The Oregon Department of Education’s Early Learning Council has announced the two recipients of the 2017 Lynne Angland Award. The Lynne Angland Award recognizes people and organizations who improve safety, quality, affordability and access to child care in Oregon at both the state and local levels. The Council is excited to announce that the 2017 Lynne Angland Award has been presented to Laurie Potts, recently retired director of Southwestern Oregon Community College’s Family Center and Lynn Anderson with the Siuslaw School Districts. Both recipients received abundant praise in their nominations and are true leaders in early learning. Lynne Angland was a passionate visionary dedicated to Oregon’s families. Lynne’s service, passion and leadership improved the lives of Oregon’s children and families, and her untimely death left a void that only her diligent advocacy could have filled. The Early Learning Council continues to honor Lynne’s commitment to strengthening Oregon’s next generation, and the Lynne Angland Award shines a light on those who contribute to improving child care and the positive outcomes for Oregon children. Laurie Potts works with the Southwestern Partnership Family Center in Coos Bay and has been a leader in early learning for over 20 years. Her accomplishments include creating an online degree program in order to serve students all over the State or Oregon who are seeking degrees in Early Childhood and Family Studies. Potts worked to have both the degree programs and the Family Center preschool nationally accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, making Southwestern only one of eleven community colleges nationwide that offer an ECE AAS degree online. The nomination for Laurie Potts reads: “For twenty years Laurie Potts has been developing programs for the purpose of making the world and our community a better place. She provides outstanding service to the community as an innovator, contributor, and heroine. She has promoted education for college students, families, and quality care and education for children, and touched the lives of countless students, old and young, in our community and across the state.” The awards were presented at the business meeting of the Early Learning Council in Salem, Oregon.
