School
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E d u c at i o n • V o l u m e 7, I ss u e 1 • W i n t e r 2011
index
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-STOUT
Director’s Message
2 STEM Consortium’s Summer Academy and
the School of Education
3 Lindsey Geissler - A day in the life of a
student teacher
4 New faculty
5 SIPS for Scholarships award winners
5 Home Economics Building renamed to
Heritage Hall
5 Robert S. Sedlak Award
6 An interview with Lindsey Hegg
7 Peek from the past - Window to the present
8 Notable Notes
School of Education
Programs
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS
Art Education
Career, Technical Education and Training
Early Childhood Education
Family and Consumer Sciences Education
Marketing and Business Education
Science Education
Technology and Science Education
Special Education
Technology Education
Director’s Message
I am pleased to announce, effective summer 2011, a new teacher major
in mathematics will be added to the array of program options at UWStout. Although a teaching minor in mathematics has been available
to students for several years, some states require a teaching major to
meet state-specific licensure standards. Given the national shortage of
mathematics teachers, the program will provide students with more
opportunities for employment.
On a personal note, I would like to inform you that I recently accepted
the appointment of associate vice chancellor for academic and student
affairs at UW-Stout. Brian McAlister, Ph.D., has assumed the interim
position of director of the School of Education while a search for a new
director is conducted. Brian has served as coordinating chair of the
School of Education the past few years. As such, he is well acquainted
with the faculty and programs within the school, and I am confident he
will provide excellent leadership during this interim period.
Jacalyn W. Weissenburger, Ph.D.
Associate Vice Chancellor,
Academic and Student Affairs
Change is inevitable. Some fear it. Others thrive on it. But regardless of perspective, it keeps happening. As Jacalyn Weissenburger moves on, the school acknowledges the impact she has
had, the most notable of which, was her leadership during our
successful pursuit of NCATE accreditation. And while we will
miss her leadership, we wish her all the best and look forward to
working with her in her new role.
I am honored that Dean Mary Hopkins-Best asked me to serve
as interim director. Prior to this assignment I was in my fourth
year as coordinating chair. I also have held the positions of program director of the M.S. and the B.S. in technology education.
I pledge to work with integrity and to uphold the high ideals documented in the School of Education’s conceptual framework. As a reflective practitioner, I will strive to create a climate
of continuous improvement where evidence-based practices are
used. Thank you to all students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends
for your continued support. And remember, “If nothing ever
changed, there'd be no butterflies,” author unknown.
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
M.S. Career and Technical Education
M.S. Education
M.S. School Counseling
M.S./ Ed.S. School Psychology
Ed.S. Career and Technical Education
TEACHING MINORS
Biology
Chemistry
Coaching
Economics
Health and Fitness
History
Mathematics
Physics
SPECIAL CERTIFICATIONS
Career and Technical Education Coordinator
Early Childhood through Middle Childhood, PK-6
Early Childhood Special Education
Reading Teacher
Traffic Safety
Technology Coordinator
ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FOR EDUCATORS
M.S. Education Graduate Certificate in E-Learning
and Online Teaching
Editorial Staff
Brian McAlister
Hannah Flom
Jackie Weissenburger
Brian K. McAlister, Ph.D., Interim Director
School of Education
Mission and Vision
The mission of the School of Education is: “The School of Education (SOE) faculty and staff will
engage in exemplary teaching, research, and service to ensure that graduates of the School become
successful professional educators.”
The vision of the School of Education is: “The School of Education (SOE) faculty and staff have the
vision of preparing teachers and other professional educators who are reflective practitioners and
engage in evidence-based practice.”
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-STOUT
W I S C O N S I N ’ S P O LY T E C H N I C U N I V E R S I T Y
School
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E d u c at i o n • V o l u m e 7, I ss u e 1
STEM Consortium’s Summer Academy and
the School of Education
T
he School of Education is one of
the higher education partners of the
Western Wisconsin STEM Consortium:
SySTEMically Improving Students
Achievement in Mathematics and Science.
University instructors work with K-12
teachers from nine participating school
districts in Wisconsin as part of the threeyear project designed to provide advanced
training for 60 math and science high
school teachers through a grant-funded
program.
UW-Stout faculty Kevin Mason,
assistant professor, School of Education, Charles Bomar, biology, and Petre
Ghenciu, math, have a role in the project. Bomar provides instruction and field
experiences in biology; Ghenciu provides
instruction and classroom experiences in
math related to the science topics being
studied; Mason’s role is to provide instruction and classroom experiences in the
pedagogy of math and science.
The STEM 2010 academy, held for 10
days in July, focused on several topics
including measurement, probability and
statistics, ecosystems and the interdependence of ecosystems. This was accom-
plished by modeling contextual teaching through
the use of problem-based,
project-based and inquirybased learning. Participating teachers learned about
fisheries, threatened and
endangered species, wildlife, orienteering and GPS.
They visited the Environmental Division of Fort
McCoy, the Burr Oak Winery in New Lisbon to study
soil and plant growth, and
an organic farm to study
agricultural applications in
plants and animals.
Teachers were able to
see firsthand how scientists and other
professionals use math and science in
their everyday lives. They consulted with
experts in the field, engaged in outdoor
field-based activities, and collected and
analyzed data. The inquiry-based experiences provided the teachers with the skills
to structure similar types of activities in
their classrooms.
Teachers worked in grade-level teams to
Jackie Weissenburger, Tracy DeRusha, Mary Hopkins-Best visit Burr Oak Winery
• P ag e 2 •
Mason (in red shirt) leads group in outside
activity
design integrated STEM curriculum projects for their classrooms. Projects included
“Terrariums and it’s a Trap,” for grades pk-2;
“PONDering Ideas” and “Project Karner
Blue” for grades 3-5; “Aromatic Adventure,” “The Amazing Forest Race” and “Is
Organic Food the Best for You?” in grades
6-8; “Frisbee Golf Course,” “Dumpster
Diving” and “Biodiesel” were projects for
grades 9-12.
Mary Hopkins-Best, dean of the
College of Education, Health and Human
Sciences, Jacalyn Weissenburger, then
director of the School of Education, and
Tracy DeRusha, instructional specialist,
attended the camp for a day. The grant
is “an exciting opportunity to provide
professional development to teachers on
how to use evidence-based practices to
increase student learning in mathematics
and science,” Weissenburger said.
In the second year of the program,
extending through May 2011, a course is
offered on helping participants implement
and monitor the effects of their curriculum
projects on prekindergarten through 12th
grade learning.
In the summer of 2011, a course will be
offered focusing on advanced math and
science concepts and how to teach them
effectively.
School
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E d u c at i o n • V o l u m e 7, I ss u e 1
Lindsey Geissler –
a day in the life of a student teacher
“My heart belongs to teaching students,” says Lindsey Geissler, as she completes a
second degree at UW-Stout. She has a B.S. in applied science and is completing a B.S.
in science education. In fall 2010, she student taught chemistry and physical science at
Menomonie Middle School and High School and loved it.
On a Wednesday in November, Geissler agreed to be shadowed by UW-Stout
photographer, Bill Wikrent, to relay in pictures what a student teacher does. The photos
were taken in a freshman level physical science class taught by Deanna Suilmann. The
lesson of the day was on acid, base and ph levels.
Geissler and cooperative teacher
Deanna Suilmann before class
Geissler gives lesson
Geissler typically arrived to school early to be available for students who wanted
extra help. Her morning classes were physical science and biology and then lunch in
the teachers’ lounge, “which is always entertaining,” she said. She had a prep time during
third block and for the fourth block of the day, a second section of biology.
Geissler loves everything about teaching: the everyday academic and behavioral
challenges; the relationships she’s forming and her enlarged family, since she now
considers her students to be part of it.
She is learning that challenges are inevitable, “but you always have to ask yourself if
the challenge is a controllable or uncontrollable challenge,” she said. The way in which
these challenges are overcome either “makes a good teacher better and a poor teacher
worse,” she said.
Lindsey graduated in December and finished student teaching at the end of January.
She will substitute teach while looking for a full-time teaching position. With her degree
she is certified to teach broadfield science: biology, chemistry and physics for students
ages 10-21. “Ideally,” she said, “I would love to teach high school chemistry and physics.”
Geissler and student share a laugh
Geissler explains lab activity
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School
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New Faculty
New Faculty
New Faculty
Virginia Lea
Lorraine Mitchell
Lama Bergstrand Othman
Virginia Lea comes to UW-Stout with a
Ph.D. in education from the University of
California, Berkeley; an M.A. in education
from San Francisco State University and
a bachelor’s degree in education from the
University of London.
Before transitioning to the Midwest
she taught in Pennsylvania, in the San
Francisco Bay area, in Sussex, England and
at the University of the West Indies ExtraMural Center in Trinidad.
She teaches classes in multiculturalism
at UW-Stout and has taken over the crosscultural field experience program for the
School of Education.
Lea’s research interests revolve around
“educulturalism,” her term for teaching
critical thinking about social, cultural and
historical issues through music, the visual
and performing arts, oral history, narrative
and dialogue.
When she’s not in the classroom,
researching or writing publications, of
which she has four published and three
forthcoming, Lea’s hobbies and interests
include vegetarianism, spending time
with her three-year-old grandchild,
animals — especially dogs, horses and
pigs — watching films, reading, painting,
walking and traveling to the Languedoc
and the Corbieres mountains in the South
of France.
With her jazz musician husband,
Babatunde Lea, Lea established the
nonprofit Educultural Foundation to
facilitate critical thinking about social and
cultural issues.
Lorraine Mitchell is practically a birthright
University of Minnesotan. As a child,
she lived at the Northwest School of
Agriculture in Crookston, Minn., to
become the University of Minnesota
Crookston, where her father was a teacher
and agricultural engineer. She later
attended the school when it was a two
year college and received an Associate
of Applied Science degree in home and
family services.
She also has a Bachelor of Applied
Science degree in early childcare and
development and an M.Ed. in early
childhood special education from the
University of Duluth. In 2008, she
completed her Ed.D. in policy and
administration from the University of
Minnesota.
Before coming to UW-Stout, Mitchell
taught early childhood education classes
at the University of Minnesota Duluth
from 1998-08 and, for one year, as an
adjunct at the College of St. Scholastica in
the School of Psychology.
Despite being new to the university
and Menomonie. Mitchell has strong ties
to the area; her mother grew up in Strum,
and her father grew up in Fairchild and, in
1947, graduated from UW- Stout with a
B.S. degree in industrial education.
Mitchell teaches in the early childhood
program and supervises student teachers.
Her hobbies — fly fishing, Nordic skiing,
snowshoeing, road biking — are ones that
get her outside or “put some dirt under
my nails and put my mind and body in a
happy place,” she said.
Lama Othman, originally from Jordan,
has a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in
special education from the University of
Jordan. She received her Ph.D. in special
education at the University of Iowa. Prior
to coming to UW-Stout she taught in
the School of Education at Hashemite
University in Jordan.
Othman is teaching two classes in
special education and is a student-teacher
supervisor.
Her research interests include cognitive
processes involved in reading and ways to
enhance educational and interventional
plans for students with learning disabilities,
and single subject design and its
application in the case of behavioral and
educational problems.
She has submitted the study “Speed
and accuracy with which average
and below average sixth graders read
individual Arabic words with and without
phonological marking” for publication
with co-writers Khuloud Al-Dababneh
and Bridget Z. Sheng.
Othman likes to spend time with her
family, listen to music and take pictures.
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School
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SIPS for Scholarships
award winners
At the Sips for Scholarships fundraiser,
two $1,000 scholarships were awarded,
one to Jean O’Dea of Menomonie and
the other to Jennifer Berg of Eau Claire.
O’Dea is a senior
majoring in art
education, with
an emphasis in
ceramics.
She is a single
mother of six who
has maintained
a 3.7 grade-point
average. She has
volunteered with
Jean O’Dea
several
community organizations, including
the Lucas Charter High School in
Menomonie.
Berg will graduate
in December
with a master’s
degree in school
counseling.
She has a 4.0
grade-point
average and is the
mother of a fiveyear-old daughter Jennifer Berg
who has special
needs.
Berg has volunteered at
Chippewa Valley Technical College
in their English as a second languageEnglish language learner lab, the
Boys & Girls Club of the Greater
Chippewa Valley and Children’s
Hospital in St. Paul.
Home Economics Building renamed
Heritage Hall
The Home Economics Building, home to the School of Education, was renamed
Heritage Hall in September. The new name reflects the history of the original
home economics program, which dates back to the Stout Manual Training School.
“We needed to update the name of the building while preserving the link it
provides to the rich history of UW-Stout,” said Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen.
Home economics, by name, no longer is offered at the university but has
evolved into other majors and programs, such as bachelor of science degrees in
family and consumer sciences education, dietetics, food systems and technology,
and human development and family studies.
Amy Gillette – Robert S. Sedlak
Spirit of Community Award
Amy Gillette, professor, received the Robert Sedlak Spirit of
Community Award at the School of Education’s spring celebrations
banquet in May.
Gillette, who has taught at the university since 1990, was
honored and humbled by receiving the award. “Dr. Sedlak
was a wonderful example of someone who supported the
community in multiple ways,” she said.
Gillette works at fostering a sense of community
through daily interactions with her peers, has mentored
junior faculty and assisted those working on terminal degrees. She is active on
various university committees and in the community, has been a community
volunteer with the Special Olympics, and for 11 years, served on the board of
directors for Positive Alternatives.
For the past 15 years she has volunteered helping bikers during the weeklong
Ride across Minnesota to benefit research for multiple sclerosis.
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School
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An interview with
Lindsey Hegg
Lindsey Hegg, B.S. ‘09, has found her niche being the eyes and
ears for others. Hegg is a graduate student in special educationsevere and multiple disabilities at the University of Arizona,
Tucson.
In an interview with Benchmarks writer Hannah Flom, she
explains how she got where she is.
HF: Where did you grow up?
LH: I grew up in Woodbury, Minnesota. I went to high
school at Tartan Senior High School in Oakdale. I now live in
Tucson, Ariz. where I attend the University of Arizona.
Hegg signs “I love you”” with young student
HF: HF:
Did you learn how to sign as a child?
LH:
I started learning sign language when I was 12. My
family did foster care for children with deaf-blindness. I used
sign language and tactile sign language with them. [Tactile
American Sign Language is American Sign Language signed into
the receiver’s hands.] I grew up in a home that consisted of my
mom, aunt and uncle; they all knew sign language. My mom is
a teacher of the deaf-blind, and my aunt is a teacher of the deafblind and works for the Minnesota DeafBlind Project.
HF: When did you first know that you wanted to work with the deaf-blind?
LH:
I worked as a personal care attendant for two children
that were diagnosed with deaf-blindness. I worked with them
when I was in high school; I fell in love with them and their
families. I knew through my experiences with them that I was in
the right field.
HF: Why did you choose to attend UW-Stout?
LH:
I visited Stout and met with Amy Gillett about the
special education program. After meeting with Amy and
seeing the campus, I knew I was at the right place. I loved
how supportive Stout was and their cross-cat program was
exactly what I was looking for. I knew my long term goal was
to attend the U of A and get my master’s in severe and multiple
disabilities, so my first step was to get my undergrad in special
education and the fact that it was a cross categorical program
was a bonus!
HF: What was your experience at Stout in the special
education department? Are there any teachers, classes that
stand out as being critical in your chosen area?
LH:
Amy Gillett and Amy Schlieve made my experience
at Stout remarkable. They are wonderful educators that go
above and beyond for their students. I couldn’t have asked for
better mentors. Vicki Dowell is another teacher who taught
me a lot about working with students with severe and multiple
disabilities.
Tell me about challenges in your chosen field.
LH:
Awareness — so many people are unaware of the
field and don’t realize that students with deaf-blindness need
specialized educational strategies and interventions. The
combination of vision and hearing loss creates both a low
incidence and unique information-gathering disability. Time
needs to be taken to understand the dual sensory loss individual
to each child, and to provide ways for him or her to receive
information about the environment and the people in it.
Students with deaf-blindness need interveners, service providers,
teachers and paraprofessionals that are trained in deaf-blindness.
HF:
In addition to your graduate studies, what are you doing?
LH:
I am currently in my first year teaching and I work as
an inclusion specialist at an elementary school in Tucson, Ariz.
HF:
What are your plans for the future?
LH:
I would love to work for a deaf-blind project someday
and set up an intervener program for a state without one. I
experienced the benefits of being trained as an intervener and I
am passionate about the impact intervener training makes in the
lives of students with deaf-blindness. I would also love to start
a transition program for adults who are deaf-blind, ages 18-22,
that focuses on building vocational skills through community
integration and volunteering so students can leave the program
with the skills needed to obtain paid employment. I am excited
about my future in the field of deaf-blindness and I believe that
with a collaborative sprit and team any goal can be reached.
Hegg has been recognized as a Helen Keller Fellow for
2010 from the Extending a Legacy: Helen Keller Fellows
collaborative program designed to improve the quality and
increase the number of personnel fully credentialed to meet the
needs of children with the most severe disabilities. As a fellow
she will receive a $10,000 stipend for one year to assist with her
graduate education.
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School
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Peek from the past – Window to the present
The Family and Consumer Sciences Education program looks pretty good
considering that it is approximately 107 years old.
The present-day progeny of the 1918 degree in home economics
education, the B.S. family and consumer sciences education, so named
in 1999, is similar but different to its academic ancestor. It focuses on
families, work and their interrelationships in a diverse global society.
In 1903, the Menomonie schools, which included the Stout Manual
Training School, were reorganized and training schools for the preparation
of teachers of domestic science and manual training were created. In
1908, articles of incorporation were signed creating the Stout Institute. By
1912, enrollment had grown to 500, warranting a trades building in 1913,
and a home economics building in 1917. In 1918, the B.S. degree Home
Economics Education was approved.
Students study:
1. Family strength, diversity and vitality across the lifespan
According to the 1911 Tower yearbook, girls pursued the “Domestic Science,
The Domestic Art, or the Homemakers’ Course” for the following reasons:
2. Personal, social and material resources that meet human needs
3. Consumer roles and responsibilities
1. To make housekeeping an inspiring profession instead of a deadening
drudgery.
4. Balancing personal, family and work lives
2. To make the daily work in the home of fascinating interest instead of
monotonous labor.
5. Home and community settings and technology that support
individuals and families
3. To make housekeeping easier and simpler by utilizing modern science in
the home.
4. To make the household money go farther that higher things of life may
be included.
5. To preserve and increase health and thereby promote happiness and
prosperity.
6. Policies that support individuals, families and communities
Graduates are certified to teach family and consumer education in
grades K-12. They may choose to write family and consumer education
textbooks, work in county or state extension positions, or serve as
specialized consultants to state departments of education.
6. To develop the children mentally, morally, and physically to their finest
possibilities.
7. To effect the conservation and improvement of the American home.
8. To rais ideals of American homemaking
Top Photo: Students in the Stout Association of Family
and Consumer Sciences made approximately 50 pies for a
Thanksgiving fundraiser. Left to right: Sabrina Kliewer, Marissa
Treptau, Kathleen Considine, Michelle Lindbeg, Kaitlyn Haeman,
Liz Gilgenbach, Amber Homme
1911 Tower, University Archives
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Notable Notes
FACULTY:
Barbara Flom, associate professor, Denise Brouillard,
associate professor and program director, and Jeanne
Rothaupt, University Counseling Center, published
“Addressing racial identity development in an introductory
school counseling course,” in the journal American
Counseling Association: VISTAS 2010.
Joseph Haid, associate professor, exhibited “The
Chronicles of Mr. Spindle,”a mixed-media, viewer-activated,
with digital sound and motion installation exhibit, in a
juried group show, at the Phipps Arts Center in Hudson in
January 2010.
Jill Klefstad, associate professor, presented “The Secret
De-Coder Ring” at the 10th annual Lilly Conference for
College and University Teaching and Learning in Traverse
City, Mich. The conference was on evidence-based learning
and teaching. Klefstad is also a proposal reviewer for the
National Association of Education of Young Children 2010
Conference Technology/Distance Learning proposals and
for applications for the National Association of the Early
Childhood Teacher Educators, Outstanding Early Childhood
Practitioner award.
Kimberly Martinez and Jill Klefstad, associate professors,
presented “Using Multicultural Children’s Literature
to Increase Cultural Awareness in Early Childhood
Classrooms” at the 15th annual Early Childhood
Conference “Children Our Future” held in Arden Hills, Minn.
in October. The two also received a $1,500 grant from
the UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity to study
multicultural children’s literature in promoting cultural
awareness and appreciation in early childhood classrooms.
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E d u c at i o n • V o l u m e 4, I ss u e 1
The two presented “Increasing Cultural Awareness in Early
Childhood Classrooms through Multicultural Literature”
at the National Association for the Education of Young
Children annual conference held Nov. 3-6, in Anaheim, Calif.
Sheri Klein, professor, was invited to submit the
chapter Toxic leadership and the erosion of trust in
higher education in “Trust and Betrayal in Educational
Administration and Leadership,” editors: E. Samier and M.
Schmidt, New York: Routledge, 2010.
Sandra Lindow, adjunct, had the essay “Le Guin’s PostFeminist Carrier Bag Makeover: Clarke’s Ursula K. Le Guin’s
Journey to Post-Feminism” published in the journal Science
Fiction Studies, #112, Vol. 37, Part e, Nov. 2010. She also
presented “Mapping the Walls of the Dispossessed” at
the International Conference of Fantastic and the Arts
held in March in Orlando, Fla. Her paper “Body, Mythology
and Deity in the Poetry of Ursula K. Le Guin” has been
accepted for the spring 2011 ICFA. She is co-editor of the
2011 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar published in June 2010.
Ruth Nyland, assistant professor, is the president-elect of
the Wisconsin Division for Early Childhood. She attended
and presented awards at the Wisconsin Early Childhood
Association 56th annual conference held Nov.11-13, at the
Marriott West in Madison.
Christine Peterson presented “Systematic Review and
Multi-Metric Meta-Analysis of Social Stories™ Research,”
co-written by C. R. Peterson, D. B. McAdam, D. A.Napolitano,
and J. Breidbord 2010, at the International Meeting for
Autism Research held in Philadelphia in May.
Kathy Preusse and Jamie Lynch, Child and Family Study
Center, presented “Invite, Delight, and Ignite Toddler Circle
Times: Enhancing Language and Early Literacy” at the
National Association for the Education of Young Children
annual conference held Nov. 3-6, in Anaheim, Calif. Judy
Herr, professor emeritus, and Judy Gifford, director of the
Child and Family Study Center, presented “Six Habits of
Highly Effective Teachers.”
UW System has launched a website listing the online degree and certificate programs available at system schools.
Online UW-Stout’s School of Education offers two graduate
certificates, two Bachelor of Science degrees and two Master of Science degrees. The website is: http://www.ecampus.wisconsin.edu/.
STUDENTS:
A team led by Alyssa Anttila, marketing and business
education, of Coon Rapids, Minn., included the top
three winners at the Great Northwoods Sales Warm-up
competition held in November at UW-Eau Claire. Anttila
and a fellow team member will represent UW-Stout at the
National Collegiate Sales Competition March 2011, in
Atlanta.
ALUMNI:
Charlene Falkner Kelley ‘99, passed the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards certification in Career and
Technical Education.Kelley teaches health and family and consumer education at Bloomer Middle School and high school.
David Masterson MS ’02, successfully defended his
doctoral dissertation at Bethel University, St. Paul, Minn.
He is a technology and engineering education teacher at
Mosinee Middle School, Mosinee.
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MENOMONIE, WI 54751
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
267 Home Economics Building
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Menomonie, WI 54751
For more information contact:
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
267 Home Economics Building
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Menomonie, WI 54751
School
Phone: 715/232-1088
Fax: 715/232-1244
www.uwstout.edu/soe
We welcome your inquiries and comments