Lauber, seated, displays retirement certificate and Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Back row: Elizabeth Bishop, former NCATP Director Ricki Hiatt and current NCATP Director Tammy Koger.

Staff and friends of the North Carolina Assistive Technology Program (NCATP) celebrated Annette Lauber’s retirement after 36 years and 10 months of state service on March 28, 2014. About 50 people attended, including current and former NCATP staff, and Ricki Hiatt, NCATP’s first director. The celebration was held in the assistive technology lab at NCATP’s headquarters in Cary.

Lauber started her 19-year career at NCATP as the consumer resources specialist and then became the funding specialist. Prior to joining NCATP, she taught special education at Brentwood Elementary School in the Wake County Public School System and worked as a staff development specialist at the Murdoch Center in Butner.

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services Acting Director Elizabeth Bishop presented the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award, noting that Lauber is in good company with previous recipients including Andy Griffith, Michael Jordan and Coretta Scott King. Bishop said Lauber had volunteered to serve on numerous boards, won a DVRS Superstar Customer Service Award and served as NCATP’s top cheerleader. Reading the opening stanza of the poem that accompanies the Order, “Here’s to the land of the long leaf pine … Where the weak grow strong,” Bishop noted how Lauber demonstrates that everyone is valuable and no one should be without the supports, technology and services necessary to maintain self-sufficiency.

NCATP Director Tammy Koger shared stories about Lauber’s years of service and how she kept up to date on funding resources to help consumers with disabilities find ways to pay for the assistive technology they needed. Assistive Technologist Lynne Deese played a video in which co-workers, family members and former consumers wished her the best. One former consumer, a young man named Brandon, spoke from his communication device, thanking Lauber for helping him find funding to purchase his first communication device. Another highlight was Lauber’s family from Alabama and Virginia all showing up and surprising her. 

During the celebration, Lauber shared remarks about her journey from high school in Delaware to St. Andrew’s College in Laurinburg on a scholarship funded by Delaware’s vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency. Back then, it was difficult to find a college that was wheelchair-accessible. A VR counselor in Delaware shared a brochure listing only three such colleges on the East Coast. After graduating St. Andrews, Lauber received her master’s degree at the University of South Florida, one of the other schools on that list, and then returned to North Carolina to accept a teaching job in Wake County. After working in the school system, Lauber joined the Murdoch Center, which received an assistive technology grant, and then NCATP. 

When asked about her career at DHHS, Lauber said, “I never could have done the work with NCATP without the experience of working with assistive technology at Murdoch. Working on NCATP’s team with the terrific support from DVRS, has been a true joy. I learned something new daily working with the most skilled, creative people who all have a passion for the work we do and compassion for the people we serve. I am filled with gratitude.”