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Board of Directors
John Janty, Chair
John Janty taught mathematics at Waunakee High School in Waunakee, WI, for thirty-four years and served as District Mathematics Coordinator for twenty-seven of those years before retiring in 2008.
During his professional career he served on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Mathematics Council for approximately twenty-five years, holding a variety of offices during that time, including President. In 1987 he was selected by the Wisconsin Governor and State Superintendent of Public Instruction to represent Wisconsin at the National Teachers Forum in Washington D.C. Following the Forum, John worked closely for several years with the Education Commission of the States (ECS), which was headed during that time by Governors Bill Clinton and Thomas Kean.
John accepted in 1997 an appointment by Governor Tommy Thompson to co-chair the writing team that developed the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Mathematics. Two years later he was again appointed by Governor Tommy Thompson this time to serve as a Commissioner to the Wisconsin Commission on Schools for the 21st Century, as well as, to a three-year term on the Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship Board. While serving on this Board, John traveled with numerous state legislators and other state officials to Germany to meet with German government officials and discuss educational issues, apprenticeship programs, career education, and health care.
Since retiring, John has assisted in creating the Wisconsin Mathematics Education Foundation by serving as WMEF Chair, while working part-time at the University of Wisconsin - Madison Athletic Department.
Joseph Kmoch, Treasurer
Before retiring Joe Kmoch was a Math and Computer Science teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools for 34 years, the last 28 at Washington High School. He served as the Treasurer of the Wisconsin Mathematics Council for 24 years (1980-2004). A resident of Milwaukee since 1970 Joe is currently co-chair of the Business Advisory Board for Washington HS of IT, and is a Professional Educational Services provider for the Milwaukee Teacher Education Center which includes mentoring new teachers and providing professional development on computing technologies. As treasurer Joe maintains accounting books and manages the checking account for WMEF
Michael Weidner, Secretary
Mike Weidner has been a math teacher at Nicolet High School in Glendale, WI for the past 17 years. He served as Treasurer and/or Board Member of Wisconsin Mathematics Council, Inc. for 12 years. No longer a member of the WMC Board Mike volunteers time for WMEF. He has been instrumental in getting the WMEF Constitution and By-Laws in place as well as filing incorporation form with the State of Wisconsin and tax-exempt forms with the federal government. As WMEF secretary Mike will keep minutes of meetings, provide proper notice of meetings, be custodian of the public records, keep a record of names, addresses, and email addresses of each WMEF Director.
John Burrill, Parliamentarian
John Burrill, taught as secondary teacher in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin for over 35 years, worked at The National Center for Mathematics and Science Education for 10 years, taught at Michigan State University for 2 years and is currently retired. He served as President of the Milwaukee Area Mathematics Council and editor of the Wisconsin Mathematics Council's Journal. He was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics, the Wisconsin Distinguished Mathematics Educator Award and was chosen as a participant to the Woodrow Wilson Mathematical Modeling Workshop at Princeton University. He has co-authored articles on teaching mathematics and also worked on developing mathematics curriculum at the middle and high school levels. He has provided numerous in-service workshops on methods of teaching of mathematics and statistics for NCTM and WMC. He currently serves as parliamentarian on the WMEF board.
Jane Howell, Historian
Jane Howell taught mathematics at Platteville Middle School from 1965 to 1999. During her tenure with the Platteville Public Schools she also served the district as a professional development advisor, specialist educator, and mentor teacher.
Jane has worked in a number of consultant roles with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) including writing the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Mathematics, Planning Curriculum in Mathematics (2001), and the Adolescent Learning Toolkit (2007).
She has worked as an advisor for the Advisory Councils for the Frameworks in Science and Mathematics, the Wisconsin Education Communications Board (WECB) and its MATHLINE Project, and the Wisconsin Academy Staff Development Initiative (WASDI) Project. Jane also was selected to attend a NEWMAST (NASA Educators Workshop for Mathematics). Jane was selected to attend Woodrow Wilson Institutes at Princeton in 1991 and 1999 on Geometry for Middle School Teachers and Gender Equity.
Jane was the project coordinator for nine ESEA funded projects at UW-Platteville, which provided teacher training for middle school mathematics teachers from throughout the state of Wisconsin. Jane has been a speaker at numerous workshops and conferences throughout WI and the nation.
She has received numberous state and natioal awards including
- Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching, 1989
- National Middle School Association, Teacher of the Year, 1989
- Distinguished Mathematics Educator Award from WMC, 1990
Pat Hopfensperger, Director
Patrick Hopfensperger taught mathematics at Homestead High School in Mequon, WI for thirty-five years. He served as District Mathematics Specialist for 25 of those years before retiring in 2007. Since then he has been teaching at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee working with pre-service mathematics teachers for grades 6 through 12.
Pat is a member of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, Wisconsin Mathematics Council, and the American Statistical Association. He is the past chair of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Instructional Issues Committee and past chair of the American Statistical Association (ASA)/NCTM Joint committee on Probability and Statistics. He has served on the Wisconsin Mathematics Council’s Board of Directors and also served as president of the Milwaukee Area Math Council. He was a board member of the Mequon-Thiensville Education Foundation.
Pat has received the Distinguished Mathematics Educator for Wisconsin in 1998 and was a state finalist for Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. He has co-authored Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Geometry textbooks. He was part of the author team for National Science Foundation Data Driven Mathematics project and a co-author of bridging the Gap between Common Core State Standards and Teaching Statistics. He was a national Texas Instrument Teaching with Technology instructor.
Pat has been a speaker at NCTM and ASA national conferences and has conducted numerous Statistics and Probability workshops around the United States.
Beth Schefelker, Director
Beth Schefelker is currently in her 25th year as a teacher for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). For the past eight years she has held the position of District Mathematics Teaching Specialist. In this position she supports 25 schools on the east side of Milwaukee. She has worked with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) by reviewing items for the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination. Beth was the 2003 recipient of the President Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. She currently works with the DPI on its Common Core State Standards Initiative.
David Ebert, Wisconsin Mathematics Council Liaison
David has taught mathematics for 18 years, the last 15 at Oregon High School. He is currently president of the Wisconsin Mathematics Council (WMC), and has been on the WMC Board of Directors for six years. He has offered workshops and taught courses and workshops at school districts throughout the upper Midwest, and has presented at a number of WMC, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and Texas Instruments conferences. Dave has also been published a number of times in the WMC and NCTM journals.
David earned his bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and his master’s degree from Viterbo University. He has been awarded the Young Alumnus of the Year from the Marquette University School of Education, was given a Best Buy Teach Award, and earned a Miriam Connellan Mathematics Teaching Award. He is currently working with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on implementing the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics.
Conflict of Interest Policy
The Board of Directors shall adopt and always maintain a conflict of interest policy (the “Policy”). Each Director, Officer, key employee, and committee member shall sign, as a condition to serving the Corporation in his or her respective role, an annual statement agreeing to be bound by the terms of the Policy. (WMEF By-Laws, Article X)
Write WMEF, P. O. Box 171011, Milwaukee, WI 53217,
call us at 414-939-6339,
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