RISE UP
RISE UP
their lives, their health and their history. The resulting data drives her determination to create culturally responsive counseling treatment locally. It has gained international interest along the way. Before coming to Mount Mary, Denny spent 15 years in the mental health field, including Milwaukee Public Schools, and knew that behavioral concerns among Native American youth — chronic absenteeism, suicidal tendencies, human trafficking, homelessness, substance use and sexual assault — were the after-effects of trauma generations in the making. Next month, she will present her research at an international conference in Cape Town, South Africa, with Mount Mary counseling faculty members Carrie King and Tammy Scheidegger.
By zeroing in on a particular cultural group, she is creating a model to help everyone, regardless of their background. While personal and collective stories are unique, she said, the physical pain and emotional suffering caused by trauma are universal. Her nonprofit counseling practice is named the HIR Wellness Center; HIR stands for Healing Intergenerational Roots. “My vision is that together we will heal all of our nations,” she said. “We are an extension of our ancestor’s legacies.”
AMY RAMIREZ, ’12 AND ‘16 MPS STUDENTS TELL INSPIRING SCIENCE TEACHER, “I CAN SEE MYSELF IN YOU”
During her first year of teaching, Amy Ramirez remembers reviewing her school’s standardized test scores, and bursting into tears.
THE MORE YOU LEARN THE MORE HELPLESS YOU FEEL, BUT THEN YOU BEGIN TO REALIZE ALL THAT YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE.
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The scores revealed ninth graders functioning at a firstgrade level. They revealed the plight of a generation on the verge of adulthood, with bleak prospects for fulfillment. “It broke my heart, knowing how difficult it is to get out of poverty and succeed,” said Ramirez, a bilingual science teacher at South Division High School on Milwaukee’s South Side.
A health science chemistry major at Mount Mary, Students in Ramirez worked STEM-related as an analytical majors at Mount Mary chemist in a metals (biology, chemistry and lab but found the math) have increased job “boring.” She 200% over the past 6 years. felt a calling to help students, particularly girls, in Milwaukee. Now in her third year of teaching,
Minority women comprise fewer than 1 in 10 employed scientists and engineers. National Science Foundation
Students often tell Ramirez she has a knack for understanding — and motivating — them.
Ramirez teaches science to three distinct student groups: Native speakers of English, a bilingual class for Hispanic students and a separate class for non-English speakers, most of whom are refugees. She has been interviewed on the radio and featured on the MPS website during Teacher Appreciation Week. South Division is one of nine high schools in MPS that offer pre-engineering coursework known as Project Lead the Way; South Division also offers STEM coursework designed to ignite interest in science and technology careers. At South Division, she is the only female among the 10 members of the school’s science faculty, and is well aware of her need to lead by example. Her classroom is unabashedly feminine, decorated with pink and purple streamers because “a feminine environment is empowering to girls,” she said. In her spare time she coaches the cheerleading team.
This type of outreach also sends a message to boys, “showing that women are strong and that science is not just for white males.”
“We have to bring them up to succeed,” she said.
CYNTHIA LACONTE, ‘84 CONFIDENCE IN A VISION GUIDES BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY LEADER
Executive leaders such as Cynthia LaConte, ‘84, shape their organizations by stepping into a void in leadership — a void that calls for women to use their influence in service to a greater good.
KNOWING WHY YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR IS VERY LIBERATING.
She takes special care in creating lesson plans for students who are pregnant or caring for children, anything to keep them from dropping out.
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