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UNK-Community Early Childhood Conference
2024 Award Recipient will be announced soon!
Betty spent her whole career advocating for children and families, beginning first in child welfare and transitioning later to early childhood specific work. Her policy of always starting with what is best for the child and family, and then building a solution around it, led to prioritizing the health and wellbeing of the early childhood workforce.
At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, Betty demonstrated exceptional leadership by immediately bringing together all early childhood stakeholders from across the state every single morning for an 8:00AM emergency connection meeting with the sole purpose of supporting child care providers, children, and families as they navigated unprecedented times. Throughout that period, she also worked to coordinate the location and distribution of millions of dollars in relief funds and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the child care providers who needed it the most to stay operational—and because of this work, Nebraska never had to shut down its child care operations completely. After her retirement, those connection meetings have continued, though they have gone from daily to monthly and have evolved into keeping early childhood stakeholders informed and aligned throughout the state. The legacy she left in promoting that alignment lives on!
Betty was instrumental in earning Nebraska the Preschool Development Grant (PDG), working with her colleagues in the grant writing process to outline innovative ways of advocating for the early childhood field, including the proposal of a key concept—the Early Childhood Community Coordinator (ECCC)—a paid, professional position in the community that can help organize early childhood efforts and move the work forward—and the Spanish-Speaking/Bilingual Provider Support Initiative, which focused on getting Spanish-speaking child care providers access to the same materials and supports as their English-speaking counterparts in the language of their hearts. Throughout her career, she also emphasized that efforts to improve quality should be expanded at the same pace as capacity of (and access to) child care. Betty worked to change the frame of thinking around the early childhood workforce by helping others and themselves to see them as the vital professionals they are.
Betty kept an eye on equity throughout her career, continuously advocating for low-income children and children of color, and was always willing to listen to new ideas that could help improve the wellbeing of children and families. She co-authored a paper that later became the Communities for Kids initiative, which provides technical assistance, support, and resources in communities all over the state, especially in rural areas that are dying out without child care services—that initiative is now in 86 communities and growing! At her time at Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, she also helped build and further develop other programs and initiatives such as Rooted in Relationships, Sixpence, and Lincoln Littles, all innovative programs that continue to expand and change lives across the state today.
Betty always invited people into the circle to talk about ideas and wasn't afraid to ask for what was needed to support the workforce. She earned the respect of colleagues across the state and was able to continuously push the envelope to further early childhood efforts because of it. Even in her retirement, she is still showing up for rallies to protect Head Start and leading early literacy work across Nebraska.
Penny Gildea is a distinguished leader in Early Childhood Education, bringing over three decades of experience as an educator, program director, college instructor, consultant, and advocate. Her visionary work has transformed professional development across Nebraska and beyond. Penny pioneered accessible Child Development Associate (CDA) credential training, authored the foundational Safe with You training, and introduced the Environmental Rating Scale (ERS) training to Nebraska. She has developed and co-authored numerous impactful programs including Curriculum 101, the Management Training Program: Getting Down to Business, and Special Care Training. Through her commitment to innovation, collaboration, and quality, Penny continues to elevate the early childhood workforce and inspire excellence in care and education.
For more than 30 years, Penny has been a driving force in shaping the systems and standards that support high-quality care for young children. Her leadership has empowered educators, strengthened programs, and advanced the professionalization of the field. Penny’s work is rooted in a deep commitment to equity, access, and excellence—qualities that have made her a mentor to many and a catalyst for lasting change.
Dr. Carol Renner is a well-known figure in Kearney, renowned for her extensive dedication to Kearney Public Schools as the associate superintendent. Her educational journey spans across various roles and locations, encompassing positions as a classroom teacher, resource teacher, director of special education, and director of curriculum/staff development in California, Missouri, Hawaii, and Nebraska.
Dr. Renner holds an impressive academic background, including a Doctorate of Philosophy in Curriculum, Administration, and Instruction, along with a Specialist of Education degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She also earned a Master of Education specializing in learning disabilities from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Bachelor of Education from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. Her commitment to education extends beyond the classroom, as she has actively contributed to numerous local and state educational boards and even earned a position on the International Committee for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). Dr. Renner’s outstanding contributions to her communities have been recognized through her distinction as Business Woman of the Year in two Nebraska communities.
Dr. Renner’s dedication to community involvement and fostering parental inclusion within the educational process remains at the core of her work. In Nebraska, her significant achievements include her involvement with the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, instrumental in securing a Sixpence grant for early childhood education in Kearney. Additionally, she played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Bright Futures Preschool, which serves disadvantaged individuals, non-English speakers, and young mothers, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to advancing education and inclusivity.
Dr. Meisels became the founding Executive Director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute in 2013. His goals: Making Nebraska the best place in the nation to be a baby. Strengthening an early childhood workforce suffering from low pay and high turnover. Making quality early childhood education available to all children. And closing the achievement gap. During his time in Nebraska, Dr. Meisels has led the implementation of the Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan, where thousands of students inside Omaha-area schools receive a full range of programming, some of it starting at birth, meant to help close the achievement gap by focusing on the earliest years of brain development. Throughout Nebraska, with his leadership, the Buffett Institute has been involved in identifying and trying to remediate a system in which many families simply cannot afford high-quality early care and education for their young children, and a system in which early childhood teachers are paid poverty-level wages. Through research, partnership, collaboration, an advocacy, Dr. Meisels has brought attention to several key areas of critical need, across all sectors of the Nebraska early childhood workforce.
(Accepted by Pam and Patrice Plambeck)
The third annual presentation of the Plambeck Early Childhood Pioneer Award honors the family of the late LaVonne K. Plambeck, celebrating the woman who pioneered the Montessori Early Childhood movement in Nebraska over the past six decades. In addition to opening multiple Montessori early childhood centers and a Montessori Teacher Training Center in Omaha, LaVonne assured the continuation of her pioneering efforts through the establishment of a teacher scholarship at UNO, the Plambeck Child Development Center at UNK, and the UNK Montessori Teacher Education program. LaVonne's daughters Pam and Patrice will accept the award on behalf of the Plambeck family.
Through her work as the former Early Learning Connections Coordinator at ESU 10, Roxanne increased early childhood workforce access to high-quality professional development using creative and collaborative approaches. Her effort toward meeting the professional development needs of all populations in the service area, particularly the opportunities extended to rural Nebraska early childhood educators was noted by colleagues.
UNK’s College of Education presented the inaugural Early Childhood Pioneer Award to LaVonne Kopecky Plambeck of Omaha in 2019. The Early Childhood Committee then named the award in her honor. An educational legend and visionary, Plambeck has supported and invested in high-quality experiences for young children for decades. She opened Omaha’s first Montessori Educational Center in 1968 and later added seven locations and opened schools in Denver and Fort Worth. Plambeck also launched the Mid-America Montessori Teacher Training Institute to provide professionals with training and certification. In addition to working on early childhood education extensively with UNK, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Buffett Early Childhood Institute, College of Saint Mary and Concordia University, she has served the Nebraska Association of Young Children, American Montessori Society Board of Directors, Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education and an advisory committee on early childhood education for the state of Nebraska, and was appointed to a White House conference on families. A financial gift from Plambeck added two dedicated Montessori classrooms to UNK’s Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center, as well as an endowed Montessori education professorship and an endowed fund that supports workshops, seminars and other outreach activities for early childhood education providers across Nebraska.
UNK’s College of Education presented the inaugural Early Childhood Pioneer Award to LaVonne Kopecky Plambeck of Omaha in 2019. The Early Childhood Committee then named the award in her honor.
An educational legend and visionary, Plambeck has supported and invested in high-quality experiences for young children for decades. She opened Omaha’s first Montessori Educational Center in 1968 and later added seven locations and opened schools in Denver and Fort Worth. Plambeck also launched the Mid-America Montessori Teacher Training Institute to provide professionals with training and certification.
In addition to working on early childhood education extensively with UNK, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Buffett Early Childhood Institute, College of Saint Mary and Concordia University, she has served the Nebraska Association of Young Children, American Montessori Society Board of Directors, Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education and an advisory committee on early childhood education for the state of Nebraska, and was appointed to a White House conference on families.
A financial gift from Plambeck added two dedicated Montessori classrooms to UNK’s Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center, as well as an endowed Montessori education professorship and an endowed fund that supports workshops, seminars and other outreach activities for early childhood education providers across Nebraska.
