Page 18 - TTWIFallWinter2024

Leadership
Page 18 Electronic Edition: www.teachingtodaywi.com

Recent uWM alum Wins State Outstanding Student Teacher award

calaureate high school.) learning. “i loved hearing them chat with each lives.”
25 languages other in their home languages.” Finding a balance
Pulaski has a “it was great learning about a bunch of With the help of her cooperating teacher,
diverse student body, different cultures,” she added, “and having stu- Rudd said, she worked on figuring out what
with students coming dents integrate their own selves into what we kind of teacher she wanted to be – finding the
from more than 20 were learning and talking about.” balance between creating a classroom that was
countries, collectively Focused on student expression warm, welcoming and supportive, but with high
speaking 25 different Students kept arts-integrated journals of expectations.
languages. their work through a grant her cooperating She chose uWM after growing up in Wau-
Teaching creative teacher had. The two teachers gave the students conda, illinois. Her dad is a uWM graduate,
writing to students who prompts, which they could respond to and inte- and her mom played on the soccer team before
came in knowing little grate into their journals. using art supplies and transferring to uW-Whitewater.
or no English was chal- writing responses to the prompts let them share “uWM was a great support system for me,
lenging, Rudd said, but their own culture and experiences – some of and i had multiple professors i truly treasure and
her cooperating teacher them traumatic – in those journals. “It was very am so grateful for.”
and the supportive staff much focused on student expression, which i Her student teaching confirmed her career
helped her meet those really loved,” Rudd said. choice, Rudd said.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee challenges. “My coop- As an avid reader herself, Rudd said she “The rewarding part was doing what i was
Jenny Rudd didn’t have to look far for an erating teacher (Bridget Spoerri) really pushed loves helping students discover and analyze lit- meant to be doing. My whole academic career
inspiration to go into teaching. me to be independent, and the students were so erature and discover their own voices. “it can beforehand was always focused on being a
“My mom is a teacher. I’ve been influ- fun.” be hard for high schoolers because at that point, teacher. So, it was really great when i started
enced by her growing up, and have been lucky “We basically navigated the language they either absolutely love it or hate it. Some- doing it, it was like ‘yes,’ i can’t see myself
in knowing I wanted to teach my whole life.” issues by having the students write in their times the hardest challenge is just to get them to doing anything else.”
The Wisconsin Council of Teachers of native language, then work with us on transla- buy in. Writing can be such an amazing escape Rudd joins a long list of uWM English
English chose uWM alumna Rudd for the 2024 tion.” The teachers also allowed extra time for and such a great way to express yourself and get Education graduates who have received the
Outstanding Student Teacher Award. Rudd, who students who weren’t native speakers, the oppor- whatever message you want out there.” award over the last few years.
graduated from the School of Education in May, tunity to use a Spanish-English dictionary if She was glad some of the students were “Someone has earned this award from
will be honored at the council’s annual conven- Spanish was their first language, and offered the comfortable talking to her outside of class about uWM for the past seven years and intermit-
tion in October. option of using Google translate. “We did have the issues they were dealing with. “High school tently in the previous decade,” said Kristine
Rudd completed her student teaching at a very diverse group, so there were a number can be very complicated for students,” she said. Lize, director of the English Education program,
Casimir Pulaski High School in Milwaukee, of languages my students could speak, which is “it’s always rewarding to make a connection who nominated Rudd.
where she then accepted a full-time position. amazing,” Rudd said. “I just loved that.” with a student, and they’d come in to talk to me
She taught creative writing and a Diploma Pro- With the help of other bilingual teachers, about something outside of class, whether it was
gramme (DP) course on theory of knowledge to she said, she was able to use the students’ native sports-related or job-related or whatever. i felt schools.milwaukee.k12.
juniors and seniors. (The DP course is part of languages to help them develop their English i’d really accomplished something whenever wi.us/pulaski
Pulaski’s curriculum as an international Bac- writing skills and become enthusiastic about students felt comfortable telling me about their

Tammy Van Ess, Jackson Elementary, Green Bay area Public Schools is

Wisconsin’s School Counselor of the Year 2025

counseling profession through leadership, sional Standards and
advocacy, and collaboration. Competencies guide
Tammy’s nominators shared how Tammy school counselors in
uses data to determine how to support students best practice. As one
in her school. One of Tammy’s nominators of her nominators says
noted that Tammy saw an increase in behav- “Tammy embodies the
ior referrals for the kindergartners and worked ASCA School Counselor
with her principal to add more classroom Professional Standards
lessons to support learning as well as individ- and Competencies in
ual and small group support. With the addition her daily practices and
of these skill-building opportunities, “The is a strong advocate for
school saw over a 75% decrease in student growth of comprehen-
behaviors for kindergarteners.” sive school counseling
Tammy’s nominators also stated: “it is programming within her
through her own commitment to creatively building and our district
meet her families’ needs by offering evening as a whole.”
Jackson Elementary School Counselor events or innovative learning experiences for The School Counselor of the Year will Courtesy of the Wisconsin School Counselor
Tammy Van Ess was awarded the 2025 Wis- students, as well as her partnerships with local be recognized in November during WSCA’s Association
consin School Counselor of the Year at a stakeholders such as Do Good Wisconsin and Annual Conference. Tammy Van Ess will go
surprise school assembly on October 15, 2024. Rooted in, that have produced a trajectory for on to represent Wisconsin in the 2026 National
This award recognizes a school counselor families at Jackson Elementary School to feel School Counselor of the Year process. Tammy
who devotes their career to serving as an advo- connected to school staff and see the school as will represent our state during the American www.gbaps.org
cate for Wisconsin students, addressing their another resource for support.” School Counselor of the Year celebration in
academic, social-emotional, and career devel- The ASCA School Counselor Profes- February of 2026.
opment. This individual influences the school