Outlook Magazine - Fall 2017

COVER STORY

TEEING IT UP for Toby

SPECIAL connection Moders establish scholarship, thankful for help daughter received

SPECIAL CONNECTION CONT. The Moders, now of Oshkosh, established the Moder Family Special Education Scholarship through the Stout University Foundation to motivate and inspire UW-Stout students pursuing a special education degree. The first recipient received $1,000 in fall 2016. “We understand firsthand the huge difference special education teachers make in each student's school life. Those who enter this field are special too because their skills are specialized to serve students with an array of complex needs,” Chuck said. The Moders emphasize that as the prevalence of autism increases so does the need for special education teachers. The couple married in June 1985, soon after their UW-Stout graduation. Chuck has an industrial technology degree with an electronics concentration and earned advanced management degrees at St. Mary's University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He is an industrial performance manager at Bel Brands, a French-owned cheese company in Little Chute. Dawn completed a clothing, textiles and design degree with an apparel manufacturing concentration and earned a master's of library and information science from St. Catherine's University in St. Paul. She is a mental health prison librarian at Wisconsin Resource Center in Winnebago. Now 27, Whitney lives with Chuck and Dawn, works at Culver’s and volunteers at the Oshkosh Humane Society. “We hope our success story of Whitney's education and the scholarship we’ve established can impact a UW-Stout student's educational dream by lessening financial burden,” Dawn said.

Annual golf tournament raises money for hospitality scholarships Alumni Toby Landgraf’s passion for education lives on through the Toby Foundation’s annual charity golf tournament, which has raised more than $500,000 since 1986 to provide scholarships for about 400 hospitality students from Minnesota. Each year the Toby Tournament draws about 150 golfers from companies in the hospitality field, many of them UW-Stout alumni. About 20 volunteers plan the event, including UW-Stout alumni.

Chuck and Dawn Moder ’85 have understood the value of skilled special education teachers ever since their daughter, Whitney, who has autism, thrived with support from amazing teachers in Northfield, Minn., public schools. “Her special education teachers worked with us to develop an individual education plan specific to Whitney’s skills, needs and abilities. They often offered help and suggestions for appropriate accommodations for regular education classes. They did daily lesson reinforcement and organized homework,” Dawn said. Whitney graduated from high school in 2009 and earned a letter in swimming. She was especially gifted at art. She earned a one- year certificate in early childhood development from South Central College in Faribault, Minn. (cont. on next page)

ALUMNI GIVE BACK

Andrea Gustafson, second from right, planning committee chair, poses with three student winners of the 2016 Toby J. Landgraf Endowed Scholarship. They are, from left, Maria Lewis, Ellen Plumb and Leah Riddle.

“Most of the reps, dealers, factories and end users that are involved with the tournament all seem to have at least one person who attended UW-Stout,” said Zach Weisman, this year’s tournament planning committee chairman. Weisman, a sales associate at the Yes Group, based in St. Paul, began attending the tournament as a boy with his father, whose company supports the tournament. The Toby Foundation was formed by hospitality professionals to honor colleague Toby Landgraf, an admired equipment representative and co-owner of Vader and Landgraf Corporation in Minneapolis before his untimely death in 1985 at age 38. Memorial gifts to the family were pooled by the Landgrafs and given to UW-Stout to establish the Toby J. Landgraf Endowed Scholarship. The scholarships are awarded to hospitality students from Minnesota. In fall 2016, four UW-Stout students each received a $1,850 scholarship. Scholarships also are provided to culinary students attending a Minnesota two-year college through the American Culinary Federation Minneapolis Chef’s Chapter. Steve Sizemore, who studied hospitality and tourism and is pursuing his masters in operation supply chain management at UW-Stout, was on the tournament planning committee for four years. “I’m interested in anything I can do to help students pay for school,” said Sizemore, a construction project manager for Supervalu. The 2017 Toby Tournament was held Aug. 14 at the Minnesota Valley Country Club in Bloomington, Minn. Visit www.tobytournament.org for more information. GIVING BACK to UW-Stout Ways to give back to the university you love: • Present to classes • Host an internship/co-op for students • Engage in volunteer opportunities on campus • Join your program’s Advisory Board • Make a donation • Support a student with a scholarship • Host an alumni event To contact UW-Stout about volunteer opportunities, email: alumni@uwstout.edu To see the new UW-Stout Alumni Pride video, go to: vimeo.com/ 187573343/ b3745eee13

Dawn and Chuck Moder

Shaking It

for a cure

Alumni and students dance for Duchenne muscular dystrophy For seven years UW-Stout alumni, students and staff have come together to move their muscles for boys and men who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy, raising $36,000 for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy. The annual Just Shake It For Duchenne Zumba Party is held in Menomonie. The March 4, 2017, event drew 190 people, raising a total of $4,000 through donations. The 2018 event will be held Feb. 24. Most of the Zumba dance instructors have been UW-Stout alumni, and the UW-Stout Dance Team and Menomonie High School dance team help keep dancers energized during the 1½-hour workout. Zumba instructors have included Alyssa Smith, Khendra Johnson, Amanda Mitchell, Shelly Olson, Kenzie Barrett, Allie Werner, Kelly Ledwein, Jenn Tack and Jonnise Hazuka. Alumna Melissa Devery is the event photographer. Also, Tara Verdon, an alumna and owner of Red Cedar Dance Company, has volunteered.

A gym floor is filled with participants in the Just Shake It For Duchenne Dance Party in Menomonie. Photo by Melissa Devery.

“The instructors make it a fun event,” said Nicki Welsch, a Zumba instructor at BodyWorks in Menomonie. Welsch helped start the event and has become its director. Her son, Chase, is the event DJ and a manufacturing engineering major at UW-Stout. The idea for the event came from Kathryn Rothe Schiefelbein, a 2011 alumna. Three local men, Brett Boettcher and brothers Tom Platz and Mark Platz, have the disorder. Tom Platz earned a packaging engineering degree from UW-Stout in 2010, and his parents Don and Nancy Platz are retired UW-Stout instructors. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a progressive muscle disorder that causes loss of muscle function and independence, affecting approximately one of every 3,500 boys. Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy’s mission is to improve the quality of life and long-term outlook for individuals affected by Duchenne through research, education, advocacy and compassion.

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