Our Team Grows

Tuesday, 03 January 2012

The Joe Foss Institute is thrilled to introduce the two newest members of our team, Melissa Sampson (left) and Kimberly O'Leary (right).

melissaandkim

Melissa Sampson joined the Joe Foss Institute team in November 2011, as a Curriculum Coordinator.

Melissa's background includes stops at leading e-learning curriculum companies OdysseyWare and Education2020, where she was a Curriculum Development Specialist. She has designed content for online social studies courses for 6th to 12th grades. At OdysseyWare, she wrote and edited all of the assessment items for nine social studies online courses, designed for students in 3rd through 12th grades.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Melissa studied history and phychology in college, with an emphasis in Secondary Social Studies Education. She completed multiple teaching field experiences in middle school and high school history classrooms, one of which was abroad in Jamaica. Melissa's background positions her perfectly to accelerate JFI's work on curriculum: "With an increasing focus on Common Core and STEM initiatives, social studies programs have suffered in recent years," Melissa said. "JFI gives me the opportunity to serve as an advocate for amending this educational crisis. The organization is working hard to promote civics and history in classrooms nationwide. I look forward to providing teachers with top-quality resources they can use to educate students to become active, informed citizens."

Kimberly O'Leary came aboard in January as our Sponsored Programs Coordinator, after a successful stint as the Assistant Director of Sponsored Programs at the College of Menominee Nation in Wisconsin.

With a background in journalism, and grant-writing experience that extends back into the early 1990's, she is a perfect fit for our team. She will oversee grant writing as JFI seeks to dramatically expand its impact in students' lives across America.

“I’m very excited to have joined the Joe Foss Institute team as the new Sponsored Programs Coordinator," Kimberly said. "I see a tremendous opportunity to help JFI grow its revenues so we can expand the scope and reach of our various programs.”