Campus Connection

Child Center Director Sue Wrobel retires in June

The UWL Campus Child Center is a place parents trust. “I never worried about leaving my kids, as I knew they were always loved and well taken care of,” says Brad Quarberg, a UWL staff member whose son and daughter attended from 1999-2005. It’s a place where creativity lives. “Our family loved helping with the gardens — especially in the summer,” says Keely Rees, a UWL professor whose daughter attended from 2008-11. “We have very fond memories of digging, hauling dirt, moving grass, making hoops and rainbow gardens…” It’s where one genuinely caring and compassionate woman has worked for three decades. Sue Wrobel, the center’s long-term director, will retire at the end of June. “She has a huge heart and talent for early childhood education, and has made the Campus Child Center feel like a second home,” says Katie Wagoner, a UWL lecturer who has two kids at the center. “My daughter is in her last semester, and off to kindergarten in fall; I wish that she didn't have to leave and that the center also offered kindergarten!” Wagoner’s sentiments are felt by many parents. In fact, many have joked that they wish Wrobel could keep their children until age 18 because of the wonderful learning environment the Campus Child Center provides, says Ryan McKelley, an associate professor whose two daughters attended. “I have no doubt that the time our daughters spent at the center instilled in them some underlying appreciation for the links between play, exploration and learning,” he says. “An important part of Sue's philosophy and the CCC's mission is that ‘curiosity and engagement are considered essential ... as are joy and laughter.’" Where curiosity, creativity blossom Wrobel says the freedom and flexibility to get creative with teaching is one of the reasons she’s stuck with her job so long. She started in 1986 as an educator and became the center’s director in 1991. She worried when she took the director job that her creativity would be substituted with paper work, but that never happened. Instead, she’s led a team in developing engaging and creative curriculum for kids at the center, ages 1-5. [caption id="attachment_46184" align="aligncenter" width="685"] Children pictured at the Campus Child Center concert. The center provides care for 1-5 year olds with parents who are faculty, staff or students at the university.[/caption] “We’ve been together a long time. We’ve had the opportunity to sit down together and talk about what our vision is for the kids we serve,” says Wrobel. “That vision is jointly shared. It is that children are honored and respected as children. Right now the world is unfolding before their eyes. There needs to be that little push, encouragement and support. We need to provide for them so they can explore and create.” An example is the garden Wrobel began growing at the center about seven years ago. A family farmer, Wrobel envisioned a place where kids could learn respect for nature and how to grow their own food. Together with kids and families, she planted one. Each year as the foliage fills in, the garden becomes home to secret places for kids to crawl. Beans and cucumbers grow in tunnels and morning glories and sunflowers tower and tip, forming great spaces to play and pretend. Kids dig, haul and harvest. They learn through work and play — and they get a reward — the food, says Wrobel. “It’s great for kids to learn where their food comes from and it gives them something to take responsibility for,” says Wagoner whose family has volunteered at the garden over the summer. Rees also has fond memories of family’s involvement in the garden. “It was Sue's vision and she has a way of pulling in great people to work together,” she says.  Where community grows The garden is just one way Wrobel brought parents and families together over the years. They also got involved through activities such as parades, celebrations and story telling. That involvement has resulted in faculty and staff family friendships that have lasted. “If it wasn't for the Campus Child Center and the privilege of having our children attend, I wouldn't have been so fortunate to meet the center staff and so many other wonderful families from different areas of campus,” says Becky Yoshizumi, a staff member whose sons attended. “Those connections are priceless and have continued still today.” Like many parents at the center, Gretchen Gerrish and her husband moved to La Crosse for jobs far from family. “The Campus Child Center provided the 'village' that we needed to raise our young children and Sue was the stronghold at the center of that village,” says Gerrish. Meeting children’s needs Parents describe Wrobel as caring, compassionate and calm under pressure. She’d often go above and beyond to help find care for their children in the off season when the center was closed or meet special needs such as dietary allergies and tough transitions into daycare. McKelley’s daughter, Maddie, was in daycare in two other states before moving to La Crosse. At those facilities he can’t remember meeting the director. In contrast, Sue is everywhere at the center — “in a calm and fully present way instead of giving the impression of being hurried or stretched thin,” he says. Rees agrees. “… you feel like you have her whole self there with you — all well knowing the many hats and roles she has at the center and likely the daily stresses and directions she is pulled — but she remains calm and very soothing to new parents and kids.” Wagoner’s son, Grant, was never good with transitions. When Wagoner and her husband would drop him off in the morning, he would cry hysterically and try to follow his parents out the door. “Sue knows this about him, so often she will just sweep him away, and distract him by asking to go check the laundry, for example,” says Wagoner. “This makes Grant feel important. This relatively small gesture makes morning drop off easier on him, but makes it easier on my husband and I as well! This is a simple example, but it's the little gestures and things that Sue does so naturally that makes her excel in her role.” Quarberg says his daughter, Merideth, always liked to cuddle in the mornings. She would take her coat off and sit on Sue's lap for a story. “Sue is special for making every child feel important and welcome,” he says. Wrobel has been more than the administrator, she has been the heart of the facility, says Gerrish. “It was clear that she invested emotionally and educationally in the development of our boys,” she says. Brenda Leahy and Michael Slevin saw that investment in their children too. “We never once questioned the decision we made to send our children to the Campus Child Center. We knew they were being cared for, loved, and given the best quality child care that was available,” says Leahy. Wrobel says it’s hard to say goodbye to all these people who have touched her life. [caption id="attachment_46187" align="alignright" width="350"] Sue Wrobel, ’79 & ’96, director of UWL’s Campus Childcare Center, retires at the end of June. She began as an educator at the center in 1986 and later became the center’s director in 1991. Here she is pictured with Chancellor Joe Gow at the center’s 2016 concert.[/caption] She is grateful for the Campus Child Center’s many supporters across campus and a supportive and talented staff at the center. She hired all but one of the current staff members, and the center has had almost no turnover. All staff who currently work at the Campus Child Center have been there between 20 and 30 years. Wrobel’s proudest accomplishment was being “smart enough to know the capabilities of the teachers, and support and encourage them, not manage them,” she says. “I am the one who makes sure all the rules and regulations are followed,” she says. “Beyond that they are so capable, knowledgeable and creative. I support them and let them do their job. They’ve done it so well.” She is also glad she’s been able to be part of the lives of many young people.  At this age — anywhere from 1-5 years — kids are honest, real and curious about everything and everybody, says Wrobel. “If you sit on the floor, you are never alone,” she adds. She calls her work fun and incredibly rewarding. “One goal was to leave still really loving it and I am,” she says.