Children’s Center tops $100,000 in grants as UW-Whitewater takes care of the “youngest Warhawks” during pandemic

Written by Craig Schreiner | Photos submitted

The laugh of a child brought back the joy and excitement for Erica Schepp.

The director of child care at the UW-Whitewater Children’s Center, Schepp recalled that first day, re-opening the doors to the center in late May, three months after the facility in the Roseman Building had closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Being shut down was surreal,” said Schepp, who, during those three months worked from home serving families and preparing to return safely. “Preparing to come back, I remember being excited, being worried, hoping we had prepared enough and we were doing enough.”

“My office overlooks the playground,” Schepp recalled. “The moment they (children) came out, I heard the laughter and joy in those young voices and I knew, ‘This is it.’ It was the joy and the energy coming back.”

Schepp, pictured left, said the Children’s Center was the first program to return to in-person activities after learning and instruction went online midway through the spring semester. Not only was it vital to re-open safely, but others on the campus would be learning from the Children’s Center’s example. Schepp said the staff of the center met the challenge.

“We were the front runners,” said Schepp. “We learned a lot from being the first ones to reopen. I am proud and thankful for that.”

Others think so, too. The center recently topped $100,000 in awards from a series of grants administered by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families from $50 million in the federal CARES Act to keep safe, high-quality childcare going in the United States. Schepp credits the National Association for the Education of Young Children and its “nonstop work and support” for advocating for that funding in the CARES Act.

She said the grants help because the Children’s Center is largely self-sustaining. When the center closed in mid-March, it returned 75 percent of tuition to its families. Schepp said the grants are earmarked for centers that had to shut down; retention and retaining of teachers; personal protective equipment and other defenses from COVID-19; and other pandemic-related needs.

During the closure, the Children’s Center’s professional teachers kept working with their families online. Schepp said those relationships between teachers and families are key to supporting the children and keeping trust. And at UW-Whitewater, Schepp said trust matters.