Oct. 13, 2004

Contact Anthony Slaby at 608-796-3042 or aaslaby@viterbo.edu

VITERBO GRADUATE STUDENT NAMED STATE TEACHER OF THE YEAR

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has named Lodi High School teacher and Viterbo University graduate student Mark Kohl as its 2005 Teacher of the Year. Kohl, who is enrolled in Viterbo’s Master of Arts in Education Program, is expected to receive his degree in 2006.

Kohl, who teaches U.S. history and communications, will  represent Wisconsin at the National Teacher of the Year competition. He was originally named Wisconsin High School Teacher of the Year and then was chosen by the selection committee as the Teacher of the Year.

“It is a tremendous honor and I am proud to say Viterbo University certainly played a significant role in this achievement,” Kohl said.

Kohl was recognized by the DPI for taking concepts learned in Viterbo’s Quality Classroom Management: Disciplining Without Coercion class and implementing them in his own classroom.  His students wrote their own class preambles, constitutions, and classroom laws and used restorative justice to address consequences.