News Release

Education Support Professional
of the Year Addresses NEA Convention

Illinois Health Care Assistant Donates
$10,000 Award to Help Children Cope with Loss

LOS ANGELES – Kathleen Lange, who has worked for a decade enhancing children's ability to learn in Elk Grove Village, Ill., told more than 8,000 educators that even though she was once told she was “only a health clerk,” she was given opportunities for leadership because her colleagues in the school knew “regardless of my position, I care about the students.”

Lange, selected as the National Education Association’s (NEA) 2005 Education Support Professional (ESP) of the Year this spring, addressed the Association’s Representative Assembly at its Annual Meeting here today. 

Lange is this year's ambassador for the 350,000 education support professionals among NEA's 2.7 million members.  Throughout 2005, she will travel to education conferences, speaking to thousands of fellow educators.

“Students’ futures are at stake, and we need to work together,” Lange said about the need for administrators, teachers, school board members and education support professionals to be active members of a school’s community. “We have to be on the same team, and we can’t wait.”

Lange provides first aid, administers medications, conducts vision and hearing tests, and reviews immunization records at Salt Creek Elementary in Elk Grove Village.  She used her technical skill to pioneer an electronic system of analyzing student health data, thus providing new insight into student health and classroom performance.  Now, she is looking at ways to create a healthier school lunch program.

The ESP award was presented March 14 at the NEA ESP Conference in San Diego, Calif.  NEA's ESP of the Year receives a $10,000 award, half of which is presented to the charity of his or her choice.  But Lange opted to contribute the entire award to the RAINBOWS Program, a nonprofit organization that fosters emotional healing for children in life-altering crises, such as divorce, death or severe illness. 

The award is funded by Christopher Gardner, a successful entrepreneur and founder of Gardner Rich and Company, Inc., a Chicago-based minority brokerage firm that supports public education.

July 4, 2005

Contact:

Melinda Anderson
NEA Public Relations  (202) 822-7200

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.