Students from East's Native American Student Association (NASA) and March For Our Lives (MFOL) chapter have collaborated to create a gallery exhibit in East’s Ray Edwards gallery surrounding the theme of decolonizing gun violence. It explores the ways that guns uphold white supremacy and settler colonialist ideology, and the way that gun violence impacts Indigenous communities. In the exhibit is a collaborative art piece that we ask students to go check out and participate in. The exhibit will be open from December 1st to December 8th. Classes will be visiting the exhibit over the next week and will be invited to choose a strip of ribbon and write a response to prompts provided such as "How must society begin to heal from this intergenerational violence?" and "How do guns/gun laws perpetuate white supremacy and settler colonialism? and then tie them in the middle of the room. Each student's addition to the collective piece is an act of resistance to the way that guns embolden whiteness and colonial violence.

“It was important for NASA to collaborate with March for Our lives so community members of East could learn about how gun violence and colonization intersect and how the combined effects have disproportionately impacted Indigenous communities. We hope that this interactive gallery exhibit gives people an opportunity for reflection.” - East High School 11th Grade Student, Marena Fox Baker

Over the last month or so we have said goodbye to some valued staff members moving on to new adventures and also had the opportunity to welcome some new and familiar faces back to East.

Brian Steele - Interim Assistant Principal, Tenney Neighborhood - Mr. Steele joins us from Toki Middle school to fill Ms. Smith's previous Assistant Principal role after she transitioned to Interim Principal. Read Mr. Steele's welcome message >>>

Sean Gray - Multicultural Services Coordinator, Replacing Ebrahim Amara who took another position in the Verona Area School District. Coach Gray was the Multicultural Services Coordinator at West High School for four years and has also been a Security Assistant, Football and Basketball Coach, and Coordinator of Student Engagement in MMSD.

Larissa Root - Cross Categorical Special Education Teacher, Replacing Zoe Slattery - Ms. Root joins us from Lakeview Elementary School and will be teaching Life Skills, Transition Skills and Personal Grown and Development.

Amy Isensee - English Teacher, Replacing Lewis Ruphard - Ms. Isensee was an English teacher at East for 6 years before serving as the Academic & Career Planning Coordinator. She will be teaching English 2, taking over for Lewis Ruphard who took a position in California.

Megan Besley - Sub English Teacher, Temporarily replacing Crystal Lipek - Dr. Besley will be teaching English 1 until a permanent replacement for Ms. Lipek is found. Ms. Lipek has taken a new position as an Academic Advisor with the College of Engineering at UW-Madison.

Mary Bridget Samson - Science Teacher, Replacing Angie Wilcox-Hull and Jonathan Fagan who has subbed in the position since October. Mary Bridget previously taught Science at Edgewood High School in Madison and at Tempe High School in Tempe, Arizona.

Tina Moura - Building Custodian II, Second Shift Leader - Tina was an Elementary School Teacher in the Philippines prior to coming to the US. Tina has been with MMSD for 13 years, most recently at La Follette and Marquette/O'Keefe.

Liz Merfeld - MMSD Public Information Officer - Liz will be working at East High School while supporting all schools in the East feeder pattern with communications.

Shania Scott - Special Education Assistant

Annie Shriver - Special Education Assistant

Erick Guevara-Vega - Special Education Assistant

Lasheere Ward - Special Education Assistant

Michael Cherkinian - Special Education Assistant

Nick Hoening - Part-time Physical Therapist

Rachel Illing - Part-time Occupational Therapist

Ellen Amundson - Part-time Speech & Language Clinician

Stephanie Peplinski - Part-Time Nurse

Tanzsaeniya Bey - Security Assistant, Replacing Juanita Jackson

Angelica Nix - TOPS Coordinator, Replacing Emily Kuhn

Ayanna Bost - Upward Bound Math & Science Instructor, Replacing Mallory Saurer

Lynn Zemaitis - Upward Bound Advisor, Replacing Megan Cancila

Throughout their four years, students in Personalized Pathways will experience a combination of close-knit communities, academic goal-setting, challenging and relevant coursework, integrated projects and exploration of college and career options. These elements are brought together around a broad theme. Students learn the skills they need for success after high school in a way that connects their coursework to their personal interests and the world around them.

Last week we featured students in the Health Science Pathway who kicked off their Food and Healthcare Equity and Access in Madison project. They watched "A Place at the Table" and discussed what they learned about food insecurity, diet-related diseases, processed food and poverty. This week, on December 2nd, students will have a food access and career panel with community partners.

This year, for the first time, all of our 9th grade Health Science Pathway students are also participating in a program with UW Health called HOPE Partnership in their Health Science Exploration classes. It will give them the opportunity to participate in summer internships with UW Health in the future.

Current 8th grade students in the East attendance area and their families invited to learn about East's Health Science Pathway and Information Communication and Technology Pathway on Thursday, December 2nd from 6:30-7:30pm via Zoom.