Ward first made contact with Sesame Street in 1982 through executive producer, Dulcy Singer, who turned out to be her aunt's cousin. Ward approached her about a job in production since Ward had a job as a producer of TV and radio commercials, but Singer said there weren't any. However, Singer was looking for new writing talent since Sesame Street was airing 130 shows annually. Singer told Ward to spend a month studying the show and then write something for her. A month later, Ward returned with four inserts. Two of the inserts eventually aired on the show. For two years, Ward essentially auditioned for a spot on the writing staff and eventually found her way into the writing rotation.