Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release		                   June 9, 1999

Two State Teachers Honored as Outstanding Educators at Lawrence Commencement

          APPLETON, WIS. -- Teresa Schroepfer, choral director at Ashwaubenon
High School, and Sharon Nelson, a science teacher at Waunakee High School,
will be honored as exceptional educators Sunday, June 13 as part of Lawrence
University's 150th commencement.
	     Since 1985, Lawrence has recognized two state secondary school
teachers for excellence with its Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award.
The recipients are nominated by Lawrence seniors and each receives a
certificate, a citation and a monetary award.
     A member of the Ashwaubenon High School faculty since 1992, Schroepfer
directs the school's concert, mixed, treble and show choirs.  She began her
teaching career in Wausau and also has taught in Antigo and Manitowoc.  In
1996, she was awarded a Kohl Educational Foundation Fellowship for
excellence and innovation in teaching.  For the past two years, she has
served as the chair of the school district's K-12 music curriculum team.
     Schroepfer specializes in Kodaly-based music instruction, an education
method named after Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly designed to increase
music literacy and appreciation.  She is the co-founder and current
president of the Wisconsin chapter of the Midwest Kodaly Music Educators of
America.
     In nominating her for the award, Lawrence senior Elissa Davis described
Schroepfer as "a dynamic, caring teacher who makes her students feel they
can succeed while constantly motivating them to try their hardest."
     Originally from Antigo, Schroepfer earned a bachelor's and master's
degree in music from Silver Lake College.	
     Nelson, named Wisconsin's High School Teacher of the Year in 1990 by
the Department of Public Instruction, has taught chemistry and biotechnology
at Waunakee High School since 1983.  She is a former president of the
Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers and earlier this year received the
WSST's Ron Gibbs Award for Excellence in Science Education, the
organization's highest honor.     
     Active in the National Science Teachers Association, Nelson served as
the teacher representative spokesperson at two national press conferences in
1997 announcing the NSTA's "Science for HIV" project.  She received the
NSTA's Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching in 1990 and
that same year was awarded a Kohl Educational Foundation Fellowship.
     Lawrence senior Ellen Turner cited Nelson's high expectations -- both
of herself and of her students -- in nominating her for the teaching award.
     "She's a driven and motivated person who gained respect because she
worked so hard and expected us to do the same for her," said Turner.
"Lessons taught by Mrs. Nelson were always very creative and presented in
such a way as to generate interest in all students."
     A native of Superior, Nelson earned a bachelor's degree in biology from 
UW-Superior and a master's degree in curriculum and instruction with an
emphasis in science education from UW-Madison.
     Recipients of Lawrence's teaching award are selected on their abilities
to communicate their subject effectively, create a sense of excitement in
the classroom, motivate their students to pursue academic excellence while
showing a genuine concern for them in and out of the classroom.