Middle School U - Part of the Wisconsin Youth Company

Alexander Britzius has been reaching toward mystery, fun, and the larger questions in life through time outdoors his whole life. Classes in survival, tracking, and nature observation at Tom Brown’s Tracker School opened up a whole new level of exploration of these things for Alexander. He has a Bachelor’s degree in 3D Art, a minor in Environmental Education/ Interpretation from UW-Stevens Point and is currently in the AmeriCorps program stationed at the MacKenzie Environmental Education Center. Last year Alexander completed a weeklong teacher training with the Children of the Earth Foundation for sharing survival skills with children; more recently Alexander completed Wilderness First Responder training.
American Red Cross - Badger Chapter serves Adams, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Grant, Iowa, Juneau, Lafayette, Richland and Sauk counties. American Red Cross instructors teaching the Babysitter Training are certified through the American Red Cross and are enthusiastic, experienced educators.
Marilaine Blair-Patrick works in the food service department of Edgewood High School. She is certified by the state of Wisconsin in food service sanitation and has completed Wilton cake decorating courses. She makes party cakes and wedding cakes as gifts of love for family and friends. While her three children were growing up, she worked and volunteered with middle school age students through Boy Scouts and at Blessed Sacrament School. Marlene enjoys quilting and is an avid reader.
Boulders Climbing Gym has over 8,000 square feet of sculptured climbing walls with some of the most varied and creative angles. Programs focus on teaching belay techniques, safety practices in climbing, climbing technique development, and possibly lead climbing. Instructors have a strong background in outdoor climbing and have taught belay skills and climbing techniques as part of Boulder’s weekly course programs. All instructors have American Red Cross First Aid certification and CPR training.
Joann Carpenter owned and operated her own candle making business. She brings a great deal of experience and creativity to a variety of artistic endeavors. She has worked with young people for many years and will serve as the director of Middle School U in Waunakee this summer. Last summer she was a day camp specialist with AFTER SCHOOL and during the school year she serves as a substitute teacher in several school districts.
Children's Theatre of Madison presents high-quality, affordable family theater productions and educational programs accessible to all members of the community. Year-round classes offer training by professional theater artists in acting, musical theater, improvisation and stage combat. The prestigious Summer Drama School nurtures young talents in three-week sessions culminating in full productions, and one-week sessions designed to introduce young performers to theater arts. Visit http://ctmtheater.org for a schedule of performances and to register for classes.
Karen Clark is a stay-at-home-mom who has always had her hands in craft projects. Seven years ago she started making her own greeting cards and creating scrapbook pages to preserve her family memories. She enjoys helping others tap into their personal creativity, so she has been teaching paper crafting classes from her home for the past six years.
Patrick Garvey has many diverse talents and so has served and led Wisconsin Youth Company programs and participants in many different ways. He has led biking units and courses for many summers as our biking unit director and instructor. He has been an AFTER SCHOOL day camp specialist. He has led Wander Wisconsin trips. He has education and experience related to theatre and led our Video Production Immersion Camp along with WYOU last summer. During the school year he is a substitute teacher in grades K-12.
Stephanie Golightly Lowden has published two books: Emily's Sadhappy Season published by the Centering Corporation, a grief resource publisher, and Time of the Eagle, a historical fiction novel published by Blue Horse Books. Time of the Eagle takes place 200 years ago among the Ojibwe Indians; it was a finalist for the Book of the Year Award in the Juvenile Fiction category. This is a national contest for independent-press books sponsored by Fore Word magazine. "Eagle" also won Honorable Mention in the Arthur Tofte Juvenile Fiction category of annual contest sponsored by the Council for Wisconsin Writers. Stephanie also visits schools and shares her knowledge of writing with students. She is also a docent at the Wisconsin Historical Museum and a substitute teacher in the Madison School District. Find out more about Stephanie at www.stephanielowden.com.
Michael Graveen is the Summer Director of Middle School U where he has worked for the past 5 summers as both a youth leader and an instructor. During the school year he is the Site Supervisor at the Leopold AFTER SCHOOL site, finishing his fifth year there. He is an experienced teacher of woodworking with Wisconsin Youth Company and enjoys sharing this hobby with the students. He attended UW-Madison, studying in Secondary Education - Math.
Casey Hopp is a UW Madison graduate in elementary education and has been employed by the Madison Metropolitan School District since 2004. He has been involved with the Middle School U program since 2003, including three years as an Assistant Director. Additionally, he enjoys athletics and the outdoors and has been a boys’ cross country and track coach at Madison Memorial High School for the past seven years. He looks forward to another fun and educational summer.
Rose Johnson-Brown has supervised youth in after school programming for 2 years in Madison in computer club, cooking, homework club, arts & crafts, and recreation. Rose is a professional photographer and a freelance photo journalist who has been published in local newspapers and magazines. She has led the Photojournalism Club for the middle school youth BOOST program. Rose is a youth-friendly music Disc Jockey for Middle School socials. Rose enjoys swimming, traveling, drawing, piano, bass guitar and is learning the flute. She has completed photography coursework at UW-Memorial Union, MATC and the New York Institute of Photography. Rose says, “I first picked up a camera in the 3rd grade. Now, I help students see our community through the eye of the lens by taking pictures of activities, events, points of interest which affect how we live, play, share, learn and grow in our communities and how we can affect others through the photos we take. I look at photography as a way to build community.”
Jessica Jones is a graduate of Edgewood College with a B.A. in Art History and Art. She is currently receiving her K-12 Art Education Certification. Last fall she worked with the AFTER SCHOOL Art Explorers enrichment class at Olson Elementary. This is her second summer as an art instructor for Middle School U. Jessica is very excited to continue to teach and eager to make it a fun art filled experience for all students!
Eric Koppa holds a degree in Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University. A 10 - year Chicago, IL resident, and recent Madison transplant, he is an active professional musician and recording artist. He has performed jazz music all over the US and Europe. A full biography may be found at www.erickoppa.com. In Madison, he plays weekly with legendary Soul-Drummer Clyde Stubblefield.
Jonathan Kramka is returning for his second summer of teaching painting and drawing courses at Middle School U. The majority of Jonathan’s work with youth is with sixth, seventh and eight graders. Jonathan has a degree in fine arts from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Pam Lawless has been with the Wisconsin Youth Company for many years as a site supervisor and camp director. Pam has always enjoyed middle school age students and is looking forward to teaching a few courses this summer.
Madison Police Department: Officer Chanda Dolsen is excited to take part in educating the public on evolving technology and how it affects our youth. Officer Kelly Beckett is interested in social networking sites, how they perpetuate risky behaviors, and how community education might mitigate some of these potentially criminal and dangerous acts. Officer Julia Helbach worked in the computer field and she has continued to stay in touch with current trends. June Groehler is a Sergeant in the East District for the Madison Police Department. She has a background in technology, training in data and email recovery, and also serves as computer Instructor for Wisconsin Area Technical Colleges.
Madison Riding Academy at La Fleur Stables is a full service five-star riding and training facility that specializes in American Saddle-bred horses. They offer world-class horse training, professional Saddle Seat riding instruction, horse camps, and much more. They pride themselves on providing their customers with enjoyable equestrian experiences from the first ride to competing at the World Championship Horse Show.
Joe Monarski is a certified teacher in the Stoughton School District and coach of the Stoughton Community Fencing Club. In addition, he works as a tutor at Sylvan Learning in Madison. Since the 1980s, Joe has spent his summers in youth programs including Middle School U sharing his interests in topics like fencing, board games and archeology.
Liz Parker is a certified personal trainer and track coach at Madison Memorial High School. She has been an AFTER SCHOOL site supervisor and day camp director and has worked with youth for seventeen years.
Will O'Connell grew up attending AFTER SCHOOL summer day camps and Middle School U and loved nothing more than playing football and other team sports. And now, he has returned to Middle School U to pass on all that he has learned and enjoyed growing up. He has taught golf, net sports, basketball and other active sports courses in the past and is looking forward to another fun, active summer with the MSU students.
Wayne “the Wizard” Peterson has been interested in magic since the age of 10. He has entertained professionally for over 35 years at restaurants, birthday parties and county fairs. Wayne has been teaching magic since the nineties and really enjoys sharing his skills. He belongs to the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Society of American Magicians, Houdini Club of Wisconsin and The Wizard’s Club of Chicago. You can find out more about Wayne the Wizard by checking his website at: www.waynethewizard.com
Rutabaga Outdoor Programs At Rutabaga Outdoor Programs it’s their passion to stir up your passion: to excite you about paddling. It doesn't matter if it’s on a local pond or stream, or in some tropical lagoon thousands of miles from Wisconsin. Rutabaga’s certified instructors are here to open doors to new adventures and to enrich the value of your experiences. They hope to help you create new possibilities for yourself and your exploration of the world. They look forward to another season of teaching, learning and paddling together as you discover the magic that exists out on the water.
Terry Schultz has been teaching extra-curricular K-5 Spanish for the past 14 years, and has been with the AFTER SCHOOL World Language Program for the past 8 years. She also volunteers as an English tutor for an adult language learner. She recently took her long-time love of making her own greeting cards and scrap booking and became an in-home demonstrator.
Studio One Dance Studio was founded in 1991 by Joan Lundey. Joan has over 25 years of experience teaching dance and choreography and has worked with some of today’s top dance professionals. The mission of her school is to provide a truly positive family learning dance environment for today’s youth. Joan has a very select group of quality instructors who teach with her. They participate in semi-regional and national competitions and have received recognition throughout the Midwest. Many of her students have received national scholarships and have pursued careers in dance.
Sarah Tarpey has an Associate Degree in Culinary Arts and has taught culinary skills to middle school and high school students. She has done cooking, baking and catering at French and Italian restaurants. Sarah is currently a program specialist at AFTER SCHOOL and is pursuing a degree in business management. She plans on one day teaching culinary classes at the high school level.
Alan Tilove, "Mr. Tricks" has been a professional juggler and performer for nearly 25 years. He has been a physical education teacher, gymnastics instructor and recreation specialist and has taught Middle School U courses in the past.
Tony Travis is a coordinator of the Wisconsin Youth & Family Center’s Teen Drop-In Program. Tony was introduced to hip hop at a young age and since then has been on a quest to become an M.C. Tony moved out of the Chicago gang lifestyle to Madison in search of a fresh start and the pursuit of more positive life goals. At the age of fifteen Tony had several freestyle “battles” under his belt and decided to start his own company, H.U.G.E Family Entertainment. He was blessed to have the opportunity to be opening for acts like Bubba Sparxx, Method Man, Funk Master, Flexx and others. With Tony’s life experience and knowledge of becoming a hip hop artist he has developed into a very respectable artist and teacher.
Maria Undraitis was born in Russia and has lived in the U.S. for nine years. She earned her Bachelor in Education degree in Russia and taught English as a second language in elementary and middle school grades. Maria has worked with AFTER SCHOOL as a site supervisor at Thoreau and an assistant director at summer camps for five years. Maria enjoys cooking and trying new recipes. She encourages her students to value whole and healthy foods as well as cooking from scratch. Maria likes to share little kitchen secrets and recipes from Eastern European cuisine that she learned from her mother and grandmother. Maria is fascinated with handmade art and crafts and often challenges herself and her students with projects. She believes it is important to expose students to new experiences providing them opportunities to discover their talents and experience the feeling of accomplishment after learning new skills.
University of Wisconsin Science Alliance helps science outreach programs at UW-Madison to synergize their work and to make it easier for the public to find and use the people, facilities and other scientific resources on campus. UW Visitor & Information Programs (VIP) serves as the central access point for visitors, students, faculty and staff for answering questions, locating information and navigating UW–Madison and the surrounding community.
The Vinery is a teaching stained glass studio. They offer classes in stained glass, glass mosaics, glass fusing, beadmaking, lameworking and art silver clay. Over the last 25 years, the Vinery has taught thousands of students in all these areas. In each of these areas they have many samples to inspire and help with design ideas. They are committed to students learning and having fun!
Wander Wisconsin is a division of Wisconsin Youth Company. Wander Wisconsin has been leading unique adventures and camping experiences for youth since 1989. In addition to our popular open enrollment trips, we have led trips for after school programs, youth groups, recreation departments, resident camps, day camps and other organizations serving youth. American Camp Association accreditation marks their commitment to safety and quality.
WYOU, Community Television Cable Channel 4 has a fully functional studio and control room that includes professional sound and video equipment. Every week, in addition to audio and video mixing, multiple productions utilize animation, chroma-keying, and soundtrack music. The WYOU staff has been teaching youth about television for years, from grade schoolers to college grads.

Course Providers - 2010