PERPICH

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Sandra Woodhull
Visual Arts Instructor High School

Sandra Woodhull

Visual Arts Instructor

High School

sandra.woodhull@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4297

Sandra Woodhall provides classes in watercolor, illustration-drawing, advanced drawing, ceramics, jewelry and animation. She taught in the Wayzata and Anoka school districts before coming to Perpich. Woodhull has a B.A. in studio arts from St. Cloud State University and an M.A. in art education from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. In 2011 she received a grant from the Minnesota Education Association, "Celebrating Our Similarities and Differences in Our Life and Learning Styles" with artist-in-residence Ta-coumba Aiken.

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Wesley Wallace
Science Instructor High School

Wesley Wallace

Science Instructor

High School

wesley.wallace@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-2794296

Wesley Wallace has been on the faculty of the Perpich Center for Arts Education since 2001, teaching physics and environmental science. Wallace has a B.S. degree in chemistry and recently received an M.A. in sustainable development. In addition to 16 years experience as a high school science teacher, Wallace has worked as both an industrial chemist and an environmental chemist. He has recently returned from a professional development leave in London, where he completed his graduate degree and studied a new model of sustainable/urban agriculture being developed by an organic grower's cooperative just outside the city.

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Cristina Silkey
School Nurse Student Services

Cristina Silkey

School Nurse

Student Services

763-279-4193

cristina.silkey@pcae.k12.mn.us

Years of service: 0 vcard
Thane Plantikow
Special Education Paraprofessional High School

Thane Plantikow

Special Education Paraprofessional

High School

763-279-4265

thane.plantikow@pcae.k12.mn.us

Years of service: 0 vcard
Brian Pickerell
Science Instructor High School

Brian Pickerell

Science Instructor

High School

brian.pickerell@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4293

Brian Pickerell has a B.A. in chemistry from St. Olaf College. Prior to coming the arts high school, he taught physical science and chemistry to 6th- through 9th-graders at The Academy of Bioscience. In addition to this experience, he has been a reserve teacher in the Hopkins school district and taught honors chemistry at Wayzata High School.

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Tory Peterson
Theater Instructor High School

Tory Peterson

Theater Instructor

High School

tory.peterson@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4292

Tory Peterson has been an instructor at the Perpich Arts High School since 1993. He was a curriculum designer for Perpich's 2000-2001 Frameworks for Arts Curriculum Strategies and EdStar Curriculum Repository. Peterson has led teaching workshops and presented at state and national conferences on classroom collaboration and interdisciplinary curriculum development. He received a B.A. in theater from Moorhead State University and M.A. in theater from Arizona State University. Peterson was recipient of the 2001 Animating Democracy Grant, 2003 SURDNA Foundation Grant and 2007 Gilder Lehrman Teachers Institute.

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Pam Paulson
Director of Professional Development and Resources Outreach

Pam Paulson

Director of Professional Development and Resources

Outreach

pam.paulson@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4187

Pamela Paulson, PhD, is one of the founding directors of the Perpich Center for Arts Education. In her position as director of professional development and resources, Paulson is responsible for all professional development and outreach programs at Perpich, providing advocacy and information for the state legislature; connecting with state and national arts and education organizations; heading administration of the statewide Perpich Library; and directing the State Policy Pilot Project.

Paulson is a Trustee of The College Board, Chairs the College Board Academic Council and is past chair of the Arts Academic Committee. She was on the Steering Committee of the College Board National Task Force for the Arts in Education. She is the Minnesota representative of SEADAE (State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education), on the Advisory Committee of the Arts Education Partnership and a member of the Leadership/Governance Team for the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards.

Previously Paulson served as President of the National Dance Education Organization and the Minnesota Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (MN ASCD). Prior to her work at the Perpich Center she created and directed the dance program at Apple Valley High School and taught for seven years at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

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Ray O'Neill
Security Officer Security

Ray O'Neill

Security Officer

Security

ray.oneill@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4202

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Eric Nelson
Math Instructor High School

Eric Nelson

Math Instructor

High School

eric.nelson@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4289

Eric Nelson has been on the arts high school faculty since 2003. He has a degree in math education with a minor in the science of coaching from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. Previous to coming to Perpich, he taught four years in Colorado at the high school level, including instruction in the International Baccalaureate program.

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Jerry Miller
Security Officer Security

Jerry Miller

Security Officer

Security

jerry.miller@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4202

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Stephanie Lein Walseth
Education Specialist in Theater Outreach

Stephanie Lein Walseth

Education Specialist in Theater

Outreach

763-279-4181

Stephanie.Walseth@pcae.k12.mn.us

Years of service: 0 vcard
Lon Lamprecht
Executive Assistant Administration

Lon Lamprecht

Executive Assistant

Administration

lon.lamprecht@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4161

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Trina Keller
French Instructor High School

Trina Keller

French Instructor

High School

trina.keller@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4286

Trina Keller came to the arts high school after teaching French at Richfield Senior High and the University of St. Thomas. She has also worked at Gustavus Adolphus College where she taught the language methods classes and supervised student teachers. She has a B.A. in French from St. Olaf and a M.A. in education from Hamline. Keller studied in Aix-en-Provence, France, and has led more than 30 student groups on trips to France.

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Thomas Johnston
Director of Finance Administration

Thomas Johnston

Director of Finance

Administration

763-279-4162

thomas.johnston@pcae.k12.mn.us

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Janice Hunton
Music Instructor High School

Janice Hunton

Music Instructor

High School

janice.hunton@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4283

Hunton has been a member of the music faculty since 1990. She coaches instrumental and vocal ensembles, directs the Perpich choir and teaches seminars in theory, vocal harmony and arranging, African music, European history and counterpoint.

Hunton received a bachelor's degree in music theory and composition from the University of Wyoming and a master's in music theory from Indiana University. She has performed as a member of the Dale Warland Singers, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and the University of St. Thomas African Music Ensemble. In 2004, she participated in a national video project through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting entitled Instructional Practice Across the Arts: A Workshop for High School Teachers, which became available in fall 2005.

Hunton received a SURDNA Foundation Arts Teachers grant in 2004 and participated in the Wesley-Balk Music Theater Institute and workshops hosted by the Minnesota Opera. Janice's passion for the past ten years has been the study of African music specifically from Ghana, and has begun a program of leading student travel to Ghana with the first trip in the summer of 2013. In 2012 Janice was hired as the new artistic director of the Twin Cities Women's Choir.

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Jeremy Holien
Education Specialist Outreach

Jeremy Holien

Education Specialist

Outreach

jeremy.holien@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4185

Jeremy Holien serves as the Perpich visual and media arts education outreach education specialist. He works in professional and curriculum development, state standards implementation and assessment practices. He is responsible for statewide initiatives in visual and media arts education. Holien has specific expertise in technology integration, visual and media arts education curriculum design, distance learning, standards-based education and assessment and arts integration.

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Mary Harding
Dance Instructor High School

Mary Harding

Dance Instructor

High School

mary.harding@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4281

Mary Harding has been head of the dance program at the arts high school since 1990. She created the curriculum for the current program and teaches the dance majors as well as elective courses. She has also worked on the Minnesota FACS (Framework for Arts Curriculum) project, the Minnesota Arts Standards and has presented at the Minnesota Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development conference, Minnesota DAPE conference, national and state AAPHERD conventions and at the Minnesota Dance Educator's Coalition workshops.

In her dance career she has performed professionally with ballet, jazz and modern companies in repertory ranging from Pas de Quatre to works by Bebe Miller. While a member of the Zenon Dance Company, Harding taught master classes and dance residencies in schools across the nation. In addition to her work at the arts high school, she continues to freelance as a choreographer, performer and teacher in the Twin Cities.

She received the SURDNA Arts Teachers Fellowship for 2002 and studied at Bates Dance Festival as a result of this fellowship. The National Dance Association and Sportime named her the National Dance Teacher of the Year for 2002 and she was a featured teacher in the Annenberg Foundation's video series "The Art of Teaching the Arts" which premiered in 2005.

She received a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the College of St. Catherine. Her research, "Peer Coaching in the Arts Classroom," received the Sister Ann Harvey Action Research Award in 2008 and was published in the June 2009 edition of Journal of Dance Education. Her article, "Assessment in the High School Technique Class: Creating Thinking Dancers," was published in the September 2012 issue of the Journal of Dance Education.

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Shannon Hannigan
Literary Arts Instructor High School

Shannon Hannigan

Literary Arts Instructor

High School

shannon.hannigan@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4280

Shannon Hannigan has taught literary arts to arts high school juniors since 1994. Prior to this, she worked in publishing and book sales, editing and photo composition. She completed the coursework for an M.A. in liberal studies, creative writing emphasis, at Hamline University, and earned a B.A. in English and secondary education at Macalester College.

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Jody Gentz
Student Records Coordinator Student Services

Jody Gentz

Student Records Coordinator

Student Services

Jody Gentz has worked at Perpich Arts High School since June, 1997. She began as the attendance clerk and two years later began helping with admissions work. She was shortly promoted to records coordinator and began to work closely with admission process.

jody.gentz@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4263

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Bob Frey
Social Studies Instructor High School

Bob Frey

Social Studies Instructor

High School

bob.frey@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4279

Bob Frey began teaching at the arts high school in 2002. Prior to teaching, he worked in the Twin Cities legal community. He has a B.A. in political science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. He completed coursework for his teaching certification at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. He's performed in Minneapolis as a singer-songwriter since 1993 and continues to write, play and perform.

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Craig Farmer
Art History Instructor High School

Craig Farmer

Art History Instructor

High School

craig.farmer@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-2794278

Craig has been teaching art history at the high school level since 1992. He started his teaching career at the Field School of Washington, DC. He recently participated in the National Endowment for the Humanities’ "Empires of the Wind" Workshop in San Diego. In the summer of 2015, he received a College Board Scholarship to attend an Advancement Placement Art History Exam Redesign Workshop in Miami. Since 2008 he has been an adjunct instructor in The University of Minnesota’s Curriculum and Instruction Department. Craig holds a B.A. in art history and history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an M.A. in teaching from the University of St. Thomas. He was the graduation speaker for the classes of 2002, 2011, and 2015.

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Elaine Drivas
Spanish Instructor High School

Elaine Drivas

Spanish Instructor

High School

elaine.drivas@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4277

Elaine Drivas teaches Spanish at the arts high school. She received an undergraduate degree in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She participated in a junior year abroad program at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. She received an M.A. in teaching (secondary Spanish) from the University of St. Thomas. She also has licensure in bilingual education and ESL from Hamline University. Before coming to Perpich, she taught middle school in Minneapolis Public Schools.

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Karla Donner
Front Desk/Attendance Clerk High School

Karla Donner

Front Desk/Attendance Clerk

High School

karla.donner@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4200

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Anne Dennison
Librarian Library

Anne Dennison

Librarian

Library

Anne Dennison graduated from The College of St. Catherine with a master's degree in library and information science. She joined the Perpich Library staff in the fall of 2010. Previously, she taught English in Bratislava, Slovakia for two years and worked at Hennepin County Library. She loves reading young adult literature and playing drums.

anne.dennison@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4170

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John Colburn
Literary Arts Instructor High School

John Colburn

Literary Arts Instructor

High School

john.colburn@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4276

John Colburn, who teaches seniors in literary arts, is an editor and co-publisher for Spout Press as well as an adjunct faculty member at Hamline University. He has an M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota. He has published a book of fiction, "Invisible Daughter" (firthFORTH Books, 2013) and a volume of poetry, "Psychedelic Norway" (Coffee House Press, 2013).

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Kevin Clark
English Instructor High School

Kevin Clark

English Instructor

High School

kevin.clark@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4275

Kevin Clark earned a B.A. in German and speech communications from Westmar College and taught English in Francophone West Africa (Chad and Senegal) with the Peace Corps. Upon completion of his foreign service, he attended the University of North Dakota, where he completed graduate coursework in German literature with a minor in French. He helped to create, and currently teaches, a course with the University of Minnesota/College in the Schools program in communications. Clark was a leader for a trip to Berlin and St. Petersburg with the Perpich Arts High School Study Tour class in 2008. He also has led Perpich class trips to China in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He received a Fulbright Award in 2013 to travel to Germany for studies there.

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Tom Carlson
English Instructor High School

Tom Carlson

English Instructor

High School

tom.carlson@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4274

Tom Carlson teaches literature and writing. He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. in teaching from the University of St. Thomas and has completed coursework toward licensure in secondary administration at St. Mary's University. Carlson received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to participate in a month-long summer institute in Ashland, Oregon, focusing on Teaching Shakespeare through Performance. During the spring of 2012, he was the recipient of an EdMN Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Technology grant, and has integrated iPads into his classroom instruction. His students have performed on KFAI through the W.A.V.E. program and on the stage at the Walker as part of Teen Art Council's "Bad Art Night."

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Suzanne Bursh
Administrative Assistant Outreach

Suzanne Bursh

Administrative Assistant

Outreach

Suzanne Bursh is lead administrative specialist and budget coordinator for Perpich Arts Outreach. She has helped to host numerous Perpich agency events, workshops and receptions. She studied elementary education at the University of Minnesota and pursued culinary training in hotel and restaurant cooking at the St. Paul Vocational and Technical School and baking at Dunwoody Institute.

suzanne.bursh@pcae.k12.mn.us

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João Bichinho
Social Studies Instructor High School

João Bichinho

Social Studies Instructor

High School

joao.bichinho@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4271

João Bichinho received a B.A. in history from New England College, New Hampshire and an M.A. in teaching from Mankato State University. He has taught at Perpich since 1992. He previously taught at the American International School in Lisbon, Portugal; Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul, and - while on leave in 2008-09 - at Quest Academy (a charter school) in St. Louis Park. He is originally from Mozambique, and has also lived in South Africa, Portugal and England.

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James Allen
Music Instructor High School
James Allen
Music Instructor

High School

james.allen@pcae.k12.mn.us

763-279-4269

James Allen has a B.A. in music performance and a diploma of education. He joined the faculty in 1999 as a guitar specialist and also teaches jazz/rock theory, improvisation and history and styles. In addition to teaching at the arts high school, he is on the guitar faculty at MacPhail Center for Music. Allen has previously taught at a number of high schools and colleges in Minnesota and Australia. He has performed as a professional musician throughout the Twin Cities and the Midwest for the last 18 years both as a solo artist, a member of a number of bands and as a freelance musician. He is featured on several recordings, including a duo album with local jazz singer Vicky Mountain.
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About Perpich Center

Board

Sandra Woodhull

Sandra Woodhull

Visual Arts Instructor

Wesley Wallace

Wesley Wallace

Science Instructor

Cristina Silkey

Cristina Silkey

School Nurse

Thane Plantikow

Thane Plantikow

Special Education Paraprofessional

Brian Pickerell

Brian Pickerell

Science Instructor

Tory Peterson

Tory Peterson

Theater Instructor

Pam Paulson

Pam Paulson

Director of Professional Development and Resources

Ray O'Neill

Ray O'Neill

Security Officer

Eric Nelson

Eric Nelson

Math Instructor

Jerry Miller

Jerry Miller

Security Officer

Stephanie Lein Walseth

Stephanie Lein Walseth

Education Specialist in Theater

Lon Lamprecht

Lon Lamprecht

Executive Assistant

Trina Keller

Trina Keller

French Instructor

Thomas Johnston

Thomas Johnston

Director of Finance

Janice Hunton

Janice Hunton

Music Instructor

Jeremy Holien

Jeremy Holien

Education Specialist

Mary Harding

Mary Harding

Dance Instructor

Shannon Hannigan

Shannon Hannigan

Literary Arts Instructor

Jody Gentz

Jody Gentz

Student Records Coordinator

Bob Frey

Bob Frey

Social Studies Instructor

Craig Farmer

Craig Farmer

Art History Instructor

Elaine Drivas

Elaine Drivas

Spanish Instructor

Karla Donner

Karla Donner

Front Desk/Attendance Clerk

Anne Dennison

Anne Dennison

Librarian

John Colburn

John Colburn

Literary Arts Instructor

Kevin Clark

Kevin Clark

English Instructor