Staff Directory

Academic Dean

Stephanie Ihler

Stephanie Ihler became interested in both teaching and second language acquisition after studying and living in Japan for four years. She subsequently went on to earn her teaching credentials and is currently licensed to teach secondary ESL, Japanese and English in the states of Arizona, Indiana and Wisconsin. She joined the SJNA faculty in the summer of 2010.

Registrar

Lynette Ahlgren

Lynette Ahlgren started working for the Academy in the spring of 2000 assisting in the library and managing the archives. In the fall of 2008, she became the administrative assistant in the academic office. She is the recipient of the 2005 Nita Farrand Staff Excellence Award.

Science Instructor

Scott Ahlgren

Scott joined St. John’s Northwestern Academies in the fall of 1991. He earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and a Master of Science in entomology from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. In 1997 he was selected by his peers to receive the Roy F. Farrand Excellence in Teaching Award. Scott also coaches track and conducts hunter safety classes. Prior to teaching he spent six seasons as a forest technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Montana. In addition, he has worked for the National Park Service as a cave guide at Jewel Cave National Monument. When not teaching Scott enjoys wandering the wild lands of America.

College Counselor & Spanish Instructor

Heidi Beck Curtes

Heidi Beck joined SJNA in August 2018 as a Spanish instructor and college counselor. For the past 20 years, she has worked with the Latino community in the greater Milwaukee area and is currently president of the Hispanic Collaborative Network. She spends a great deal of her time empowering and supporting the Latino community. She is excited to help students pragmatically learn about the culture and language of Spanish speaking people. Her education includes an MA in Spanish from Marquette University, a BA in Spanish and Latin American studies from UW-Madison, and a minor from Carroll University in secondary education.

History Instructor

Jon Bennett

Jon Bennett graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a degree in history and broad field of social sciences. He has taught in both private and public schools. In addition to teaching, he coaches baseball.

Chinese Instructor/Director of Asian Affairs

Ping Braatz

Ping Yao Braatz earned her Master of Science degree in mathematics at Southern Illinois University, a master’s degree of computer science at Dalian University of Technology in China, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in computer science and applications at Northeastern University in China. She has resided in the United States since 1997. She teaches Chinese at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and also has experience teaching math and computer science at the college level.

Chemistry Instructor

Rob Braman

1993 Alumnus of the University of Dayton with a BS in Environmental Engineering Technology and BS in Industrial Engineering Technology, started teaching chemistry in 2004 after working 10 years in the environmental permitting and consulting field.

Drum Instructor

Dan Brill

Dan Brill joined SJNA in the fall of 2017 as drumming instructor of The Pipes and Drums of SJNA, working with the bagpipe instructor. As a full-time professional musician and drumming teacher, he performs with several national and international touring rock bands. He also serves as Drum Sergeant for the Chicago Highlanders Pipe Band on parade and in competition throughout the Midwest. With over 15 years of experience and having studied at Columbia College Chicago, he enjoys passing on theoretical tools, musical knowledge and practical technique to his many dedicated drumming students.

Study Skills and Math Instructor/TLC Support

Marla Collins

Marla Collins graduated in 2010 from Lee University in Tennessee with a degree in special education mild/moderate disabilities K-12 and minor in Bible. She played basketball all four years of college and earned a full-tuition basketball scholarship. She began her teaching career in Nashville, Tennessee, at Cheatham County High School, and taught there from 2010-2014. She moved to Wisconsin and continued her teaching career in the School District of New Berlin at Eisenhower Middle/High School from 2014-2017. She joined SJNA in June 2017.

Band Instructor

Conrad Jorgensen

Conrad Jorgensen joined SJNA in 2007 as director of the SJNA Band after completing tenure in Central Wisconsin’s Weyauwega-Fremont School District where he spent 16 years developing a successful band program. He studied trumpet extensively while he was a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree, and has been a professional trumpet player throughout Wisconsin since 1987. In 2015, he became the golf head coach.

Director of Military Operations

James Kebisek

LTC Jim Kebisek, U.S. Army (Ret.), earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Science from Florida Tech. Upon retirement from the military in 1993 as an Army Corps of Engineer Officer, he joined the Academy and assumed the position of JROTC Senior Army Instructor. In addition to teaching and managing the leadership training program of the academy, LTC Kebisek was the camp director of Camp St. John’s Northwestern from its establishment in 1995 until 2010.

German Instructor

Ann-Christin Kloth

Ann-Christin Kloth joined SJNA in August 2010 as German Instructor. She was born and raised in Germany and moved to the United States in 2007. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Engineering from the University of Applied Science in Stuttgart, Germany. After working with diverse companies in customer service and sales as an executive, she decided to change her career to become a full-time riding instructor, founding her own business in 2005. Teaching has been always her passion and she has 35 years of teaching experience in various settings. She teaches German online at UWM Milwaukee and serves at SJNA as Foreign Language department chair.

ESL Instructor

Anita Lemperger

Anita Lemperger joined SJNA in 2011 for the first time to teach ESL classes to international cadets during the Academic OPS program. She graduated from the University of Veszprem, Hungary, with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. In 2019, she received her master’s diploma in curriculum and instruction from Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. She also holds a reading teaching license from the State of Wisconsin. She was awarded the Outstanding Educator Award by the Mequon-Thiensville School District where she worked as a district ESL specialist between 2009 and 2019. She worked with students from various language and cultural backgrounds.

Director of the Totzke Learning Center

Polly Mauer

Mrs. Mauer has been with the Academy since October 2016. Prior to coming to St. John’s Northwestern, Mrs. Mauer taught in the Wisconsin public schools for 29 years, teaching in a variety of grade levels. She is also a parent of a SJNMA 2011 graduate. Her favorite part of being at St John’s Northwestern is building relationships with the students in order to help them succeed and thrive in their environment.

Math Instructor

Charles Miller

Charles Miller has been teaching at SJNA since 1993. He has a master’s degree in education, Bachelor of Science degrees in engineering and applied mathematics, and an associate’s degree in financial planning. He holds two state teaching licenses. He served 10 years in the United States Air Force, three of which were as an instructor. His military decorations include the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Air Force Achievement Medal. He teaches Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Personal Finance, and is the chess coach at the Academy.

Social Studies Instructor

Dave Muse

Dave Muse received a Master of Arts in history from Marquette University in 2007, finished a Graduate Teacher Program in 2013 and received his Master of Science in education in 2015. He taught English in northern China from 2007-2008, and has taught face-to-face and online history courses at several universities over the last ten years. Prior to teaching, he worked as an assistant manager for a catering company for several years.

English Instructor

David Pederson

David Pederson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education and English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, after eight years of service in both the U.S. Army and National Guard, and service in Operation Desert Storm. In 2011, he received a master’s in curriculum and instruction from UW-Milwaukee and currently teaches a course in children’s and young adult literature there. He was awarded the Outstanding First Year Teacher Award for the state of Wisconsin by the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English Language Arts for the 2005-2006 school year, and was recognized for inclusion in the 2006 edition of “Who’s Who Among American Teachers and Educators.” At SJNA, he previously served as an English teacher at the middle school level, the Middle School Department chair and yearbook advisor.

Bagpipe Instructor, Librarian and Archives Manager

Ben Peterson

Ben Peterson has an academic background in the humanities and the library science fields. His undergraduate studies, specifically in regards to their emphasis on research, encouraged him to pursue his graduate work in library sciences. Throughout his graduate studies, and for some time following, he worked as an archivist for the Black Metropolis Research Consortium. His focus there was on the processing, accessibility and organization of historical collections from the Black Diaspora of the Chicago area. Prior to joining SJNA in the fall of 2019, he spent five years working in healthcare talent acquisition in Chicago. He began his work in this area as a corporate researcher and eventually moved into a role as a recruiter. He began his study of bagpipes at the age of nine. Since that time, he has advanced his skills as both a solo competitor and performer as well as having a great focus on competitive band performance. He has been competitive since the age of 11, and has been actively involved with solo instruction and band leadership since he was 15. Outside of his instructional role at SJNA, he also provides solo instruction both in person and virtually as well as teaches group and band workshops, and is currently the Pipe Major of the Greater Midwest Pipe Band based out of Battle Creek, Michigan.

Computer Instructor

Jon Pickelmann

Jon Pickelmann earned his bachelor’s degree from Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin, and his master’s degree from Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. He became a member of the SJNA staff in 2019 starting with Summer OPS. He has nearly 20 years of experience in teaching and school administration, and is a volunteer firefighter.

Social Studies Instructor

Greg Prospero

Gregory Prospero graduated from Marquette University with a major in history and a minor in education. He spent six months studying abroad at Loyola University Rome Campus in Italy. He received a master’s in education curriculum and instruction from National Louis University. He has teaching experiences in both religious studies and history for over 26 years in both private and public high schools. He joined SJNA in August 2018.

Math Instructor

Robert Roehrkasse

COL Robert Roehrkasse, Ph.D., is director of cadet advancement and the Mathematics Department chair. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and a Master of Science degree and Doctorate degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Air War College, and has served as an interim commandant and dean at SJMA. He has taught at the United States Air Force Academy as well as other baccalaureate, graduate, community and technical colleges. He also served as a research associate at the University of Chicago, and has published 11 professional papers. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in September 1991 after 26 years of service. At the Military Airlift Command, he provided analysis of airlift operations in direct support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal with one device, the Air Force Commendation Medal with one device, and the National Defense Service Medal with one device.

Physics/Engineering Instructor

Ed Scharf

Ed Scharf joined the faculty of SJNA in fall 2013. He teaches two engineering courses, physics, and AP Physics 1. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1973. After having spent five years in the Infantry Branch of the United States Army and 33 years on his family dairy farm, he obtained his teaching certification through Marian University in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He spent two years teaching chemistry at a private Catholic high school in Fond du Lac and one year at Mayville Public High School teaching algebra before joining SJNA.

PE Instructor

Jon Schmidt

Jon Schmidt is the head of the physical education, strength and conditioning department. He received his Bachelor of Science in education in health, human performance and recreation from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a minor in coaching/management in 2010. At UWW, he was an NCAA All-American in wrestling as well as an Academic All-American. He is a certified strength and conditioning coach through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a Level 2 advanced sports performance coach through USA Weightlifting, and has been coaching college, high school and youth wrestling since 2008.

Social Studies Instructor

Timothy Shramek

Timothy Shramek earned his Bachelor of Science degree in education with a major in Broadfield Social Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1998. He joined SJNA in 1999, and teaches American Government, world history and geography.

English Instructor

Perry Siebers

Perry Siebers earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carroll College in Waukesha in 1981, and a Master of Science degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1992. He joined the English faculty at SJNA in 1981 and today, is the English Department chair. He also coaches prep soccer, basketball and varsity tennis.

English Instructor

Michael Stadler

Michael Stadler began teaching at SJNA in summer 2013. He earned Bachelor’s degrees in English and Secondary Education at Coastal Carolina University, and is certified in online education. He teaches American Studies Honors English and English 10, and has coached varsity baseball since 2015.

JROTC Instructor

Michael Trione

SFC Michael Trione, U.S. Army (Ret.), is an instructor with the JROTC program. He is a 21-year veteran of active duty service including Desert Storm. During his Army career as an Infantry soldier, he served as a team leader through platoon sergeant. He also completed numerous military schools, including Air Assault, Airborne, Rappel Master, Sniper, Recruiting and Drill Sergeant. He joined the Academy in August 2007, shortly before his retirement from the military. He has a Bachelor of Science in organizational leadership from Colorado State University.

Mathematics Instructor

Timothy Vice

I am entering my 26 year of teaching in which 25 of those years have been teaching mathematics at St. John’s Northwestern. I received my Bachelor’s Degree Secondary Mathematics Education from the University of South Dakota and received my Masters’ Degree in Mathematics Education from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. This year, I am teaching Geometry, Honors Geometry and Honors Trigonometry / Pre – Calculus.

Director of Athletics

Michael Fink

Mike Fink earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater along with a masters in curriculum and instruction from the University of Phoenix. Joining SJNA in July 2018, he brings 35 years of experience in the education field. His experiences include special education teacher, lead educator at Kettle Moraine’s off-campus alternative school, dean of students, and 18 years as activities director. He has spent his last 28 years at Kettle Moraine High School. He has coached numerous sports including baseball, basketball, girls fastpitch for 22 years, and football for 25 years.

English Instructor

Lindsey Lopez

Math Instructor

Kyla T. Erickson

Kyla Erickson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Wheaton College, Illinois and is certified to teach in the state of Wisconsin. She has taught high school mathematics in both private and public settings since 2011 and joined the staff at SJNA in the fall of 2020. In addition, she has owned and run a small business, Vagabonde Bags, since 2003 and has enjoyed playing piano in many settings throughout the years.

English Instructor

Amy Karsten

Amy Karsten earned her Bachelor’s Degree in professional communication at Alverno College in Milwaukee, a Master’s Degree in education at Carroll University in Waukesha, and is currently working toward a Master’s Degree in school counseling at Concordia University in Mequon. She is an adjunct instructor in the communication and technology division at Alverno College. At St. John’s Northwestern Leadership Academy, she has taught English and Technology classes. Before becoming a teacher, she worked for ten years in marketing and graphic design and was a co-owner of a small marketing agency in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

Spanish Instructor

Eloisa Palacios

Eloisa Palacios was born and raised in Sonora, Mexico. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Hispanic Literature and a Master Degree in Education. She has been certified as a B2 in German by the ÖSD. She was an English and German teacher at Universidad de Sonora and at Instituto Tecnológico de Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico. She moved to the United States in 2018 and joined SJNA in August 2020.

Science Instructor

Robert Geiger

Robert Geiger graduated from UW-Madison with a BS in Agriculture in 1988 specializing in both Horticulture and Plant Sciences. He spent six years working in the field of landscaping as a designer and plant procurement specialist for two major landscape firms in SE WI. He then started and owned and operated a design-build landscape firm for 12 years also serving SE WI. While owning his business he began attending Cardinal Stritch University in 2000 to obtain his teaching certification. He received his M.Ed. from Cardinal Stritch in 2001. He holds four WI teaching licenses in the field of science. He previously taught at Grafton High School in WI for 18 years in the science department instructing courses in Biology, Earth Science, AP Environmental Science, Regular Environmental Science, Zoology/Botany, and Geology and Earth Systems. He joined SJNA in August 2020.

Art Instructor

Heidi Schueller

After earning her degree in Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin Platteville, Heidi continued with graduate courses in Art Education at Carroll University. She has an emphasis in graphic design and marketing. She studied the traditional form of mosaic art in Italy at the Ravenna Mosaic School of Art. Heidi has extensive knowledge and experience teaching fine arts to adults with disabilities. She continues her involvement with art education through on-line courses and participates regularly in art retreats while creating mixed media projects at home.