 | | |  |  | Meet the Board | |
The Stillwater Area School District School Board usually holds its regular business meetings on the second and fourth Thursday evenings of every month. Meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. and are held in the Stillwater City Hall building, located at 216 North 4th Street.
The School Board is a seven-member team of area residents elected at-large to serve four-year terms. Elections for three and then four seats are held every two years.
The next school board election will be held in 2010.
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Kathy Buchholz
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Kathy Buchholz, and her husband Brian, live in Afton with their two daughters, one who has graduated from Stillwater Area High School and another who is
currently enrolled at the high school. Kathy graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1979 with a B.A. degree in science and education. She taught in Red Wing, MN and also taught an energy education program to students throughout the state. For 10 years, Kathy worked as a marketing research manager for Fortune 500 companies. She left that position to spend more time with her children. Prior to being elected to the school board, Kathy served as a PTA vice-president, district technology task force member, and frequent classroom volunteer.
As a former teacher, Kathy wants to see all students achieve their highest potential. She believes that in order for our schools to be effective, there must be strong community support based on trust. Kathy is dedicated to building strong relationships not only between our schools, but throughout the community. | |
George Dierberger
George Dierberger
School Board Member
351-8430 |
George Dierberger, and his wife Jane, live in Stillwater with their four daughters. All four daughters have or will attend the junior high and the high school. George has an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota, 2 graduate degrees in business and international studies and a doctorate in Organization Development and Leadership from the University of St. Thomas. He spent 25 years at a Fortune 100 company in a variety of leadership roles helping create 5 new businesses in 10 years. Prior to being elected to the school board, George started his own company focusing on the outdoor industry. He currently is a full-time
professor at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls and is the director of
the MBA program. He is also a clinical faculty member of the Centre for Applied
Leadership.
George considers a good education to be one of the basic rights of all citizens and the springboard for indiscriminate success. He wants to provide our students with a rigorous education that will allow them to compete on a global basis. He believes that in order for our schools to be effective, there must be a strong connection to local businesses, universities and the community. George is dedicated to providing the leadership we need to continue to create a great learning experience for our students. | |
Natalie Fedie
Natalie Fedie
School Board Member
351-8431 |
Natalie and her husband Rick live in West Lakeland Township with their two sons, one who attends Stillwater Area High School and the other who is currently enrolled at Northern Michigan University. Natalie graduated from South St. Paul High School in 1986 and continued on to the University of Wisconsin - Stout where she graduated in 1990 with a BA degree in Psychology. She has over 15 years of professional communications and marketing experience and today is the Director of Client Services for GovDelivery, a leading proactive public communications solution for local, state and federal government agencies throughout the United States.
Natalie was elected to the Stillwater Area Board of Education in November of 2007 and is a member of the Policy Working Group. She was recently appointed to the Legislative Committee for the Association of Metropolitan School Districts (AMSD). Her professional experience in both the private and the public sector has given her the ability to think strategically to achieve goals. Natalie understands the importance of being accountable to the public and the value of effective community outreach. | |
Tom Lehmann
Tom Lehmann
School Board Member
351-8428 |
Tom Lehmann, and his wife Melissa live in West Lakeland Township with their
two children who attend Stillwater Area Public Schools; one at Valley Crossing
Community School and the other at Stillwater Area High School. Tom graduated
from Concordia College – Moorhead in 1984 with degrees in Business
Administration, Political Science and History. Tom obtained a law degree from
William Mitchell College of Law in 1987. Tom is the City Attorney for the City
of Mendota and the City Prosecutor for the City of Lilydale.
Prior to being elected to the school board, Tom coached softball,
soccer and basketball through the St. Croix Valley Athletic Association. Tom
currently serves as Treasurer for the Board and participates on the Finance and
Operations, Personnel and Negotiations working groups. He is also the District
liaison for Schools for Equity in Education (SEE), TIES, and Metro Educational
Cooperative Service Unit (Metro ECSU). Tom believes our schools work hard to
prepare our children for the challenges they will face as adults in the 21st
Century. He appreciates the school’s efforts to deal with the issues of a
multi-cultural world. Tom wants to continue the strong working relationship
between the community and the schools. | |
Natasha Fleischman
Natasha Fleischman
School Board Member
351-8432 |
Natasha has lived in Lake Elmo since 2001 with her husband, Bob, and their two sons. Their sons attend Stillwater Area Public Schools-- one at Stillwater Junior High and the other at Stillwater Area High School. Natasha graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BS and earned her MA in 1993. She has been an active volunteer in the district serving as PTA President and as a member of the District Curriculum and Accountability Council; the Facilities, Land Use and Attendance Area Task Force; the STEM Design Planning Committee, on the Board of the Partnership Plan and as a frequent classroom volunteer. Natasha is proud to represent this community as we work together to maintain the legacy of the Stillwater Area Schools. | |
George Hoeppner
George Hoeppner
School Board Member
351-8433 |
George and his wife, Donna, moved to Oak Park Heights in 1974 when he began teaching English and coaching baseball and girls’ basketball at Stillwater High School. He received his B.S. degree at St. Mary’s College in Winona, his hometown, and received his M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership from the University of Minnesota. After 36 years of teaching and coaching, George retired in June of 2006. He and his wife, a retired teacher from Lake Elmo Elementary, have two adult children, who attended Stillwater public schools, and six grandchildren.
George hopes to be an effective member of the strong support system in the district helping teachers and students achieve their potential. He is aware of the need to balance the growing needs of the district’s students with the limited financial resources of many district taxpayers.
During his four years on the board, George has served as District
834's representative to the East Metro Integration District (EMID), a
collaborative of ten metro school districts committed to increasing cultural competencies in its students. He was recently named to the board of
Bantfwana Phambili, a local non-profit whose mission is to assist qualified,
selected students from rural provinces in South Africa further their
education. | |
Mike Ptacek
Mike Ptacek
School Board Member
351-8424 |
Mike and his wife Judy came to Stillwater more than 17 years ago. Judy teaches middle school language arts. Their children, Christi and Benjamin, are "Pony Graduates." Christi went on to graduate from UW-Madison and after serving two years in Americorp, works as an analyst in the Pittsburgh area. Benjamin graduated from the University of Colorado and earned his Masters at the University of Minnesota. Ben is an architectural intern in St. Paul.
Since the fall of 2005, Mike has been a consultant with the Kern Family Foundation, whose founders are advocates for improving and preserving our country’s engineering and technology capabilities. He has supported this goal by promoting "Project Lead the Way," (PLTW), a middle and high school pre engineering program, at local, regional and state education and business meetings.
Mike has forty years of experience as a Director of Curriculum, Principal, Associate Principal and teacher in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He earned his Ph D from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Educational Administration in May 1990.
Dr. Ptacek has taught, presented and authored in the areas of Organizational Change, Team Leadership, Program Planning and Evaluation, Policy Issues in Urban Education, Transitioning from School to Work, and Career Focused Academies. | |
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