Presenter Information

Jenny Jacobs

Jenny is one of three Technical Assistance Specialists with the Transition Improvement Grant (TIG) and she is the statewide Indicator 14 Coordinator. She holds a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership  and is in her thirteenth year with the Wisconsin Transition Improvement Grant (TIG). She has held multiple positions through CESA #7 including cross-categorical 9-12 special education teacher, Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Trainer, and county transition coordinator.  She has previous experience working with adults with disabilities as a community employment services program manager, case manager, and job coach.   

Katie Berg

Katie has been supporting students for more than 20 years. In the private sector, public education, and statewide through an IDEA Discretionary Grant her experiences include providing one on one therapy, classroom teaching, administration, resource brokering, consulting, coaching, along with district and statewide training. Katie has experience working with unique neurodiverse learners focusing on the social and emotional skills that help students and educators support behaviors that are challenging to adults.

Tim Markle

Tim has been in his role as the Senior Outreach Specialist at the Waisman Center for over 16 years, will discuss the Waisman Center and its various programs. Come learn about the history, mission, and make-up of the Waisman Center. We will highlight programs that are being funded in collaboration with the Department of Health Services and we will mention other partners serving families with children and youth with special health care needs.

Susan Piazza

Susan Piazza is the Director of Wisconsin Educational Services Programs at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), where she brings over 30 years of experience in education and educational leadership. In her current role, she oversees statewide programs that support educators and service providers working with students who are deaf and hard of hearing, deafblind, and blind and visually impaired.

She joined DPI in 2014 as an Education Consultant on the Title I and School Support Team, shortly thereafter advancing to Assistant Director with oversight of multiple federal programs. She later served for six years as Director of the Student Services, Prevention and Wellness Team, leading statewide initiatives in pupil services, school safety and mental health, physical and health education, substance abuse prevention, out-of-school time programming, and related grant administration.

Prior to her state-level leadership, Susan served in Wisconsin public schools in a range of roles including special education teacher, principal, and director of special education and pupil services. She holds a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Cardinal Stritch University and a bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, along with multiple administrative and teaching licenses. In 2016, she completed the University of Wisconsin Certified Public Manager Program.

Wyatte Hall

Dr. Wyatte Hall is an assistant professor of public health sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He directs the Visual Language Access and Acquisition Lab which studies the relationship between childhood language experiences and adult outcomes in deaf populations with a particular focus on the social and public health epidemic of language deprivation. He also co-directs the Future Deaf Scientists program, a STEM program for deaf high school students. Under the Deaf Child Resilience Center at Gallaudet University, he directs the language deprivation track. Dr. Hall has over 30 publications and book chapters, and is co-editor of the volume “Language Deprivation and Deaf Mental Health.”

Cindy Camp

Cindy Camp is the Training Coordinator with The Described and Captioned Media Program.  She holds a Master’s degree in English, is a nationally certified interpreter, certified in mental health interpreting, and a C-Print captioninst and trainer.  She has provided access services for students with disabilities for over 30 years. 

Kristine Parker

Kristine Parker is a certified Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing with over 32 years of experience across a range of educational settings.  She has worked in both itinerant and resource roles, and has developed a flexible, student-centered approach tailored to the diverse learning needs of students who are deaf and hard of hearing of all ages.

Kristine currently works in the Kenosha Unified School District, where she continues to advocate for and empower deaf and hard of hearing students.  Currently specializing in early literacy, she utilizes “Fingerspelling Our Way to Reading” to help K-2 students develop phonological awareness and increase decoding skills.  She is passionate to empower young learners to see themselves as readers.  “Fingerspelling Our Way to Reading” provides evidence-based strategies that turn fingerspelling into a pathway for independent reading. She believes the program is an engaging and effective method for enhancing and advancing a student’s literacy and language skills.

Milmaglyn Morales

Milmaglyn Morales is a leader in Deaf education with more than 20 years of experience focused on early language access and bilingual-bicultural education. She serves as Center Director of the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, a master’s degree in Special Education, and a Sixth-Year Certificate in Educational Leadership. Her career spans roles as an early childhood teacher, K–12 educator, early interventionist, and school leader, including serving as Principal of the Early Childhood Center at the Learning Center for the Deaf – Marie Philip School.

Milmaglyn is a certified Deaf interpreter and a dedicated advocate for early language access and equity for Deaf children and families.

Kristin Di Perri

Dr. Di Perri has dedicated over 40 years to advancing Deaf Education, championing language access and literacy development for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Her work focuses on creating visually based literacy strategies grounded in universal cognitive principles, designed specifically for children who do not have access to spoken language. As a respected consultant for DHH schools and programs nationwide and abroad, Dr. Di Perri is the author of influential resources, including the Bedrock Literacy Curriculum and the Picture This workbook series, as well as the co-author of the Bilingual Grammar Curriculum with Dr. Todd Czubek. Dr. Di Perri’s work has been essential for language-deprived students, providing clear, visually based foundational skills that support literacy and language development. Her strategies empower educators with tools to bridge communication gaps, laying a solid groundwork for academic and cognitive growth in students who may otherwise lack access to the general education curriculum.

Abby Bogatz

Abby is a bilingual (English/Spanish) speech-language pathologist at Boys Town National Research Hospital. She studied Spanish & Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and obtained her Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a Bilingual/Multicultural Emphasis from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. In 2021, Abby completed the online Bilingual Extension Institute from Columbia University for bilingual SLPs. For the past 10 years, Abby has provided evaluations and treatment for children who are DH/H on a variety of SLP roles including preschool IEP services, in-home 0-3 early intervention, outpatient therapy, and research. She collaborates daily with a variety of professionals including audiologists, ToDH/Hs, SPED teachers, service coordinators, and counselors for children who are DHH to provide comprehensive care for this population. Abby is especially passionate about helping professionals and families encourage bilingual language development in children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Tania Hanford

Tania Hanford, MS LPC is a Program and Policy Analysts with the State of Wisconsin – Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). She has worked with DVR for 15 years in multiple roles including Advanced Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and PROMISE Grant Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. Tania has specialty training in multiple areas of rehabilitation including working with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing population, working with assistive technology and employment/post-secondary education.

Emily Fitterer

Emily is the founder of ASL Oasis, LLC., a company dedicated to serving school-age DHH youth and their families. She is currently in the process of establishing Oasis Together, a non-profit that shares similar values and aims at creating accessible, welcoming spaces for DHH youth. She worked as an educational interpreter for 8 years. Due to progressive hearing loss, she has switched to the teaching profession. Currently, she works at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf as a special education teacher. 

Todd Thieu

Prior to setting on his path to becoming a sign language interpreter, Todd studied physics at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Realizing that he did not want to perform research in a laboratory for the rest of his life, he made the switch into a program that would result in a more dynamic and people-oriented career. Todd graduated from RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) with a Bachelor of Science in ASL-English Interpretation in February 2013 and has been interpreting professionally since. 

In 2016, Todd joined the College of Science & College of Health Sciences and Technology Interpreting Team at RIT/NTID, where he specializes in interpreting chemistry and biomedical sciences. He completed his Master of Science in Health Care Interpretation at RIT in Spring 2022. For his capstone research he conducted a study on grit, resilience, and the experiences of interpreters in the U.S. who identify as someone from African, Latine, Asian, Arab, and/or Native American (ALAANA) descent and recommends ways in which interpreting training programs and mentors can support up-and-coming ALAANA interpreters.

In his current role, Todd coordinates training development for the NTID Regional STEM Center (NRSC) Interpreting Team. He is grateful for the opportunity to share his passion for reflective practice and STEM interpreting with his peers from all over the country.

Cheryl Reminder

Cheryl has been interpreting professionally since 1995. She completed an Associate of Applied Science in 1994 and a Bachelor of Science in 2016, both in ASL-English Interpretation at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). In addition, Cheryl earned a Master of Science in Professional Studies in 2025.  Cheryl received her Certificate of Interpretation (CI) from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf in 1998.

Cheryl has worked at RIT her entire professional career, specializing in STEM, Public Safety and crisis, Student Conduct, Residential Life, and various other high-visibility and/or high-impact scenarios. In addition to her role as an interpreter, Cheryl was also the academic coordinator for two of nine colleges at RIT, managing all interpreting requests within the College of Science & the College of Health Sciences and Technology. 

In her current role, Cheryl coordinates outreach and facilitates peer mentoring initiatives for the NTID Regional STEM Center (NRSC) Interpreting Team. This role allows her to collaborate with and mentor interpreters nationwide, and to share her love of STEM with them.

Bonnie Eldred

Bonnie brings a variety of experiences to her role as Mentor Program Consultant with WESP-DHH Outreach. As a mother of Deaf children, she has personal experience to share with and support families and districts. In her role as Mentor Program Consultant, Bonnie aims to build connections between families and districts with children who are deaf/hard of hearing/deaf-blind and the Deaf Community. In addition, Bonnie is responsible for the recruitment and training of Deaf Mentors and Parent Mentors (programs run by WESP-DHH Outreach). She interfaces and collaborates with a variety of organizations, school districts, and families across the state of Wisconsin. 

Julie Russotto

Julie Russotto is an educator with over 20 years of experience in Deaf Education. Currently, Julie is a Lecturer and Coordinator of Clinical Experience at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID), where she bridges theory and practice by mentoring the next generation of Deaf Ed teachers. Prior to her current role at RIT, Julie spent over a decade at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf as an ELA Specialist and High School Teacher, later serving as an Educational Consultant for the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Her expertise lies in data-driven literacy interventions, individualized education programming (IEP), and the development of specialized resources for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Julie holds a Master of Science in Secondary School Education and a Bachelor of Science in Social Work, both from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Scott Kendziorski

Scott Kendzorski currently works as the Behavioral Health Consultant for the Wisconsin Outreach Services for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deafblind. He has worked with Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind students for more than 30 years in schools, treatment centers, homes, residence programs and communities focusing on mental health and social support. He has provided countless sessions with students on social skills and Social Emotional Learning, anger management, bullying, coping skills and restorative practice individually, in groups and with professionals. Also, Scott has provided communication support for language deprived and dysfluency students in a variety of situations, such as academic, behavior interventions, family mediation, health, medical, meetings and law enforcement.