ethic. Additionally, nearly all of the teachers reported high levels of satisfaction, efficacy and confidence with no differences based on age, level of education, or position. However, many reported dissatisfaction with their compensation. Analyses were also conducted from the perspective of life course theory and research. Results suggest recent policy changes emphasizing greater levels of education for teachers appear to have serious unanticipated consequences.