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Three WEAC members were named Wednesday (October 13, 2004) to the USA Today Teacher Team. They are Sandy Swanson from Menomonee Falls High School, They are among 20 K-12 teachers selected for the honor nationwide. All 20 receive trophies and $500 cash awards, with $2,000 going to their schools. They will be featured in USA TODAY throughout the school year. Winning teachers were chosen by education professionals in a two-step judging process. Judges considered how well the teachers defined and addressed student needs, and most importantly, the impact teachers have on students. "We're pleased to honor these remarkable teachers who enhance education with initiative, enthusiasm and insight. They make a real difference for their students, schools and communities," said USA TODAY Editor Ken Paulson. In articles that ran in the October 13 issue, USA Today summarized the special contributions of each winner. Following are the paper's descriptions of the WEAC members who were honored. Sandy Swanson. Menomonee Falls (Wis.) High School; food service/school to work, grades 11-12; years full-time teaching: 31. Nominated by: Jennifer Tarcin, colleague She: Initiated the food service classes, school to work, and youth apprenticeship programs, allowing hundreds of students to graduate with credit from Waukesha County Technical College on their transcripts. Relies on imaginative projects — contests for gingerbread houses or inventing an original soup or creating a vacation tour for Milwaukee visitors — to draw students into energetically mastering crucial working skills. "No one needs to know how to make a crème puff swan, it's just something nice to know. But in making a swan, you need to learn time management, reading, teamwork, equipment operation and sanitation. So I teach the 'need to know' things through the 'nice to know' things." Developed and runs Waukesha County Culinary Olympics, to inspire students in food services to excellence through a 16 high school competition; her students have won the team award since the second one, in 1977. "Students perform better on class assignments when they know someone from the outside is evaluating them and when they know that they are competing to be the best." Oversees eight youth apprentices in two-year training programs and 100 students in afternoon jobs as diverse as law offices to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine-assembly plant. Sports fan who devotes many evenings to managing games and meets for school's athletic teams. Connects one-on-one with students, because "everything I say in the classroom is interpreted by 25 different brains. Students hear what is said with their personal history attached." Mark Mueller. River Bluff Middle School, Stoughton, Wis.; language arts, grade 8, and at-risk mentor; years full-time teaching: 11. Nominated by: Stacy Brzezinski, colleague He: Got hooked on teaching young teens while still in high school, teaching religious education at his church and, later, working 10 years as a camp counselor. "Everything I need to know about classroom management I learned in the mud and the muck of a Y camp. Appeal to kids at their level, show them respect, and they will do anything for you," said the third-generation educator. Coaches high school drama and forensics and middle-school track to encourage the arts, lifelong exercise and to connect with kids outside the classroom. Teaches American literature for the Wisconsin Virtual School, working at least an hour a day online, grading, coaching and critiquing the work of dropouts, imprisoned youth and accelerated students who take their coursework online. Coached six students creating an award-winning public service campaign combating teen pregnancy; testified to Congress and government officials on service-learning, combining curriculum with meeting community needs. Developed, co-authored and published interdisciplinary units: "Intergalactic Transmission" curriculum challenges students to respond to a message from outer space, using science, language arts and literary skills; "Forensic Science" unit turns his block of students into crime-solving detectives using skills in science, math, language arts and social studies. "I'm interested in all forms of communication — essays, scripts, stories, plays, Web sites, debates, advertising. The underlying skill is the ability to express ideas well. Writing, communication and logical thought are the keys to opening up their future." Deborah Tackmann. North High School, Eau Claire, Wis.; health, grades 9-12 ; years full-time teaching: 28 Nominated by: David Wiley, colleague She: Sees her class, and life, as all about making choices
and getting students the information to see different options
and make informed choices. "I don't give them the answers,
I give them the questions, and then we do activities that help
them find the answers." Bypasses worksheets, textbooks and
especially lectures, teaching sex education through dice and other
games of chance that let teens draw their own conclusions on abstinence
and birth control based on probability of pregnancy and sexually
transmitted diseases. Builds relationships with every student
— "You can't teach them until they know you care"
— but works even harder to build positive student peer relationships:
"They're going to be the ones at a party saying, 'You know,
Mike, I don't think you should be driving.' " "She makes
us all feel we can be comfortable in class and comfortable to
say what we feel," said Ashleigh Kalish, 14. Draws on her
own experience as a military brat who moved frequently to empathize
with teens who feel disconnected. Worked with teens in 1990 to
stage pre-prom mock car crash that's an annual North High tradition;
"Arrive Alive" peer education program to discourage
drunken driving has spread to multiple states. Helped expand district
health offerings from one 9th-grade semester in 1985 to several
required and elective middle school health classes, plus an elective
upper class wellness class. "Deb builds a real camaraderie,
an esprit de corps, almost a sense of teamwork in her classes,"
principal Tom Fiedler said. "She does that masterfully, allowing
kids to have a heightened learning experience." Posted October 14, 2004 |