The History of Lindbergh Academy

The Lindbergh Academy is an on-campus alternative program for Lindbergh High School. Bess Wilfong, a teacher at Sperreng Middle School, was noticing a lot of her old students were dropping out when she went to the high school for different events. It made her wonder why, and if anything could be done. Bess Wilfong and Dr. Vic Lenz started a committee and came up with the idea of the Academy. Dr. Lenz was very interested in alternative learning. The Committee did a lot of research, had board meetings, and visited a lot of other schools that had programs such as Fernridge in the Parkway District, Positive in the Pattonville District and even went out to Colorado to look at a school there. The state then passed the Safe Schools Act, and part of that act provided grants to programs like the Academy in order to help at-risk students. The Board of Education then approved the program. Lindbergh received a grant for $125,000 and it was divided between the Academy and the Alternative to Suspension School. The Academy started in January of 1997 with two teachers, Bess Wilfong and Jim Petersen, and 25 students. It was hard for the two teachers to teach all the subjects that were going to be needed. The next school year the board approved for the Academy to hire 4 more teachers. Recently, the Academy has a new way of teaching with the 1-to-1 program in which each student gets to use a laptop for the course of the day. The program has been going very well. The goal of the Academy is to prevent kids that learn differently than others from dropping out. As an Academy student, I don’t know where I or a lot of other of my classmates would be without this wonderful program.

Patti Haberberger

What is your name?
Patti Haberberger

How long have you been teaching?
9 years


Years in the Academy?
It's my first!


Where did you go to school?
Dubourg High School, Mizzou-Undergrad, Webster-Grad.



What subject do you teach?
Reading



Whats your favorite color?
Blue



Kids? And if so do they or any other family member go to Lindbergh?
Yes, I have three boys. The oldest goes to preschool at Lindbergh.


What is your teacher link to your website?
I don't know, it's not finished yet.


How do you use technology in your class room?
PowerPoint, the web, e-mail, and hopefully more soon.


Why do you like teaching?
I love it, it keeps me on my toes.


Why did you go into education for your career?
I struggled in school, and I wanted to help other kids who struggled.


What are your hobbies?
Reading, movies, playing with my kids, and working out!


Who was your favorite teacher in school and what subject?
3rd Grade- Miss Rothery. She let me get an eraser, even though I was the only kid who didn't get 100% on my multiplication facts.

Mr. Scott Goodrich

1. What is your name?

Scott Goodrich



2.How long have you been teaching?


9 years.


3. Years in the Academy?


9 years.


4. Where did you go to school?


Harris Stowe, St.University, Lindbergh High School, Sperreng Middle School.


5. What subjects do you teach?


Director.


6. What is your favorite color?


Blue.


7. Kids? and if so do they or any other family members attend Lindbergh?


3,Madison, Morgan, and Tyler.



8. Why do you like teaching?


Yes. I love it!



9. Why did you go into education for you career?


To help students prepare themselves for life in the best possible way.



10. What are your hobbies?


Baseball, Golf, Hockey



Who was your favorite teacher growing up?


Mr.Greenstein, I had him for Geometry

Mary Topping

What is your name?


Mary Topping



How long have you been teaching?


25 years



Years in the Academy?


It's the start of 8 years.



Where did you go to school?


SLU for understudy, Webster for Masters


Why did you go into education?


To impact the lives of young people.



What subjects do you teach?


Special Education



What is your favorite color?


Red



Kids? If so do they or any other family members go to Lindbergh?


I have 3 sons. None of them go to Lindbergh.



Any special activities you sponsor?


No


Do you like teaching and why?


Some days I wonder.




What are your hobbies?


Cooking, reading, and traveling.



Who was your favorite teacher on school?


I didn't like any of my teachers.

Ms. Dee Zimmer {Kuhlo}

*How long have you been teaching?

I have been involved in teaching in some capacity for 34 years…..full time for most of those years.

* Years in the Academy?

Beginning my 9th year

* Where did you go to school?

*Kids? Do they or any other family go to Lindbergh?

My step-son graduated from LHS in 1984.

*What is your teacher link to your website?

Good question!

*Any special activities you sponsor?

On the character council for LHS

*How do you use technology in your class room?

We use the computers for research and completion of work, along with the Moodle for online instruction.

*Do you like teaching and why?

I love the “aha” moments when students “get it.” To see where they start upon their arrival and end their journey has made my experience here at the academy the best of my teaching career.

*Why did you go into education?

I didn’t really think it through too much at the time when standing in front of the adviser during my first day of college, but it has been an experience that has brought me great joy.

Mr. Hilton

How long have you been teaching?
4 years

Years in the Academy?
4 years


Where did you go to school?
Concordia University, Wisconsin and University of Missouri


What Subjects do you teach?
Social Studies and Technology


Whats your favorite color?
The color of learning.

Kids? Do they go to Lindbergh?
12 year old at Sperreng. Also, a three year old girl and a one year old son

What is your teacher link?
Socialsciences20.blogspot.com


Any special activities you sponsor?
Coach- Freshman Football, Varsity Wrestling. Sponsor-Youth in Government


How do you use technology in your class room?
For everything!

Why do you like teaching??
I like teaching because everyday I have an opportunity to make a difference.

Why did you go into education for your career?
To make a difference.

Who was your favorite teacher when you were in school?
Dr. Masthke for theology; he was a great teacher.

Community Service and Service Learning information

Community service refers to service that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local community. People become involved in community service for a range of reasons — for some, serving the community is an altruistic act. At the Academy, community service is called Service Learning. Eight hours a semester are required to pass your classes. It is a wonderful opportunity for the students to give back to the community because without it, the Academy would cease to exist. The following links are to help you find community service to do. The first one finds service in your area.

http://www.volunteermatch.org/
VolunteerMatch is a leader in the nonprofit world dedicated to helping everyone find a great place to volunteer. 3,682,591 Referrals to date, 54,346 Current opportunities, and 59,968 Member organizations

http://www.rootsandshoots.org/
Roots & Shoots, a program of the Jane Goodall Institute, is a powerful, youth-driven, global network of more than 8,000 groups in almost 100 countries. Together, youth of all ages are taking action to improve our world through service learning projects that promote care and concern for animals, the environment and the human community

http://www.wish.org/
Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® has given hope, strength and joy to children with life-threatening medical conditions. From our humble beginnings with one boy’s wish to be a police officer, we’ve evolved into an organization that grants a child’s wish in the U.S. every 40 minutes

http://www.liveunited.org/
We bring together people from all across the community–government, business, faith groups, nonprofits, the labor movement, ordinary citizens–to tackle the issues. Because we all win when a child succeeds in school, when a family becomes financially stable, when people have good health

http://www.dosomething.org/
Do Something believes you have the power to make a difference. It is our aim to inspire, support and celebrate a generation of doers: people who see the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then take action. At DoSomething.org we provide the tools and resources for you to convert your ideas and energy into positive action. Be part of a generation of doers

http://www.craigslistfoundation.org/
Craigslist Foundation creates community in the nonprofit arena by 'helping people help', regardless of cause or sector. We are uniquely positioned to support nonprofits by providing free and low cost education opportunities to emerging nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs, thereby fulfilling our mission of "Providing knowledge, resources and visibility to the next generation of nonprofit leaders."