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Faculty Biographies
Mr. John Bauman
John Bauman earned his B.S.
in Elementary Education from Moorhead State University. His
Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction was earned at the University
of St. Thomas, St. Paul. John taught elementary students in
the towns of Wabasso, MN and Northfield, MN. He is currently working
to complete his .Ed.D. in Educational Leadership through the University
of St. Thomas. John's wife, Pam, teaches instrumental band in
the Duluth school district.
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Dr. Roxanne Bridges
Roxanne graduated from
the University of Minnesota with a B.G.S. degree in Legal Studies.
During her time working as a para-legal with Legal Assistance to Minnesota
Prisoners, Roxanne became interested in education and returned to Bethel
College where she received a K-6 teaching license. She holds a Masters
Degree in Educational Administration from St. Thomas and earned her Doctorate
in Educational Leadership from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Before coming to Saint Scholastica, she taught at The College of Saint Catherine.
Previous to her work in higher education, she served for several years
as a classroom teacher and principal in both urban and rural districts.
Her research interests include technology in education, special education,
alternative programming, gifted studies, girls in Science and Math and
multicultural education.
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Dr. Carol J. Bryant
Carol received her BA, MA and Ph.D. degrees
from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Her professional career
includes elementary and secondary teaching, special curriculum project
development, and administration as well as graduate program instructor,
coordinator and advisor. Her interests include improving teacher training
and facilitating continuous improvement of the professional skills
of educators.
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Ms. Michelle Brenner
Michelle Brenner is currently
the Lead Title I teacher at Churchill Elementary School in Cloquet,
Minnesota. She has taught fourth and fifth grades in Cloquet,
MN, and Missoula, MT. She has a B.A. in communications from the
University of Minnesota-Duluth, a B.S. in elementary education
from the University of Montana, and M.Ed. from the College of
St. Scholastica. Her professional interests include critical thinking
and problem solving, inquiry based learning, technology, differentiated
learning, reading instruction and alternative forms of assessment.
Michelle's husband Tom is a Middle School Principal. They live
in Cloquet with their two sons Maxxton and Mason and daughter Sophia.
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Mr. Scott Fodness
After graduating from
the University of Minnesota , Scott Fodness started teaching at Jefferson
High School in Alexandria. He returned to the U to obtain Special
Ed certification, later receiving a MA in Education from St. Scholastica
. He has enjoyed teaching English, directing plays, and coaching
debate and speech. His primary interests in education are curriculum
design and delivery as well as the philosophical debates/discussions
that go back to Plato and Aristotle.
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Ms. Gail Gaetz
Gail has 15 years of elementary
education teaching experience, 5 years as an elementary classroom
teacher and 10 years as an elementary media generalist. She
received a B.A. in elementary education from Central College
in Pella, Iowa and a M.L.S. from the University of Iowa. Gail is
currently teaching courses in both the elementary education department
and the educational media department. Her educational interests
include: literature-based reading, educational technology, and the
Internet.
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Dr. Thomas Gaetz
Tom graduated from the University
of Minnesota with a degree in Sociology. He worked in retail
and wholesale sales for three years before returning to the University
to earn a degree in Elementary Education. Tom has fifteen years
of teaching experience in grades one through six. He earned
his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Curriculum and Instruction,
with an emphasis in elementary reading. Tom's educational interests
include: writing process, teaching poetry, and teacher research.
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Dr. Amy Garrett Dikkers
Amy
graduated with a B.A. in English from the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro
and went on to receive her teaching licensure and M.Ed. from Wake Forest
University. After
teaching secondary school English in Virginia and
Berlin, Germany,
she attended the University
of Minnesota, receiving a
Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration, Comparative and International
Development Education. Her major areas of interest are diversity in the
classroom, the education of immigrant and minority students, and technology
innovations in schools.
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Mr. Gerald (Jerry) Hansen
Jerry earned his BA and MA from St. Cloud State
University and his MEd from the University of Minnesota. During his 25+ years in public education he
has served as a Science Teacher, Staff Development Trainer, and Principal at
both the Middle and High school levels. When
not working on his passion, the education and success of students, you may find
him climbing, canoeing, bicycling, or hiking with family and friends.
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Ms. Jana Hilleren-Garcia
Jana graduated from the University of Minnesota, Morris, with a degree
in English. After serving in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic,
and Peace Corps Teaching Fellow in Philadelphia, she returned to Minnesota.
she completed the M.Ed. program in Second Languages and Cultures at the University
of Minnesota. She is a licensed K-12 ELL and Spanish teacher. She currently
teaches and coordinates elementary Spanish programs in four west central
districts in Minnesota. The programs are part of a larger integration project.
She lives in Benson with her five-year-old son, Tommy. They enjoy travel,
books, and cooking.
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Ms. Susan Jensen
Susan has 25 years of experience in education and business,
with elementary teaching of grades 1st through 4th and K-5 Gifted Education.
She earned her B.S. in Elementary Education and M. Ed in Curriculum and
Instruction from Iowa State University. After working in the corporate
world as an HR Manager, Susan returned to education at the University
of Minnesota and received her K-12 Administrators License. Susan is an experienced
elementary administrator and has provided educational leadership in Minnesota
and Iowa. She compassionately promotes the educational development of
students and staff. Her professional interests and passions are about creating
school cultures for learning through accountability, interactive learning,
family involvement, and communication.
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Ms. Heidi Johnson
Heidi is an adjunct instructor in the EDM program.
She is also a librarian at The College of St. Scholastica where
she works in reference, bibliographic instruction,
and archives. She graduated from Dominican University with
a Master's in Library and Information Science. Previously,
she taught high school English and German and coached speech for
five years at Mora High School in Mora, MN. She received her B.A.
from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. Heidi likes to learn
about anything and everything, especially technology and the myriad
topics that students bring to her for reference assistance.
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Ms. Meridel Kahl
Meridel received her B.A. (English
Major) at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN, and her M.Ed.
at Shippensburg State University, Shippensburg, PA. She's
taught English and Speech to high school students for 18 years
in Bloomington, MN, Newville, PA, and North Branch, MN. Meridel
has been with St. Scholastica since 1986 and is currently teaching
Secondary Education courses along with Human Relations, Women's
Studies and English courses. Meridel enjoys reading memoirs,
walking, cooking vegetarian meals, gardening, weaving, engaging in
stimulating conversations with friends, and trying to relate to
her cat Isadora.
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Dr. Marie Kelsey
Marie Kelsey graduated from Bemidji
State University with a BA in English and American Humanities,
a BS teaching degree in English and Library Science and an MA in
English. She also has a BA from The College of St. Scholastica
in Health Information Management and is a Registered Health Information
Administrator. She received her Ph.D. and Master's in library science
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was the catalog librarian
at St. Scholastica for 20 years. She also worked in the Madison,
Wisconsin public schools as a school library media generalist while
pursuing her doctorate at UW-Madison. Her educational interests
are intellectual freedom and censorship in school media centers
and the role of the school library media specialist in the Minnesota
graduation standards environment.
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Dr. Lyle Koski
Lyle has 35 years of experience
in the Minnesota Public School System as a teacher, coach
and administrator. He received his Ph.D. from Iowa State
University, Ed.S. and M.A. from the University of St. Thomas
and B.S. from the University of Minnesota Duluth. His professional
interests focus on classroom instruction and staff development/evaluation.
His favorite hobby is any and everything concerning golf.
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Dr. Constance LaCombe
Constance (Connye) LaCombe has
taught every age of student from birth to adult in her 22
years of teaching experience as a day care provider, classroom
teacher, and workshop leader. She has a B.S. and an M.A.
in Mathematics Education from the University of Minnesota,
Mpls. and an Ed.D. in Educational
Leadership from Hamline University in St, Paul. Connye's special
interest is in the application of cognitive psychology to mathematics
education. Her hobbies include gardening, domestic crafts,
reading, and writing.Mr.
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Ms. Beth LaVigne
Beth LaVigne received her bachelor's
degree in Natural Science from The College of St. Benedict.
She completed a teaching certificate at UMD, and an M.Ed. from
St. Scholastica. Beth has taught middle and secondary
level science classes including life, earth, and physical science
for 13 years in the Duluth Schools. Her focus is on increasing
teacher's abilities to use hands-on science activities which
promote critical thinking.
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Ms. Kathleen Lutz
Kathleen (Kay) Lutz has 29 years of elementary education
experience. For 20 years she taught grades 1-5 in El Cajon, CA
and for the next 9 years taught grades 4-6 in Vancouver,
WA. In addition, she also taught at the Clark Community College in
Vancouver for four years. Kay has been a mentor in a state "teacher-helping-teacher"
program and a staff developer in the areas of reading, writing, literature,
math and integrated curriculum. She received her Bachelor's of Science
degree and her Master of Arts degree in education at San Diego State
University. Kay also has a California Life Teaching Credential and
a Washington State Standard Teaching Credential for K-12. Kay teaches
courses in the ECI program, the GTL program, and the undergraduate
program. Kay will be completing her dissertation in 2005.
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Ms. Manuela Martinez
Manuela was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has
over ten years of experience in teaching language and culture. She
has taught at elementary, middle and high school levels in both Buenos
Aires, and the Twin Cities. She is a veteran faculty member at Global
Language Institute, and also directs language and culture programs
for the school. She earned her Master of Arts in Foreign Languages at
the University of St. Thomas. In addition to her interest in foreign
languages and cultures, she is also a film connoisseur.
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Mr. Kevin McGrew
Kevin is the Library Director at the College
of St. Scholastica. He received his B.A. degree from Bethel College
in Arden Hills and his Master of Arts in Library and Information
Studies from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1991. In 1995
he received his Master of Education degree in Educational Media
and Technology from The College of St. Scholastica.. Kevin lives in
the country near Duluth with his wife Paula and two sons where he
enjoys hunting and working around the house. The family has a Spinone
(dog breed) named Otis that Kevin takes on hunting trips in Minnesota
and North Dakota.
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Ms. Catherine Nachbar
Catherine Nachbar graduated from
Cornell College with a B.A. in Secondary Education, Sociology,
and a concentration in American History. She started working
with the Duluth Public School district in 1997 teaching a variety
of social studies courses at Central High School. While
teaching at Central she completed a Master's of Education with a concentration
in technology and completed this program in 2000. Integrating
technology into the classroom became an interest of Catherine’s
while studying at Cornell. She is currently a collaboratory member
working with the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Arrowhead Preparing
Tomorrow’s Teachers to use Technology (APT3). The focus of this
$1.4 million grant is improving technology integration within public
schools. She is also a member of the Minnesota Social Studies Best
Practice Network and is familiar with best practice teaching techniques.
Teaching students to use technology is one of Catherine’s favorite tools
to use in the classroom but she wants to note that technology is merely
a tool, not a replacement for the teacher. And, the learning process
involved with technology continually humbles her.
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Ms. Terry Norton
Terry Norton holds B.F.A. and
a B.A.A. (K-12 education) from the University of Minnesota-Duluth
and an M.S.E. from the University of Wisconsin-Superior. She
is licensed in art and special education (E.B.D.) K-12. Her
experience spans over 20 years of teaching and counseling. Currently,
she is an art teacher at Duluth's Woodland Middle School. She has
received a variety of teaching awards and was named Minnesota's
Art Educator of the Year in 1999. At St. Scholastica she teaches
in both the undergraduate (art methods) and graduate (special education)
programs. She is married to Randy and the mother of three children;
Reid, Taylor, and Ailee.
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Dr. M. Jo Olsen
Jo Olsen is a nationally certified
school psychologist, having worked for over 20 years in Wisconsin
and Minnesota public schools, and is also a Licensed Psychologist
in the state of Minnesota. She has been an assistant professor
in the Department of Education; School Counseling; and School
Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, teaching graduate
courses, supervising school placements and developing a distance
learning supervision model for interns. She has a B. S. in
psychology and sociology, an M.S. in school psychology and an Ed.
D. in educational leadership. Her professional interests include
organizational change, on-line teaching and learning, behavioral
interventions, positive school climate, and play therapy.
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Ms. Rachel Payne
Rachel Payne earned her B.A. in English from the University
of Rochester. She pursued a career in the media industry in Chicago
until she moved with her family to Duluth in 1993. She earned her
Bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Minnesota, Duluth,
and her Master’s degree in education from St. Mary’s University.
She has taught in the Duluth public schools for the past six years.
Her academic interests are technology integration, elementary math methods,
working with at-risk students, and educational reform. She enjoys
reading, gardening, traveling, theatre, and spending time with her husband
Bill, sons Connor and Nate, and her dog Cosmo.
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Dr. Steve Pfingsten
Dr. Pfingsten holds a B.S. in Economics
from Carroll College, a M.S. in Secondary Curriculum and Instruction
from The University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Ph. D. in Secondary
Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Economics
from Marquette University. His teaching experience includes
work with 6th graders as well as high school social studies. Dr.
Pfingsten has taught a variety of courses, including contemporary
education, educational psychology and special education. His interests
include special education, character education, effective teaching,
tutoring, and volunteer experience in the schools.
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Dr. Betty Preus
Dr. Preus has taught students
from age 6 to 60, including high school English, K-8 reading
and special education, a college level special needs course,
and numerous graduate level courses in research methods, organizational
theory, teaching methods, and reflective practice. She is currently
Chair of the Education department. Previously she was at the University
of Minnesota – Twin Cities, as a researcher, administrator and consultant.
Her publications are on disability in higher education, organizational
change, teaching action research, and technology in teacher education.
Dr. Preus has a B.A. in English, M.S. in special education, and an
Ed.D. in educational leadership. Her interests include innovation
in teacher education, organizational change, qualitative research methods,
and professional development of teachers.
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Ms. Margi Preus
Margi Preus is an adjunct instructor in the EDM
program. Besides teaching Educational Resources for Children
in this program, she teaches fiction writing at UMD and has also
taught a variety of other English and theater courses. Her experience
working in the schools includes years of performing and conducting
theater workshops in elementary schools in the Midwest, artist residencies
and author visits. Margi writes plays, short fiction and children’s
books and directs plays. She has a BA in Humanities and an MA in English/Creative
Writing.
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Dr. Sharon Pristash
Sharon H. Pristash is the principal
of St. James Catholic School in Duluth, Minnesota. She has
17 years of teaching experience and 5 years of administrative
experience. Her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education
and English was obtained from The College of St. Scholastica as
well as a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction.
She earned her K-12 administrative licensure and a doctorate degree
in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas in St.
Paul, Minnesota. Sharon recently published her first book, What People
Think Principals Do. She lives in Duluth, MN with her husband of
eighteen years, Robert Pristash. Her hobbies include reading, gardening
and traveling.
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Ms. Rebecca Rennicke
Rebecca currently teaches Physical, Biological,
and Earth sciences grades 9-12. During her 25 years
of teaching, she has also designed and implemented elementary science
programs, taught at the middle level, designed and conducted staff development
for science teachers, and worked with research professionals associated
with her projects. Her educational expertise is in curriculum
design aimed at integration of Inquiry, constructivism and technology
in the science classroom. The Black Bear research project [see
photo] involves linking high school students with authentic
field research professionals. Students learn scientific research
methods first hand as they track collared bears in the field and analyze
data back in the classroom.
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Dr. Dennis Sullivan
Dennis Sullivan spent thirty-four
years working in Minnesota public schools including ten years
as a foreign language teacher, twelve years as a high school
principal, and twelve years as a school business official. He
retired from work in public education in 2001 and now works as
the Director of Facility Services for Kraus-Anderson Construction,
Midwest Division, providing consulting services in school facilities
and general business management to both school districts and private
clients. Dennis holds licenses as a teacher and secondary school
administrator, a B.S. in Spanish and French, an M.A. in foreign language
education, and an Ed.D. in educational leadership from the University
of St. Thomas. His professional interests include school business
management, school facility management, personnel supervision and
management, organizational development, and the use of alternative
theories to examine educational practice.
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Ms. Chery Takkunen
Chery Takkunen received a B.S.
in elementary education from the University of Minnesota-Duluth
and an M.Ed. in elementary science and math education from The
College of St. Scholastica, where she is now a full-time faculty
member, and is currently a doctoral student in the "Leadership in
Education" through St. Mary's Unviersity of Minnesota. She has taught
second grade at Churchill Elementary School in Cloquet, Mn. She was
a department chairperson for Graduation Rule Implementation for her
district and was part of a multidistrict Graduation Rule Evaluation team.
She has also given a workshop on implementing the Inquiry Standard for
the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning. She is very
interested in best practice teaching techniques, technology and curriculum
integration, and alternative assessments. She is also the taxi driver
(and mother) for her three children: Amber, Justin, and Collin.
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Ms. Valerie Tanner
Valerie Tanner began her teaching
career at the Bugonaygeshig School on the Leech Lake Reservation.
She taught there for three years in a self-contained classroom
for children with emotional/behavioral disabilities.
Ms. Tanner then moved to the Cass Lake-Bena Elementary School
in Cass Lake, Minnesota. The Cass Lake-Bena Elementary School
is a public school with an American Indian population of 80%.
In Cass Lake, Ms. Tanner continued to work with children with emotional/behavioral
disabilities. After three more years in special education,
Ms. Tanner moved to regular education and taught in the fifth
grade classroom. In 1997, Ms. Tanner accepted a job with
the Department of Children, Families and Learning-Office of Indian
Education. There, she worked with Indian Education programs
throughout Minnesota. In the fall of 2003, Ms. Tanner began to work
as an assistant professor for the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth,
MN. Ms. Tanner received her B.S. from the University of North
Dakota, her M.S. from the University of Minnesota – Duluth, and is in
the final year of her Doctoral Program, “Educational Leadership”, at
the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Ms. Tanner is an enrolled
member of the Leech Lake Reservation and a mother of an awe-inspiring
eight-year-old daughter.
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Sr. Clare Marie Trettel, O.S.B.
Sr. Clare Marie is a graduate
of The College of St. Scholastica and the University of Minnesota,
Duluth. Her concentrations were in administration and psychological
foundations. She has had a variety of experiences in education
which began with teaching upper elementary students. She served
as a principal for fifteen years and then became superintendent of
schools for the Diocese of Duluth. Her next experience was as elementary
coordinator and teacher at The College of St. Scholastica. After
leaving the College to serve as prioress of the Benedictine Sisters
of Duluth, she has returned as coordinator of the ECI program.
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