On Friday, October 21st, 2022, Educational Service Unit 13’s (ESU 13) Early Childhood Director, Nici Johnson, was presented with the 2022 University of Nebraska at Kearney Early Childhood Practitioner Award.
The Early Childhood Practitioner Award was created to honor the work of Dr. Samuel Meisels, the founding Executive Director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute. Dr. Meisels selected Nici Johnson to be the first recipient of this award.
Nici Johnson oversees the Early Childhood Department at ESU 13 where she leads a group of early childhood advocates who work for programs and initiatives that support the Nebraska panhandle region. Nici is gifted with a collaborative spirit and a love of innovation. As a loyal member of the Panhandle Partnership community collaborative, Nici facilitates the Systems of Care Birth to Eight workgroup, a group that works to determine how to best serve children and families in all 11 counties of the Nebraska panhandle. Nici also represents western Nebraska on statewide committees including the Buffett Early Childhood Institute’s Evaluation Network Team and the First Five Nebraska Early Childhood Education Shared Leadership and Financing Work Group. Nici previously served as a member of the Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Commission. Prior to her current role as the first Director of Early Childhood at ESU 13, Nici was an Early Childhood Learning Connections Coordinator and has also worked in several other Early Childhood positions at ESU 13.
“Dr. Meisels has committed his life’s work to the care and education of young children, so it is an honor to be recognized by him,” says Nici Johnson. “This award is reflective of all the amazing work done by so many professionals in the panhandle who are the boots on the ground for the care and education of our young children. There is no better place to live and work, or to be a baby in our state than the panhandle!” ESU 13 offers a wide range of services in the Early Childhood Education sector including Head Start and Early Head Start Programs, Early Development Network Services, Early Learning Connections, Rooted in Relationships, and Sixpence Sprouting Success. To learn more about Early Childhood Education at ESU 13, please visit: www.esu13.org.
