The Mielke Summer Institute is a liberal arts approach to the professional development of K-12 educators from the Appleton and Shawano public schools. 

It provides participants with the opportunity to explore new ideas and examine issues of societal importance from a multidisciplinary perspective in a collegial environment characterized by open-mindedness and mutual respect.

About the Program

The Summer Institute combines serious study and playful inquiry. It is expected that participants will find areas of common interest with other educators across disciplines and grade levels, and that the resulting links will encourage both communication and collaboration in the future. The knowledge and skills that fellows acquire during the Summer Institute will, in time and in various ways, affect their work as educators. However, the goal is to provide intellectual stimulation and renewal for the participants themselves on the assumption that, ultimately, the best teachers are those who are continuously learning, exploring and creating.

Cost & Credits

  • No tuition.
  • 6 graduate credits. You must be in residence the entire week to receive the 6 graduate units.
  • Free room and board. Room (double-occupancy with private baths) and board (breakfast, lunch and dinner) will be provided courtesy of Lawrence University. 

There will be ample free time so participants can explore Björklunden’s 441-acre estate and the rest of Door County. Participants will be expected to stay at the lodge for the duration of the institute.

Questions about the Mielke Summer Institute?

Call Stewart Purkey 920-832-6715 or Katie Van Zeeland 920-832-6714.

2026 Mielke Summer Institute - KALEIDOSCOPE! 

   This morning the temperature was -17, with a wind chill of -44. Outside my office window, the Fox River is covered in sea smoke caused by the extreme difference between the frigid air and warmer water. It’s beautiful outside but walking to my office this frosty morning I was wishing it was summer and I was at Björklunden in Door County, sitting out on the deck, looking over Lake Michigan and talking with fellow educators. Though summer is months away, I can invite you now to join Professors Burdick-Shepherd, Khor, Lin and me at Björklunden in June for this year’s Mielke Summer Institute in the Liberal Arts.

   Our theme this year is captured by the term KALEIDOSCOPE! According to the Google a kaleidoscope is an optical instrument shaped into a tube. When you look though its lens bits of glass that “dance between two mirrors” create constantly changing symmetrical and beautiful patterns of color. It is also, however, a metaphor for variety and creativity, change and transformation, new possibilities and new ways of seeing things.

   It is this latter meaning that we’ll adopt this summer by using the lens of philosophy, literature, history, art, social science and film to help us think about the world in which we live, what it is now and, perhaps, what it could become. To do that Lawrence faculty will lead us in inquiry on texts and ideas from their academic discipline that they love to teach or that they have always wanted to teach. Together, we’ll discuss works that can engage us in what the philosopher Maxine Greene describes as learning that “allows for wonder and unease and questioning” in a setting that encourages quiet personal reflection as well as deep conversations with others. 

   Thinking about these times, Kermit the frog’s song It’s Not Easy Being Green pops into my head because it’s not easy being a teacher. True, teaching has always been difficult since we work not with marble but with living minds but increasingly today we must also respond to and care for our students’ need for physical and emotional safety—and we must do that in a politically charged environment in which our professional expertise and experience is often challenged. Therefore, today it’s more important than ever that educators have the opportunity to relax and refresh and renew their love of learning, and with that their love of teaching. This too is what we hope to accomplish at Björklunden.

   So, once again, I invite you to join us this summer. Whether you’ve been before or never been before, do come. Whether you want to come as a team from your school or with teachers from other schools who teach the same subject, or with another teacher with whom you feel comfortable, or just by yourself you are most welcome. We’ll look forward to learning with and from you and enjoying the trip together.   

~ Stewart Purkey

2026 Mielke Summer Institute Printable Brochure

The 2026 Mielke Summer Institute will be held at Bjorklunden in Door County from Sunday evening, June 21 through noon on Friday, June 26.  Participants will stay at Lawrence’s lodge in Baileys Harbor on Lake Michigan.

Any educator in the Appleton and Shawano Public Schools may apply. A maximum of 24 applicants can be accepted. Previous participants and applicants are urged to reapply.Required Application Materials

Candidate Application Form
Briefly state your interest and motivation for attending the Mielke Summer Institute in the Liberal Arts. Indicate qualities you possess that will enhance the program.

Supervisor Recommendation Form
This form is extremely important in the selection process. The supervisor should give specific reasons why you will be an asset to and benefit from the Mielke program.

Deadlines & Notification

Your supervisor’s recommendation and candidate application form must be received by April 3, 2026. No late applications can be accepted. Notification of acceptance will be during the week of April 6, 2026.

Contact these teacher coordinators for more information:

Appleton Public Schools
Brian Bartel, Johnston Elementary School
920-832-6265, ext. 63167
bartelbrian@aasd.k12.wi.us

Michelle Johnson-Ehnert, Ronald C. Dunlap Elementary School
920-852-5455, ext. 81238
johnsonmichelle@aasd.k12.wi.us

Shawano Public Schools
Megan Pyatskowit, Shawano Community High School
mpyatskowit@shawanoschools.org

Loading...