This page includes short biographies of a number of our Milwaukee Teaching Fellows that are currently teaching in MPS classrooms in order to provide a personal perspective on the background and experiences of our Fellows.

Tiffany Miller
Tiffany Miller became a Fellow for the 2009-1010 school year. Tiffany was assigned to teach at James Madison Academic Campus (JMAC) High School as a special education teacher. She received her undergraduate degree from Upper Iowa University with a degree in Marketing. Tiffany is currently pursuing her certification and Master’s degree in Special Education from Cardinal Stritch University. Before becoming a member of the Milwaukee Teaching Fellows, Tiffany worked for a tax and payroll firm. She has also been involved with a poetry, hip-hop, and visual arts collective, where she facilitated workshops on positive self-image and diversity with middle school and high school children. As a graduate of MPS schools, Tiffany believes that “…it is my responsibility to ensure that M.P.S. becomes a district of success stories again. I hope to be a part of that change through Milwaukee Teaching Fellows.”

Justin Ippoliti
Justin Ippoliti joined the Milwaukee Teaching Fellows program in the 2008-2009 school year. When Justin joined the Fellows he was assigned to Custer High School to teach in a Special Education classroom, where he is now teaching in his second year. He is currently enrolled at Cardinal Stritch University pursuing a certification and master’s degree in Special Education. Justin earned his bachelor’s degree from Cedarville University prior to earning his Juris Doctorate law degree at Regent University. Prior to joining the Milwaukee Teaching Fellows, Justin worked as a tutor and substitute teacher while in law school. Based on his experience tutoring, Justin states, “…when you go out of your way to treat each student like they have value and a place in your classroom, I believe it makes a huge and visible difference.” “For me, the look of realization that crosses a student’s face when they understand something that they previously didn’t is truly my reward. Helping them to bridge that gap between the unknown and the known gives me a strong sense of purpose that I feel is calling me into this field.”

Linda Serna
Linda Serna joined the Milwaukee Teaching Fellows program in the 2009-2010 school year. Linda teaches in a bilingual education classroom setting in her K5 classroom at Hayes Bilingual Elementary. She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work and Latin American Caribbean studies along with a certificate in Chicano/a and Latino/a studies from the University of Wisconsin, and is currently enrolled in the Cardinal Stritch Master’s of Urban Education (MUE) program. While at the University of Wisconsin, Linda organized with the MEChA student organization and served as the co-chair for the Latinos Unidos student organization. She received recognition with a community activism award from the Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies Program. During her time in Madison, Linda also coordinated a program for Latino and African-American youth involved in the juvenile justice system. "Today, as a first generation university graduate, my social responsibility has become a moral responsibility to use my privilege towards social change. I have chosen the classroom as my battleground because education is the door to opportunities and with opportunities comes the potential for societal changes.”

Claire Waldhart
Claire started with the Milwaukee Teaching Fellows program in the 2008-2009 school year as a secondary science teacher at Northwest Secondary High School, where she is now teaching for her second year. Claire has a BS degree in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Biology from Marquette University. Upon graduation, Claire stated that she felt torn between the medical field and entering the classroom as a teacher, but ultimately chose to be a Milwaukee Teaching Fellow because, in her words, “I do not underestimate the impact that dedicated, effective teachers can have on students disadvantaged by the system. I believe that every student should receive a quality education, and I want to help make this a reality.” Since her first year as a Milwaukee Teaching Fellow, Claire has contributed not only to her classroom and school community, but to other Fellows by sharing resources and classroom management and unit plans with first-year Fellows.

Patrick Tao
Patrick Tao became a Fellow in the 2008-2009 school year. He was assigned to teach at James Madison Academic Campus (JMAC) High School as a secondary science teacher, where he is now teaching for his second year. He received his undergraduate degree from Albertus Magnus College, and then earned his M.S. in Biology from the University of Miami. Prior to joining Milwaukee Teaching Fellows, Patrick worked as Laboratory Technician in labs at Yale University and Johns Hopkins University, where he published much of his work for scientific conferences. In the beginning of his school year, Patrick worked with a particularly challenging student in one of his science classes. He decided to increase his efforts and spend extra time with the student after class. Patrick states, “ [The student] and I have been working approximately one and half hours after school three times a week, every week. The one-on-one time has allowed me to properly teach and review basic principles of chemistry and most important it pulled his grade from a near zero to about a 92%.”