ABOUT US

CHAPTER OFFICERS' BIOS

Dr. Sally A. Baas, directs the Southeast Asian Teacher, Hmong Culture and Language, English as a Second Language and Special Education Programs at Concordia University, St. Paul, MN, preparing teacher candidates. She is a licensed school psychologist and university professor, who has spent many of her professional years working cross culturally in P-12 grade settings. She currently is President-Elect of the National Association of School Psychologists.

Ayenna Davis
Bio coming soon.

David Leitzman retired from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Education Department in July of 2014. Dave was inducted as a member of the PDK’s Alpha chapter at Indiana University-Bloomington in 1975, from whence he took his master’s and doctorate. After transferring his membership to the Saint Cloud State University chapter in the mid-1990’s, he briefly served as that chapter’s secretary prior to helping form our state chapter.

Florence Monsour is a professor in Teacher Education at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She has been a member of PDK since 1989 serving on the University of Minnesota/Twin Cities Chapter as Educational Foundation Representative, Research Representative, Delegate, VP of Programs and President. Currently she is the Educational Foundation Representative for the State of Minnesota Chapter #1612.

Adele Munsterman teaches Spanish in the Stillwater Area Schools.  She is an active member of Education Minnesota and Delta Kappa Gamma.  Adele is the Past President of the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures, the Minnesota Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese and the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development's Alumni Association.  She has twice been honored as a Teacher of the Year, and she has received numerous awards and recognitions from Bemidji State University, the University of Minnesota, and other organizations.

Neal Nickerson has been a member for 59 years and was the first president of the UMD (Gamma Omicron) chapter when it was formed in 1954. Dr. Nickerson has had a long career in education, beginning as a math teacher in Duluth, MN, and progressing as from teacher to principal to Professor of Educational Administration, EdPA Dep’t. U of MN. He is currently Professor Emeritus, Dep’t. of Organizational Leadership, Policy and development, College of Education & Human Development, Univ. of Minnesota.

Dr. Diane Jane Rauschenfels is currently an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth coordinating the Education Administration Program and serving as Co - Director of Graduate Studies for the Masters in Education. After gaining a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Math at UMD and a Masters in English Language Arts, Diane served as an administrator in K-12 public education for over thirty years, most of which was in the Proctor School District. Her administrative certification was gained through course work at the University of Wisconsin Superior. In 2000, her EdD was conferred through the University of Minnesota. Diane serves on numerous nonprofit boards and foundations. She enjoys reading, traveling, swimming, kayaking, and recreating with her adult sons.

Dr. Melanie Reap is an Associate Professor of Education at Winona State University. Her area of specialty is Science Education with a focus on inquiry science in elementary schools. She is currently Regional Director of the North Central Region of the Association for Science Teacher Education. Dr. Reap is also a calibrated Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) scorer.

Rosalind Robbins is a retired Minneapolis Public Schools principal. She has been a member of PDK since 1995. She is a member of Minnesota Elementary School Principals Association through which she has earned awards for the school. Rosalind has served on several boards and has collaborated in designing professional development opportunities. She completed her graduate studies at St. Thomas University and her undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota. Her interests lie in the area of reciprocal service design. She is involved with the schools and regularly volunteers.

Dr. Julia Williams is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where she teaches courses in assessment of learning and program evaluation at the undergraduate, masters and doctorate levels. She also teaches courses in the Educational Administration program.

Julia grew up in Litchfield, Minnesota, but has lived in Texas, and North Dakota, the Twin Cities, and she forgets where else before settling down in Duluth. Her work is her passion, and she has been very involved with area schools as a facilitator for continuous improvement process. She has also been involved with accreditations, as a Lead Evaluator for AdvancEd, and she has had the honor to serve as the lead evaluator on several educational projects involving area initiatives as well.

Julia lives in Duluth, where she raised her six children who have grown and pretty much left town. She is the proud grandmother of two incredibly perfect granddaughters, Amara and Margo.

Mrs. Peggy Winchell is a veteran urban educator teaching K-6 elementary students, teachers and parents for 31 years in Minneapolis Public Schools. She currently teaches all-day kindergarten at Hiawatha Community School. Peggy is a certified American Federation of Teachers Professional Development instructor for the course, Thinking Mathematics K-2. Educational background includes earning a B.S. in Elementary Education from St. Could State University and a M.S. in Education from St. Mary's University. Professional organizations include Phi Delta Kappa, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Education Minnesota.

MISSION & VISION