Bio: Vance, Nancy - Wins State Award (2019)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Vance, Gellings

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 5/08/2019

UW-Extension’s Nancy Vance Wins State Award (2019)

Nancy Vance, a co-chair of the UW-Extension Small Savings Build Big Dreams team and Clark County UW-Extension family living educator, has won the Rosalie Powell Financial Management Award.

The award is through the Wisconsin extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (WEAFCS).

“The Rosalie Powell Financial Management Award was created to recognize a WEAFCS member or team who has developed an outstanding educational program on some aspect of family financial management,” wrote Katie Gellings of the UW-Extension Green Lake County, in a May 1 press release.

The Small Savings Build Big Dreams team includes county-based UW-Extension educators and specialists who have created a large volume of outreach materials for parents, grandparents and community members interested in learning more about promoting and saving for children’s higher education.

www.Fyi.extension.wisc.edu/collegesavings  connects learners to videos, self-study materials and resources. Educators, like Vance, have made materials available, including presentations, English and Spanish fact sheets, new releases, newsletters and surveys.

Statewide outreach in 2016, 2017 and 2018 included presentations at state conferences, community events, school activities and fairs, as well as media campaigns.

All households participating in an outreach event were provided with resources about how to begin saving for higher education websites related to education and career planning, and the contact information for their local UW-Extension educator.

Through 16 presentations and events, people in more than 1,500 households increased their knowledge about the importance of saving for college and options for starting a higher education savings account that best matches their family’s situation.

Newsletters, social media and fact sheets sent home with children or included in parent newsletters reached another 1,000 households per year. Interactive displays were also created to engage both parents and their young children in talking about future career interests and to consider saving for education to support that career.

At 10 interactive family displays, 350 parents and children together engaged in activities and conversations around career interests and college savings. Because materials are available in both English and Spanish, almost 10 percent of participating families included Spanish-speaking individuals.

In addition to almost 5,000 young families targeted directly, news releases through local papers, radio stations and social media reached an additional 6,000-plus households with the goal of encouraging conversations around future career and educational attainment. Wisconsin Public Television’s “University Place” series recorded Vance’s presentation, making it available to viewers across the state via their television broadcasts, and resulting in it being streamed 60 times online.