Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award

Tag: Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award

Hortonville, Pittsville High School Teachers to be Honored as Outstanding Educators at Lawrence Commencement

Hortonville High School biologist Jackie Dorow and Karen Brownell, a mathematics teacher at Pittsville High School, will be presented Lawrence University’s Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award Sunday, June 11 during the college’s 157th commencement. Both will receive a certificate, a citation and a monetary award.

Established in 1985, the teaching award recognizes Wisconsin secondary school teachers for education excellence. Recipients are nominated by Lawrence seniors and are selected on their abilities to communicate effectively, create a sense of excitement in the classroom, motivate their students to pursue academic excellence while showing a genuine concern for them in, as well as outside, the classroom.

A native of Greenville and a graduate of Hortonville High School, Dorow joined the faculty of her alma mater in 1974. During her 32-year career, she had taught general biology, honors biology, botany, zoology as well as anatomy and physiology. She has served as the chair of the biology department the past four years and also leads Hortonville’s North Central Accreditation School Improvement Committee.

In nominating Dorow for the award, Lawrence senior Angie Geiger, a 2002 Hortonville graduate, praised her former teacher for her enthusiastic and nurturing style in the classroom.

“Ms. Dorow’s classes were nothing short of a challenge,” Geiger said in her nomination. “The assignments, projects and presentations demanded that we put forth the effort to become fluent in the language of biology. Ms. Dorow is a teacher any Lawrence student would adore and any colleague would admire. She changed my life and helped me discover my destiny as a biologist.”

Recognized as Hortonville’s Teacher of the Year in 1989, Dorow is a member of the National Science Teachers Association, the National Association of Biology Teachers and the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers.

She earned her bachelor’s degree at UW-Oshkosh in biology and her master’s degree in education at Aurora University.
Like Dorow, Brownell also returned to teach at her own former high school. Since joining the Pittsville High School faculty in 1976, Brownell has taught virtually every math course, including algebra, geometry and calculus. She also has served as the coach of the school’s math team during most of her tenure. Under her direction, Pittsville has been a consistent top-five finisher in the annual Central Wisconsin Math League Competition, including a string of nine consecutive first-place finishes in the 1980s and ’90s.

Lawrence senior Amalia Wegner, a 2002 Pittsville graduate, cited Brownell’s unflinching determination among the reasons why she was a special teacher.

“Ms. Brownell has never given up on a student,” Wegner said in nominating her for the award. “She believes in every one of her students. In turn, her students try their best because they know someone is trying to help them succeed.”

Wegner recalled Brownell spending her lunch hour, free period and after-school time to tutor a particular student who was struggling.

“When no one else was there to help, Ms. Brownell is there. She is a great teacher who goes above and beyond her duty for her students.”

Outside the classroom, Brownell has coached the girls’ volleyball team for 28 years, winning eight conference titles and making four trips to the state tournament, including second-place finishes in 1986 and 1995. She also has served as Pittsville’s track coach for the past 17 years.

A member of the National Education Association, Brownell earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from UW-Stevens Point.

Two State Teachers Recognized as “Outstanding Educators” at Lawrence University Commencement

Marilyn Catlin, a family consumer education teacher at Appleton East High School and Joseph Vitrano, who teaches Latin and English at Wauwatosa East High School, will receive Lawrence University’s Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award Sunday, June 12 during the college’s 156th commencement. Both will be presented a certificate, a citation and a monetary award.

Established in 1985, the teaching award recognizes Wisconsin secondary school teachers for education excellence. Recipients are nominated by Lawrence seniors and are selected on their abilities to communicate effectively, create a sense of excitement in the classroom, motivate their students to pursue academic excellence while showing a genuine concern for them in, as well as outside, the classroom.

Catlin, whose grandfather-in-law coached football at Lawrence for 14 years between 1909 and 1927, began her teaching career in 1973 in Winona, Minn. Since moving to Appleton, she has taught at six schools during three different stints since first joining the district in 1976. She has been a member of the East High School faculty since 1990. In addition to teaching consumer education classes, she has served as the school-age parent coordinator at East for the past 13 years.

She is a member of the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Parenting Alliance and serves on the district’s School-Age Parent Advisory Board.

Lawrence senior Kassandra Kuehl praised Catlin’s energy, devotion and “optimism not otherwise present in the lives of her students” in nominating her for the award.

“As the teacher for the Student-Age Parent Program, she is often the single resource available to the teen parents of Appleton East on subjects ranging from how to network so that the teens can graduate to the benefits of breast-feeding and how to prevent child abuse,” Kuehl said in her nomination. “Mrs. Catlin focuses her attention on the few students whose very survival depends on her attention.”

A native of Arlington Heights, Ill., Catlin earned her bachelor’s degree in home economics at St. Olaf College and her master’s degree in food science and nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Vitrano has spent his entire 35-year career in the Wauwatosa School District as a Latin and English teacher. He is a former president of the Wisconsin Latin Teachers Association and has served as Wauwatosa East’s athletic director since 1989. He coached the school’s cross country from 1971-95 and was inducted into the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003.

Julia Ruff, a 2001 graduate of Wauwatosa East, said Vitrano had a “legendary reputation” at the school, attracting students to his Latin classes from across the breadth of the student body. When Ruff couldn’t fit a Latin class into her schedule, Vitrano arranged to tutor her several days a week before the start of classes so that she could continue her studies.

“He is a very dedicated teacher who put in the extra effort to ensure that his best and worst students were given the opportunity to succeed,” Ruff said in nominating Vitrano for the award. “He made a dead language and ancient culture come alive to a broad range of students, an incredible feat of teaching prowess.”

Vitrano, who grew up in the Bay View area of Milwaukee, earned his bachelor’s degree in Latin and secondary education at Marquette University and his master’s degree in comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Lawrence University Honors Two State Teachers as “Outstanding Educators”

Victor Akemann, an advanced biology teacher at Stevens Point Area Senior High (SPASH) and Karen Johnson-Zak, who teaches French at Gibraltar High School, will be honored as the 41st and 42nd recipients of Lawrence University’s Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award Sunday, June 13 during the college’s 155th commencement. Both will receive a certificate, a citation and a monetary award.

Established in 1985, the teaching award recognizes Wisconsin secondary school teachers for education excellence. Recipients are nominated by Lawrence seniors who attended high school in Wisconsin. They are selected on their abilities to communicate effectively, create a sense of excitement in the classroom, motivate their students to pursue academic excellence while showing a genuine concern for them in as well as outside the classroom.

A former marine mammal scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who studied Dall’s porpoise in the north Pacific Ocean near Seattle, Akemann has taught advanced biology at SPASH since 1990.

In 1994, he co-founded Wisconsin’s first charter school — the Education for Sustainable Development Charter School (ESDCS) — a school-within-a-school at SPASH focusing on the interplay between the environment, the economy and social equality. Since the fall of 2002, he also has served as ESDCS’s program director.

Senior Allison Dietsche praised Akemann’s unbridled enthusiasm for his subject matter and commitment to working with individual students in nominating him for the teaching award.

“You always knew he was genuinely excited,” Dietsche said in her nomination letter. “He was animated in the classroom when he taught an always had awesome class projects planned. He made himself available early in the morning or after school and always made time for his students.

“He refueled my love for biology. If Mr. Akemann wasn’t the inspirational teacher that he is, I would not be as successful as I am today,” Dietsche added.

A member of numerous professional organizations, including the National Center for Science Education and the National Science Teachers Association Akemann was recognized in 2002 as Wisconsin’s outstanding biology teacher of the year by UW-Stevens Point. In 2003, Akemann was one of eight teachers honored from a national list of 78 nominations by the University of Minnesota with its outstanding science teacher of the year award.

Before starting his teaching career, Akemann spent two years with the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute in Ashland as a producer of nationally-syndicated radio news programs on ecological issues.

Originally from Milwaukee, Akemann earned his bachelor’s degree in biology at Northland College and will complete his master’s degree in education at UW-Stevens Point this summer.

Johnson-Zak, a graduate of Gibraltar High School herself, began her 33-year teaching career at Farnsworth Junior High School in Sheboygan before returning to her alma mater, where she has served as a one-person French department since 1973.

Shortly after returning to Gibraltar, she began organizing “immersion” field trips to France, leading as many as 50 students on some excursions to Paris and other locales where students would spend a week or more living with French host families.

“Karen Johnson-Zak is the epitome of what I consider an excellent teacher to be,” wrote Lawrence senior and 1999 Gibraltar graduate Nate Jacobs in nominating his former teacher for the award. “Her abilities in effectively teaching French perfectly balance serious study and fun, making the often tedious process of learning complicated verb conjugations and pronunciation pass without extreme difficulty.

“Mrs. Johnson-Zak’s influence on my life cannot be measured,” Jacobs added. “Without her positive teaching style, I would never have appreciated, or ventured to partake in, many of the international experiences I have had.”

Born and raised in her current hometown of Sister Bay, Johnson-Zak earned a bachelor of science degree in education from UW-Oshkosh. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of French and the Wisconsin Association of Foreign Language Teachers.

State Teachers Cited as Outstanding Educators at Lawrence University Commencement

Paul Bucheger of Seymour and Robert Chesney of Cedarburg will be recognized as outstanding educators Sunday, June 15 by Lawrence University at the college’s 154th commencement.

Bucheger, at teacher at Seymour High School, and Chesney, who teaches at Ozaukee High School, will be presented annual Lawrence’s Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award as part of the day’s celebration.

Established in 1985, the teaching award recognizes Wisconsin secondary school teachers for education excellence. Recipients are nominated by Lawrence seniors who attended high school in Wisconsin. They are selected on their abilities to communicate effectively, create a sense of excitement in the classroom, motivate their students to pursue academic excellence while showing a genuine concern for them in as well as outside the classroom.

Bucheger and Chesney, the 39th and 40th teachers honored in the program’s 19-year history, each will receive a certificate, a citation and a monetary award.

Bucheger has taught physics and mathematics at Seymour High School since 1987, developing a respected reputation for his classroom creativity and practical, real-life applications of often intimidating subject matter for his students.

In nominating him for the award, Lawrence senior Mark Schmoll cited Bucheger’s communication skills, his ability to generate excitement about the subject matter and his genuine concern for students.

“All students learn best in slightly different ways and Mr. Bucheger is second to none when it comes to realizing this,” Schmoll wrote in his nomination. “He always finds ways to communicate the curriculum to each individual in the class. Excitement in the classroom is not only generated by the numerous fun activities that students have the opportunity to participate in, but by Mr. Bucheger’s own excitement for the material and for teaching.”

In addition to his teaching duties, Bucheger has been a long-time volunteer coach with the Seymour Middle School wrestling program.

A native of Greenwood, Bucheger earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics at the UW-Eau Claire and a master’s degree in education at Viterbo University.

Chesney began his teaching career in 1978 at Ozaukee High School where he teaches English, literary analysis, research writing and AP literature.

His innovative use of technology in his classes has earned Chesney numerous awards, including Time Warner’s Teaching Creatively with Cable Gold Award in 1999, 2001 and 2002. He also was named recipient of Time Warner’s Crystal Apple National Teacher Award in 1999 and 2001.

Chesney “motivates students with his flair for adding uncommon elements to the classroom,” senior Michelle Ansay wrote in nominating her former teacher for the award. “From the very early days of ‘the Web,’ Mr. Chesney has strongly encouraged responsible use of internet resources. After a few years of exploring such resources, he began to dabble in creating resources of his own and he brought his students with him on the journey.”

The faculty advisor to the school newspaper, Chesney was named the Journalism Advisor of the Year in 1999 by the Kettle Moraine Press Association. He serves as a coach of the school forensics team and is the author of numerous published articles in “Quill and Scroll” “Tech Learning” and “The Well Connected Educator,” among others.

Chesney earned his bachelor’s degree in English at the UW-Oshkosh and his master’s degree in English literature at Marquette University.