| From Lawrence University 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, were presented Lawrence University’s
Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award Sunday (June 12, 2005)
during the college’s 156th commencement. Both received 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, and motivate their students to pursue academic excellence
while showing a genuine concern for them in, as well as outside,
the classroom. Marilyn Catlin  Catlin
began her teaching career in 1973 in Winona, Minnesota. 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, Illinois, 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.
Joseph Vitrano  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 team from 1971 to 1995 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. Posted June 14, 2005 |