On the Road

On May 14, State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster spoke at a celebration of the R.I.S.E. UP Wisconsin Bus Tour in the state capitol. The tour brought high school and college students together with Americorps volunteers to learn and to serve in communities across Wisconsin.

That evening, the state superintendent spoke at a banquet honoring this year's Capitol Conference Top Ten Scholars. The Capitol Conference is composed of 12 high schools: Belleville, Cambridge, Columbus, Lake Mills, Lakeside Lutheran in Lake Mills, Lodi, Marshall, New Glarus, Poynette, Waterloo, Luther Preparatory in Watertown, and Wisconsin Heights in Mazomanie. The honored scholars are the ten graduating seniors with the highest grade point averages from each school.

On May 15, Burmaster traveled to Northside Elementary School in Sun Prairie to promote the SunWise program, an environmental and health education campaign that teaches children and adults to reduce the risk of skin cancer by protecting themselves from overexposure to the sun. (More about SunWise below.) Burmaster spoke to third-graders about how to use proper sun protection when having fun outside, as did Dr. Mark Wegner, Chronic Disease Medical Director for the Wisconsin Division of Public Health; Linda Rutsch, SunWise Program Director, US Environmental Protection Agency; and Elementary Health Education Specialist Mike Headington of the Sun Prairie Area School District.

On May 16, Burmaster traveled to Oshkosh to meet with the Professional Advisory Committee of Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 6. The superintendent addressed the group about the latest in state level educational policy.

On May 17, Burmaster joined First Lady Jessica Doyle in giving a congratulatory address to the winners of Wisconsin Literacy's annual awards in Madison. Wisconsin Literacy is an organization serving literacy educators throughout the state. Also attending were State Representatives Jeff Smith and John Townsend.

On Friday, May 18, the state superintendent spoke at the meeting of the Wisconsin Urban Schools Leadership Project, known as the Wallace Fellows. The project brings together exceptional principals from urban schools to transform school leadership and develop Wisconsin's master administrator licensure system as a model for the state and the nation. The first group of Wallace Fellows has now completed its work. Burmaster, along with First Lady Jessica Doyle, thanked these twenty-nine principals for their leadership and their contributions to the program.

Later that day, Burmaster attended the Wisconsin Outdoor Education Expo 2007 in Beaver Dam. Through hands-on activities, the Expo teaches outdoor skills, encourages ethical behavior, and perpetuates Wisconsin's hunting, fishing, and conservation heritage.

On May 19, Burmaster delivered official greetings on behalf of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents at the commencement ceremonies for the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and Schools of Education, Human Ecology, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Medicine & Public Health. She told the graduates: "If ever there was a time when people need to see the idealism of your generation, to see your active engagement in building the future, it is now."

For more information about SEAchange, contact: Benson Gardner at (608) 266-3374.

Last updated on 5/21/2007