Your Extraordinary Saturday Teacher Bios

MITY’s educators are passionate, funny, creative, and inspiring. They encourage students to ask questions, challenge them to figure out answers, and spark a lifelong interest in learning.

“Every time I would give up, they would help me try again. They always saw the best in me.”

- 2023 student

Andrea McCarty

Andrea has loved being a teacher at Cedar Ridge Elementary in Eden Prairie for 29 years. She spent ...
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Beth Wakefield

Beth Wakefield holds a B.S. and M. Ed. in Education from the University of Minnesota. She has been ...
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Bill Nara

Bill has been a licensed 7-12 Social Studies Teacher since 2000 and also teaches Chess, Tabletop Strategy Gaming, ...
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Brooke Vertin

Brooke is an artist, printmaker, and educator living in St. Paul. She has taught at the elementary, middle, ...
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Code Savvy

Code Savvy is a Minnesota non-profit organization that helps students and educators become more “code savvy” through creative ...
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Elizabeth (Lisa) Bottolene

Lisa is a Talent Development teacher in St. Louis Park.  She has been an educator for over 20 ...
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Ellen Scharfenberg

Ellen has been sharing her love of visual arts with young people for over seven years.  She currently ...
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Hawken Paul

Hawken Paul earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from St. Olaf College, where he performed ...
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Heather Mastel

Heather Mastel

Heather has a BA in theatre and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Hamline University. She currently ...
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Heather McKinley

For Heather, teaching is a calling and a passion. She has over 2 decades of experience, including serving ...
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Jacqueline (Jackie) Di Giacomo

Jackie is an Advanced Learning Instructor who teaches Independent Investigations (research) and Project Think (engineering design) to elementary ...
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Jennifer Noreault

Jennifer is a STEM Specialist in Lakeville Public Schools.  She has a B.A. in Elementary Education from Trinity ...
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Joan Wright

Joan has been teaching for 30 years and has worked with students in Kindergarten through 6th grade.  She ...
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Katherine Smith

Kathy is the Curriculum and Training Director at Liberty Classical Academy.  She has over 25 years of experience ...
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Laura Pettis

Laura has been teaching in the Lakeville Area Public Schools for more than two decades and is currently ...
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Leah Yoemans

Leah holds a BS in Elementary Education and Science 5-8 from Minnesota State University, Mankato and a M.Ed. ...
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Max Donsker

Max has been working in education for over 18 years and has taught all grades From K-12. He ...
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Melissa Tapper

Melissa has been in education for 20 years, working as a 1st and 3rd grade teacher, a middle ...
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Molly Hammel

Molly Hammel

Molly holds a BA in Elementary and Middle School Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and ...
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Nick Olson

Nick has a B.S. degree in Computer Science and although his day job is software development, he has ...
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Rachel McLaughlin

Rachel is currently the Gifted & Talented Services Coordinator in Inver Grove Heights, where she has worked for ...
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Russ Purdy

Russ holds a M.Ed. in Education from Hamline University. He has taught and developed science programming for the ...
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Sam Graf

In his work as a Middle School Math Teacher and Math Team Coach, Sam delights in mathematical discovery ...
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Sean Andrews

Sean is a Director of Technology and Academic Technologist with a master's degree in Learning and Emerging Technologies.  ...
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Snapology

Snapology offers enrichment classes and camps in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM). Their ...
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Sue Cranston

Sue Cranston

Sue is a working artist and professional art instructor who specializes in mixed-media art with a strong focus ...
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Tech Academy

Formerly Computer Explorers, Tech Academy has been enriching Minnesota’s children with research-based Technology and Science classes and camps ...
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VAC Enrichment

VAC Enrichment, formerly VineyardAppCamp, is a nationwide provider of in-person after school enrichment classes and summer camps. They ...
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