Jenny Lange Scholarship
If you'd like to make a tax-deductible donation to this wonderful scholarship program, please click HERE for more information. Thanks!
This scholarship is to honor and sustain the accomplishments
and qualities of Jenny Lange. It
celebrates her career and contributions as the pioneer in early childhood
special education in Wisconsin. It
honors her impact on programs and services for young children with disabilities
and their families.
Jenny began her career at the University of
Wisconsin-Whitewater in the early childhood special education program. Jenny
brought with her a love of children, a respect for individual differences, and
a warm personality that made her friends too many. As a UW-Whitewater student, under the direction of David
Franks, Jenny learned a comprehensive approach to serving young children with
disabilities; she learned the importance of parent involvement, and the
importance of a team approach to services. Jenny developed the knowledge and skills that later became
the foundation for the state’s early childhood special education program and
services.
Upon graduation, Jenny took her skills, knowledge, and dispositions
into the field. Her early work at
Cooperative Educational Services Agency #5 and later at the Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction (DPI) made early childhood special education
what it is today. But rather than
talk about her jobs, we want to honor and recognize her qualities and their
impact. Turning to her co-workers
and friends around the state, we learn of the “Jenny” behind this scholarship.
Jenny knew that young children with disabilities are
children first. They live with
families and participate in communities.
Jenny built the collaborative nature of our current early childhood
system with these concepts in mind.
She began the conversations that have shaped today's
collaborations. She promoted
the importance of a system that aligns services for children from birth through
the school years. Her discussions
of least restrictive environments opened the doors for Head Start and child
care collaborations. Always
striving for ideas to find commonalities, she adopted the concept of outcomes
that are meaningful to families.
Jenny understood the importance of connecting higher
education with those working out in the field. Throughout her tenure at DPI, she worked very closely with
faculty in higher education to keep them informed and involved in state
activities. These powerful collaborations between state agencies and higher
education continue today. This legacy lives on and is one continuing source of
strength for Wisconsin's EI and ECSE programs.
Jenny embodies the ideal of life-long learning. She
encouraged many young teachers through the program support network she created.
She set a standard for high expectations and unwavering support; two variables
in effective teaching, mentoring, and parenting. As a state consultant, Jenny
was always available for questions; her answers were a balance between training
and expertise, problem solving, and caring.
These and many others are the qualities that make this scholarship
important. This scholarship
provides the dream that each year’s recipient will carry on Jenny's
legacy. Scholarship donors
have a vision that Jenny’s legacy for quality early childhood programs and
services will be modeled in the field.
They hope to sustain her legacy through the selection of a recipient who
values high expectations, professional preparation and continued
education. And most of all,
they hope to impact the lives of a new generation of young children with
disabilities and their families, bringing them a life of optimism and success.