Dr. Colleen A. McCabe of UW–Platteville received the Health Educator of the Year Award from Wisconsin Health and Physical Education.

The WHPE award is given to an individual who has major responsibility for health education in a public or private school in kindergarten through 12th grade, an institution of higher education, a community health program, a government health agency, or a work site health program.

The criteria include a minimum of 10 years of teaching or work experience in the field of health education. Candidates must have made significant contributions to the profession in the areas of teaching, research, and creative activities or service.

McCabe has worked in health education for more than 25 years. Early in her career, she was challenged with the task of not only teaching a class for non-traditional students, but also for the development of curriculum that would meet their real life experiences. She has collaborated with colleagues from universities and  public schools to greatly improve the quality of health education in Wisconsin and across the nation.

“Dr. McCabe has shared positive health behaviors for those in southwestern Wisconsin and on a wider scale through her participation in numerous professional associations,” said WHPE president Brett Fuller. “Many schools in her area have benefited from her grant writing and numerous pre-service Health teachers have gained from her knowledge and innovative approach to teaching health. Dr. McCabe has been impacting health behaviors with a positive collaborative knowledge based approach for many years.“