Right Stuff, The

NEA Today, Sep 2005 by Holcomb, Sabrina

When Kathleen Lange left a promising job in the medical profession to become a school health care assistant she knew most people wouldn't call it a "move in the right direction."

LANGE, HOWEVER, RARELY MOVES IN THE DIRECTION PEOPLE EXPECT-an approach toward life that's led her to a job she loves and an award as the 2005 Education Support Professional (ESP) of the Year.

"The job turned out to be a perfect fit," says Lange, "one of my very best blessings. I leave work feeling very good about what I do each day."

As a health care aide at Salt Creek Elementary School in Illinois, Lange provides first aid, administers medications, conducts vision and hearing tests, reviews immunization records, and dispenses daily doses of TLC to the students in her charge. Always looking for ways to improve, the tech-sawy ESP pioneered an electronic system of analyzing student health data that's decreased visits to the health office, increased instruction time, and provided valuable new insight into the connection between student health and classroom performance. The system is so successful, Lange now conducts trainings for other health staff, develops training manuals, and works with the technology department to provide technical assistance and field support.

It's helped to work in a school environment that looks at people first, not their positions, says Lange, the first ESP to become president of her wall-to-wall local and the first to serve as a regional chair. "We all have a role to play and lessons to teach," she says, "whether it's getting kids to school safely on the bus, providing hot meals at lunchtime, or making sure they learn their lessons. There's incredible power to make things happen when teams work together."

-SABRINA, HOLCOMB