Justice Teaching Institute to host record number of teachers

Madison, Wisconsin - February 20, 2006

A record 34 middle school and high school teachers from 20 Wisconsin counties have been selected to participate in the seventh annual Justice Teaching Institute, “From the Courtroom to the Classroom,” to be held Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 23-25, in Madison (see below for list of participants). In 2005, 22 teachers participated in the program. A total of 140 Wisconsin teachers have graduated from the Institute since it began in 2000.

The intensive, three-day workshop gives educators a variety of new tools for teaching about the courts and the justice system in a way that is relevant and interesting. The teachers will learn about the work of the circuit courts by participating in a sentencing exercise that is based upon an actual case, and will learn about the appellate courts by participating in a moot court – also based upon a real case – that will take place in the Supreme Court Hearing Room.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson and Justice N. Patrick Crooks will teach at the Institute, as will UW Law School Professor Walter Dickey. All seven Supreme Court justices will welcome the teachers to Madison at a Thursday evening reception.

Additional faculty includes UW Professor Diana Hess, who regularly teaches at a similar institute at the U.S. Supreme Court; Attorney Lee Arbetman, a national expert on civic education from Washington, D.C. and director of U.S. programs for Street Law, Inc., a group whose textbooks are used in many Wisconsin schools; Supreme Court Commissioner Julie A. Rich; Assistant Attorney General Tom Balistreri; Assistant Appellate State Public Defenders Ellen Henak and Randall Paulson; La Crosse County District Attorney Scott Horne; Assistant State Public Defender Eric Schulenberg; Stacy Forster, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter who covers the state Capitol; Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Joseph M. Troy; Wausau Municipal Court Judge Philip J. Freeburg; Milwaukee Municipal Court Judge James A. Gramling Jr.; Retired Green Bay Teacher Collette Kolstad (an Institute graduate) and Supreme Court/State Bar staff.

The Institute is a joint effort of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Law-Related Education Committee, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the UW Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the Wisconsin Law Foundation, and the Wisconsin Municipal Judges Association.

2006 Justice Teaching Institute Participants

Bayfield County:
Mr. John H. Tribys - South Shore High School

Brown County:
Mr. Benjamin Brazeau - Notre Dame De La Baie Academy
Ms. Amy Chase-Kuchta - Green Bay Southwest High School
Ms. Jennifer Koss - Pulaski High School

Buffalo County:
Ms. Andrea Hasslinger - Cochrane-Fountain City High School

Dane County:
Ms. Carolyn Bohman - Madison West High School
Mr. Lyman Elliot - Sun Prairie High School
Ms. Janice Mertes - Sun Prairie High School
Ms. Beth Ratway - Department of Public Instruction
Ms. Melani Winter - Graduate Student

Door County:
Ms. Leila Nehlsen - Washington Island High School

Eau Claire County:
Mr. Patrick McGinnis - Memorial Senior High School

Fond du Lac County:
Mr. William Yedinak - Waupun High School
Mr. Jeremy Thiesfeldt - Winnebago Lutheran Academy High School

Jefferson County:
Ms. Jennifer Helstad - Johnson Creek High School
Ms. Stephanie Stoeger - Watertown High School

Lincoln County:
Mr. Brad Potter - Merrill High School

Manitowoc County:
Mr. Larry Feest - Two Rivers High School
Mr. Bo Perkins - Two Rivers High School

Milwaukee County:
Mr. Keith Baxter - Truth Institute Leadership and Service
Mr. Matthew Byers - Pius XI High School
Mr. Frederick J. Cibik - Brown Deer High School
Mr. Christopher Lazarski - Wauwatosa West High School
Ms. Erica Stukel - Brown Deer High School
Mr. Paul Vincent - Vincent High School

Outagamie County:
Mr. Mark W. Schoenbohm - Appleton North High School

Pepin County:
Mr. Kris Risch - Pepin High School

Rusk County:
Ms. Carol Redwine - Ladysmith High School

Walworth County:
Ms. Patricia Oberle - East Troy High School
Mr. Jack Clement - East Troy High School

Washington County:
Mr. Richard Arendt - Germantown High School

Waukesha County:
Mr. Daniel Loberg - Mukwonago High School

Waushara County:
Mr. Peter Dassow - Tri-County High School

Winnebago County:
Mr. Jonathan J. Peterson - Oshkosh West High School
Mr. Dean Verstegen - St. Mary Central High School

Wood County:
Ms. Adrienne R. Feirer - Lincoln High School

For more information contact:
Amanda Todd
Court Information Officer
(608) 264-6256

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