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DPI VISTA: Current Sites and ProjectsCurrent Sites and ProjectsLINKs Go to the Project Description
Current Sites and ProjectsName: Matt DolezalSite: Franklin Elementary School Site Location: Appleton End of Service Date: 7.16.09 Email: dolezalmatthew@aasd.k12.wi.us Work Number: 920.832.6246 Supervisor: Carrie Willer Brief Description of the Site Franklin Elementary School offers a rich tradition of academic excellence and school spirit that touches students, staff, parents, and the community. The Franklin staff is known for their teaching skill and dedicated efforts to ensure the success of each and every student. They cultivate a passion for learning, providing each student with opportunities to excel both as individuals and as peers in the classroom. Family involvement is encouraged and evident; they are also touched by this positive school pride. Current Projects The VISTA member will work on such projects as being the Birth to Five site resource coordinator for Franklin school, helping with an after-school tutoring program, helping the REACh committee write the one-year action plan, participating in CSIP (Continuous School Improvement Plan), and coordinating the Walking School Bus program.
Name: Kelly Karls The Howe Neighborhood Family Resource Center (HNFRC) serves local neighborhoods and Howe Elementary School, with the goal of creating and facilitating more opportunities for area residents. The HNFRC serves three very diverse neighborhoods representing many different social, economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. The HNFRC offers a wide variety of programming aimed and improving the lives of the families and individual adults and children while creating a stronger sense of community. Current Projects Currently, HNFRC is focused on building a strong partnership with Howe School in order to get both parents and community members more involved in the academic success of the neighborhood children. To do this, HNFRC is working on continuing a Family Dinner Night Program that brings school and families together once a month for a free meal and positive family programming. The other major project is planning Howe School Families' participation in the International Walk to School day which encourages active children, safe pedestrian skills, safe routes to school, and parental involvement. Finally, an ongoing project is attempting to create a sustainable Action Team so that these events can continue in the future. Top
Name: Betsy Prueter The DPI is a block off of the capitol in one of the three large government buildings, which house several state agencies. The Community Learning and Partnership Team incorporates the partnership idea into nutrition, early childhood education, service-learning, VISTA, AmeriCorps, and community education. Current Projects Due to the successful recruitment of 13 AmeriCorps VISTA members earlier this year, and the continuation of six VISTAs from last year, we currently have 19 members serving across the state of Wisconsin. Having recently completed Pre-Service and DPI Orientations in August, new and continuing members are hard at work building partnerships in their schools and communities. To help them achieve their goals, we've got a number of things on our plate. Number one on the list has been to increase and improve communication between the DPI and all of our sites. We have done this through regular teleconferences and online WisLine web meetings. We are also working on ensuring that each site receives the most up to date partnership research findings and training materials from the National Network of Partnership Schools. This involves site visits with the VISTAs, on-site trainings, and regular communication between the VISTAs and the VISTA Leader. We're all excited about the VISTAs' projects and are looking forward to seeing how their Action Teams for Partnerships develop!
Name: Kelly Martyka South Madison Health and Family Center - Harambee is a multi-agency collaboration providing culturally sensitive, coordinated health and education services. As one of Madison's largest and best-known community centers, Harambee promotes and supports the health and well being of Dane County families. Located in south Madison, a primary focus of the center is to enlist active community participation in addressing identified health care, family support and education needs in our community. Current Projects Our VISTA member will be developing programs to get families, especially parents, more involved with their children's education. One of the programs that we are looking at is an after school tutoring program or homework/academic club that will engage children and hopefully their parents. We are also continuing to promote our Reading in the Waiting Room program that brings volunteers in to read to the children waiting for other partners in the building. Lastly, our VISTA will be working with families in the community to develop workshops and seminars on topics parents feel they would like more information in regards to their children's education. PARENTS PLUS, MILWAUKEE Brief Description of Parents PlusParents Plus is a Wisconsin parent information and resource center. The mission of the organization is to support the development of positive parenting skills and to increase parental involvement in Wisconsin schools for the purpose of improving student achievement. This mission is carried out through several services such as Action Team training and assistance, Parents as Teachers, Poverty Training and more. Current Projects As VISTAs, our roles are to work with schools in the Milwaukee area to establish an Action Team, help connect resource centers with the school in their neighborhood and set up parent groups within schools in hopes of increasing the parent participation. We do this by visiting the schools and resource centers and figuring out their needs and how we can meet them. Having the 8th highest poverty rate of large cities in America, about one in four of Milwaukee residents live in poverty. With numbers as staggering as those, being a VISTA in Milwaukee means looking at how the education system can be changed in order to improve the quality of life for children and their families.
Name: Penny Bruskin
Name: Brendan Gants
Name: Stephanie Jung
Name: Chad Olle
Name: Jennifer Gaul
Name: Robyn Krimke
Name: Kim Yoder
Name: Renee Hinn
Name: Casey Gauthier Located in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, the School District of Rhinelander serves nine surrounding townships and the City of Rhinelander. A total of approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the three elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, an elementary charter school, a secondary charter school, and a secondary alternative education program. I currently have an office in Rhinelander High School, but I am working primarily with the elementary schools in the district. Current Projects I'm working to increase parent involvement in the literacy education of their Pre-K through 3rd graders. I help to organize literacy related events and work on various other projects to help reach this goal. Some things coming up this fall and winter are an "Exercise your Mind" Reading Night, a Vote for Books event, and a "Be Thankful" discussion in November about books, libraries, teachers, parents and reading. Students as well as their families are invited to all events we plan here in Rhinelander. According to Family Literacy Research, "Parent-child literacy activities in the home, such as helping children recognize letters, reading to children, or assisting children with reading and writing assignments, have been found to improve children's language skills and heighten their interest in books" (http://www.famlit.org). I will be encouraging and organizing such activities in the next year.
Name: Brittany Pensis Olga Brener Elementary School is located in Shawano, Wisconsin, and serves approximately 700 students in early childhood through fourth grade. Eleven percent of the student population is Native American, and thiry-four percent of our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Brener is a REACh grant school which is this year focusing on improving behavior, using Everyday Math to help students improve in math, and continuing to implement the Comprehensive Literacy Model. Brener is also a SAGE school (Student Achievement Guarantee in Education, a state program that reduces class sizes in K-3). Current Projects This year, the VISTA at Brener will be working on implementing Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) to improve student behavior and academic performance. The VISTA will also be working on expanding the current after school program to involve parents and empower them to help their children continue their education at home. Also, several evening parenting sessions are planned to share knowledge and resources with parents throughout the school year with an emphasis of involving parents of early childhood students so that they can feel connected to and welcome in the school from the start. In addition, the VISTA will continue the Brener Family Closet program which provides clothing and other necessities to families through donations from other Brener families and staff.
Name: Michelle Traxel Spooner is in Northwest Wisconsin in Washburn County. A primary goal is to strengthen student performance in core academic areas while providing educational enrichment opportunities for students and families during after school hours and implementing a summer school program. Offering a variety of academic opportunities to the students and their families will allow the Spooner Area School District to address a number of challenges including the following: poverty, at-risk population, a widely spread out district and academic progress. Current Projects The overall goal this year will be to help SMS increase partnerships through the community, family, and school. I will be continuing the ACTION team in the middle school, in hopes to get parent/community members/teachers, etc. involved in writing a one-year ACTION plan with the common goal to help students succeed academically. I will also be coordinating and providing orientation for volunteers for various activities within the middle school. Possibly provide some training on various topics for parents within the school. Another project that may be implemented at SMS is to provide more service learning opportunities within the middle school in hopes for the student to add to their knowledge, enhance their skills, and help them to understand how to improve their communities.
Name: Christina Briggs The heart of the Wausau School District preschool program is its strong developmentally-appropriate curriculum delivered by caring, talented teachers specifically trained to teach young children. The experiential instruction prepares children for the opportunities and challenges of kindergarten and beyond. Our Early Childhood Program serves children between the ages of three and five years who exhibit developmental delays. The District's Community Collaboration Program for 4-year-olds provides integrated language, problem solving and decision making, and literacy instruction for four-year-olds throughout our community. Children are able to participate in these programs at the A.C. Kiefer Educational Center, several WSD elementary schools, or at a variety of partner childcare sites across the District. Name: Roxane Hagedorn Site: Wausau School District Site Location: Wausau End of Service Date: 8.21.09 Work Number: 715-261-0584 Email: rhagedor@wausau.k12.wi.us Supervisor: Nancy Cedar Brief Description of the Site The Wausau School District is working hard to increase student achievement and close the achievement gaps of our economically disadvantaged students. Our school improvement plans have a clear, unified focus incorporating the research-based framework of the 6 types of involvement: parenting, volunteering, learning at home, decision making and collaborating with community. Our district has many resources, effective community partnerships, strong after-school programs and a firm commitment to family and community involvement. Families as the first source of learning are one of three key areas of focus for the Wausau School Foundation. We have had VISTA's serving at individual sites, which led to the creation of our Parent Partnership Coordinators, currently at four sites, funded by Title One. Current Projects The VISTA member is creating a district-wide volunteer framework. The project will build capacity for family involvement in not only low-income schools, but all schools at the elementary and middle school level within the district.
Name: Chad Olle and Jen Gaul West Allis-West Milwaukee School District has a student population of approximately 8,000, with over 20% ethnic minority students. The district was recently awarded a federal grant for more than $200,000.00 that is specifically intended to:
For more information, contact Jane Grinde, Project Director Betsy Prueter, VISTA Leader Or dial 800-441-4563, and request the above extensions
Last updated on 9/10/2008 9:17:38 AM |
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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster
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