Parents should check their email in early November for information from student's teachers with a link to sign up for a 10 minute virtual conference via Zoom. Due to the tight schedule of back to back conferences, please be on time and note that conferences will not be able to be extended due to tardiness.

Student's schedules and teacher contact information are available on the Infinite Campus Parent Portal online and can be accessed on a mobile device with the "Campus Parent" app.

Parents who prefer to communicate in a language other than English can contact:

Vera Naputi, an AVID teacher and Instructional Coach, is a veteran teacher with over 20 years in the game and is in her 4th year at East High School. Vera is a proud descendant of indigenous Chamorros from Guam, raised in California, and now resides in Madison with her family. As a teacher, Vera is intentional about co-constructing curriculum with students. She works to create a classroom environment where students are able to express themselves artistically, academically and through activism. She supports students in being critical thinkers to create a school, community and world that is more fair and equitable. Most importantly, Vera encourages and promotes student voice. Whether it is writing news articles with students for local publications like the Northside News or simple "Check-ins with Ms Naputi '' in class, student voice is critical. For Vera, classroom community and relationships are at the heart of everything she does. Vera recently presented in a Hip Hop Education: Beyond The Classroom webinar series where she shared her experiences using hip hop pedagogy to energize and deepen classroom relationships and learning. When Vera isn't immersed in her "work" she can be found climbing rock walls at Boulders Climbing Gym, which her and her husband co-own.

Over the past month, East ProStart Chef students have been busy!

They met with Goodman Youth Farmer Brian Emerson to discuss urban farming, gardening and saving money by growing your own food. Students tried fresh produce from the Goodman Youth Farm including heirloom peppers unique to the Goodman Youth Farm: Bridge to Paris, Petite Marseille, Grenada Seasoning and Shishito as well as Mexican Sour Gherkins, fresh beets and lemon grass.

They also made miso noodles with Chef and Wisconsin State Assembly Representative Francesca Hong! Francesca donated her time, expertise and all local ingredients for students to use for their noodle dish. It was a great experience for East students to work and learn side by side with a local chef! Thanks Francesca!

The student members of East's Food Equity Club (formerly known as the Food for Thought Club) are creating innovative ways to improve and increase food accessibility for fellow students.

Currently, the club serves students through three main outlets: an open food pantry, a secured storage food pantry, and a snack program in partnership with students in special education. This fall, the club will unveil its latest project, an outdoor food pantry, accessible 24/7.

“East students really care about each other,” faculty club advisor and speech and language clinician Helena White said.

“It’s a really, really necessary club, because the food that we supply and stock gets used constantly,” club leader and Madison East senior Pearl Pincus said. “A lot of the kids in this school need food, and we’re able to help meet that need.”

Members of the Food Equity Club and their faculty advisor, speech and language clinician Helena White, coordinate food donations from the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. Students also write and submit grants to organizations such as the By Youth for Youth committee, a part of United Way of Dane County, and the Madison Public Schools Foundation.

“Everyone is helping each other out, everyone is committed to helping the students,” White, who’s in her 17th year at Madison East, said. “East students really care about each other.”

Located near the school’s library media center, the open pantry gives students who are food insecure quick, easy access to a wide array of canned and dry goods, whereas the secured storage food pantry is accessible with a school social worker to give students an added layer of privacy and additional food options, White said.

The Food Equity Club collaborates with students in special education to organize the snack program, which supplies students who are food insecure with ready-to-eat food. Special education teachers and their students visit grocery stores to purchase the snack items, then sort and deliver the goods to teachers.

“It's very meaningful vocational training for the students,” White said. “They get real-world practice counting money, bagging the food, and interacting with the teachers.”

Painted in the school’s signature purple and gold, the upcoming outdoor food pantry will ensure the Madison East community has access to food during non-school hours and weekends. The Food Equity Club worked with school administrators to figure out the logistics of the new pantry structure, which was built by member Deagan Wiebel as part of his Eagle Scout Service Project.

With the outdoor food pantry project just weeks away from opening, Pincus is already working toward a new goal for the club: A fridge, to provide students with consistent access to produce and fresh foods.

East High School is also a site for a Mobile Food Pantry on Thursdays from 2:00-3:15pm in the back parking lot near the field house entrance.