Mishicot’s Justin Gerlach speaks at Madison Teacher Speakout! event

November 18, 2019

The Herald Times Reporter (USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Justin Gerlach, a high school science teacher at Mishicot High School who in 2018 was named Rural Wisconsin Teacher of the Year, was a panelist at the third annual Teachers Speakout! event Friday at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research in Madison.

The Friday event was followed by field trips on Saturday at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.

Gerlach was one of 19 rural STEM educators from 18 Wisconsin school districts to participate in the Teacher Speakout! event, which is hosted by the Rural Education Research and Implementation Center. A news release said the goal of the Teacher Speakout! "is to bring the voices of rural teachers into a collaborative, public forum with researchers, legislators and rural school advocates."

Wisconsin Center for Education Research Director Robert Mathieu said in the news release, “The event will bring the knowledge of our teacher partners directly to campus so our research is better informed and can respond most effectively on behalf of students in rural school districts in Wisconsin.”