On the road

On Monday, June 11, State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster participated in a meeting of the advisory board of Pre-K Now, a national organization working to create a nation in which every child enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. Burmaster is an active member of the national advisory board of Pre-K Now, which is supported by the Pew Charitable Trust.

On Tuesday, June 12, Burmaster convened a meeting of the Statewide International Education Council, a group she and Gov. Jim Doyle formed in 2002. The council is working to advance global literacy among Wisconsin's students. At this meeting on the UW-Madison campus, council members learned about international education initiatives at Wisconsin post-secondary institutions. Speaking to the group were Gilles Bousquet, Dean of International Studies and Director of the International Institute, UW-Madison; Sal Carranza, Senior Institutional Planner, UW-System; Chris Vandall, ESL and International Education Director, Wisconsin Technical College System; Mari McCarty, Executive Vice President, Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Geoff Bradshaw, International Education Coordinator, Madison Area Technical College; Jay Harris, Coordinator of International Projects, UW-Green Bay; and Doug Savage, Assistant Director, UW-Milwaukee Institute of World Affairs.

That evening, Burmaster addressed the state convention of Wisconsin FFA. She congratulated the members of the agricultural education organization on developing leadership and career education abilities, saying these are 21st Century skills that will help them succeed in the workplace and in their post-secondary studies.

On June 13, Burmaster presided over a meeting of the PK-16 Leadership Council, a collaborative group focused on enhancing education for Wisconsin's students from pre-kindergarten through post-secondary education. Burmaster gave an overview of achievements over the past year and presented the council's Program of Distinction and Promising Practices awards to partnership initiatives that represent best practices for increasing learning and student achievement. View a list of the winning programs at http://www.wisconsin.edu/pk16/awards/awards07.htm.

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

Last updated on 6/18/2007