My name is Eric Buchanan. I am a Program Manager for the Beloit School District. I taught in the cross categorical and self-contained setting in Beloit for over 20 years. Coaching is a new role for me. We are in the first year of the ES3 grant, and I am excited to learn about the coaching model. I will continue to build my knowledge and practice around coaching to be better able to support my staff in improving outcomes for all of their students.

Eric Weier serves as the Director of Special Education & Student Services for the School District of Beloit. He has over 15 years in education teaching in self-contained settings, co-taught environments, and alternative learning models as well as serving as a Coordinator in Pupil Services prior to taking on the Director role. He has been with the School District of Beloit for one year and is excited to start the ES3 work with the district's core team.

I am Kelly Skifstad, Lead Program Support Coordinator for Special Education with Oshkosh Area School District. I have taught in a self contained middle school setting and elementary cross-cat. We are in year one of the ES3 grant and we have the will in place with our PST coaches and behavior support teachers. We are looking forward to building the skills and showing up with compassion and curiosity for our teachers.

I’m Linda Pierron from Oshkosh Area School District serving as DC in the first year of our ES3 grant. As Director of Special Education, I note how crucial SEL work is to improve outcomes & increase proportionate representation across all student populations. We are excited for this journey!

My name is Kristin Menart and I am a Program Support Teacher and ES3 grant coach for the Sheboygan Area School District. This is my 15th year working in the field of special education and have worked with early childhood through middle school aged students over the years. I love that I am continually learning from the students and staff I work with. I am excited to support the work of our grant teams and see how it impacts our students, classrooms and district practices.

Hi! My name is Julie Weller and I am the Assistant Director of Special Education for the D.C. Everest School District in Weston, WI. Prior to this position, I was a Program Support Teacher for PK-12 for four years and a Learning Disabilities teacher at our Senior High for twelve years. I am very excited to have our district be a member of the ES3 Grant and look forward to the professional learning our teachers and staff will engage in over the next three years.

My name is Nikki Ortloff and I am the K-8 Behavior Support Specialist in the Greendale School District. It is my first year as a participant in the ES3 grant, and I am excited for this opportunity and journey. This is my 24th year in special education. I have been in a special education teacher role for 23 years, and now work in the Behavior Support role, which was a newly created position in our district! Working with students who have behavioral challenges has always been a passion of mine, and so I feel very fortunate to serve in this role. Personally, I have a daughter who attends UW-La Crosse and a son who is a sophomore year in high school.

Rachel C. Ledezma- I’m beginning my second year working as the Director of Pupil Service in Greendale. In this role, I am responsible for the coordination and delivery of special education, related services, and pupil services (school psychology, social work, and counseling). I also oversee services provided to students and families that meet eligibility under Section 504, McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, English Language Learner, and Gifted & Talented programming. I have also worked in the Sheboygan Area School District where I served as the Coordinator of Special Education and as a program coordinator and special education teacher in other Southeastern Wisconsin districts. I’m a proud mother of a 14 year old son and a wife.

Hello, my name is Terry McCoy, and I currently serve as the Assistant Director of Special Education for CESA 5. Before beginning at CESA 5 four years ago, I was a Cross-categorical teacher for twenty-two years and a Program Support teacher for two more. One of my roles at CESA 5 is Supervisor of Alternative Education, in which we have 7 programs and 5 sites throughout the region. This has allowed our team to interact with 35+ school districts both in and outside of CESA 5. The skills we are learning will not only build the capacity of our Alternative Education teams, but they will also benefit students, teachers and administrators throughout the state.

Hello! My name is Amanda Betcher. I currently work for CESA 5 as an In-District Director of Special Education in Pardeeville, and as a Coordinator for CESA 5 Alternative Education Programs (JCAP, COMAN/ REACH, SCAN). For the past 12 years, I have worked with Special Education students in one capacity or another. Much of this time was spent in elementary EBD or Behavior Intervention positions, before moving into a leadership role with CESA 5. This is my first year with the ES3 grant and I look forward to finding ways to support the districts we work with to meet the needs of all learners.

Hi all! I’m Leah Werch and I work for CESA 5 as a Coordinator of Alternative Education Programs (WCAP, WCAP-E, WCAS), a Coordinator of Classrooms for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (Rio, Fall River), and as an In-District Special Education Director for Rio. I have worked in a variety of educational institutes and special education positions. I have had experiences working with students of all ages from varied backgrounds, skill sets, and needs This is my first year participating in the ES3 grant and I am looking forward to finding ways we can better support our students, families, staff, and district stakeholders.

Hello, my name is Amy Wachewicz and I proudly serve as the Seymour Community School District’s Pupil Services Director. I began my educational journey 20 years ago as a school psychologist and have been a Director for the past 14 years. This is our first year working with the ES3 team and we are very excited about the potential it provides! Our staff, and most importantly, our students will benefit from the possibilities stemming from the receipt of this grant.

I am Jackie Hill, Program Support Teacher (PST) for Seymour Community School District and will be serving as one of the Internal Coaches for the ES3 grant. Prior to being a PST I was an elementary cross categorical special education teacher for 10 years. We are currently in year one of our ES3 grant and I am excited to continue to build my coaching skills and support teachers and students. I am a strong advocate of inclusive practices and I look forward to building our teachers’ capacities to provide optimal learning environments to meet students’ academic, behavioral, and social emotional needs.

Hello :) My name is Jen Siudzinski, Student Success Facilitator and first year ES3 grant coach for Seymour Community School District. In my 25 years of educational service, I have been a school counselor, at-risk program coordinator, and a cross-categorical and EBD special education teacher. I have taught K-12 students in both public school and mental health/juvenile corrections settings. I am a passionate advocate for student wellness and comprehensive programs that support the whole child with regard to academic, social/emotional and career success. I look forward to continuing to build my knowledge and practice around coaching while supporting my colleagues in our efforts to enhance our systems relative to social-emotional learning.

Hello, my name is Christine Cody, proud Director of Student Services in Franklin Public Schools. Prior to serving as Director, I enjoyed leading and advocating for equitable learning experiences for all students alongside staff as an elementary principal, middle school associate principal and middle school teacher. The ES3 grant experience supported our District Coherence Plan as we put our values of equity, stewardship and wellbeing into action. Our ES3 teams have shifted their beliefs, applied evidence-based practices and developed systems that built our collective efficacy in order to sustain our commitment to closing the gaps and creating authentic belonging for all students in our school community.

Jodi Guenther serves as the Middle School School Social Worker. She has been with the Shawano School district for the past 23 years and has had the opportunity to work at Pk-4 through 12th grade. Throughout her years, Jodi has served as Internal Coaches for PBIS, SEL, Autism Behavioral Consultation Team, and Mental Health. Prior to working with the Shawano School District, she was a county social worker for 7 years working with children, families, juvenile justice, and providing intense wrap around supports for all. This is Jodi’s 3rd year with the ES 3 Grant. My greatest joy has been to work with students and families and to coach staff on social and emotional learning. It has been a wonderful three years supporting staff as they implement the strategies and methods that ES 3 grant has provided!