Commencement tip sheet
Released: May 14, 2003
The purpose of this tip sheet is to highlight interesting and extraordinary students who will be graduating this spring or summer from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. Please consider the following graduates who offer good feature angles.
Student’s passion eliminates fear
Nate Modder of Kenosha has molded himself into a public relations dream for the Epilepsy Foundation of Southern Wisconsin. Modder, who has epilepsy and cerebral palsy, gives presentations on behalf of the foundation to groups ranging from schools to major businesses.
Modder is majoring in social work and has become a fixture at the foundation’s headquarters in Janesville. He deals with clients by addressing concerns, providing information, counseling and making referrals.
“I’m so impressed with how well received Nate is when he visits schools,” said Pat Robinson, executive director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Southern Wisconsin. “The kids love him, they pay attention and most importantly he makes the fear they may have go away.”
Modder will attend commencement ceremonies on May 17, but will finish his credits for completion of his degree this summer.
Nate Modder—(262) 472-4158, ModderNJ04@uww.edu
Camp director creates dreams
Jon Feucht of Waupun, could be compared to the Wizard of Oz, but the man behind the curtain at UW-Whitewater knows it takes more than clicking your heels to get anywhere in life. Feucht is the founder and director of the Authentic Voices of America Camp, which runs each summer at the university.
His camp helps young people with severe expressive speech disabilities who use an augmentative device to communicate. Feucht thought it was important to assemble these young people who have the potential to go on to post-high school education, by spending time establishing and building confidence and self-esteem. For many, it is their first time away from home.
“Jon not only helps these kids reach their dreams, he helps them dream,” said Connie Wiersma, assistant director in Rehabilitation and Technology Services at the university. “He has a real enthusiasm for helping young people with disabilities so they can learn and achieve much more than they think.”
Feucht is a psychology major who plans on attending graduate school at UW-Whitewater.
Jon Feucht—(920) 324-2194, FeuchtJA17@uww.edu
Will Betty Ortman ever go back to school again?
Betty Willever Ortman of Beloit, a 64-year-old retired paralegal, whose maiden name, Willever, describes her to a tee. Ortman is a woman who has lived well. But twice in her life she decided to shake things up a bit.
Ortman enrolled in 1983 at UW-Rock County in Janesville to motivate her daughter, Betty Simpson, to stay in school. And it worked. Simpson received her undergraduate degree in Letters and Sciences in 1987 from UW-Whitewater, and Ortman received her associate degree in 1985 and quit school.
Sixteen years later, after retiring from her job as a paralegal, moving to Lac Du Flambeau and back to Beloit, Ortman decided to follow the signs and go back to school again. The first sign was that she couldn’t handle 24 hours-per-day of togetherness with her husband, and the second sign was a billboard that advertised ‘Get your four-year degree through UW-Whitewater at Janesville.’
In fall 2001, Ortman enrolled at UW-Whitewater to get a collaborative degree by attending classes at U-Rock that are taught by UW-Whitewater instructors. Ortman considers herself a “life-long-learner type of person who reads a lot and really likes to learn.” Ortman will be walking in the commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17, and together with Dennis Decker and Andy Yeadon, will be the first three graduates of the U-Rock Collaborative degree program through UW-Whitewater.
Betty Willever Ortman––(608) 365-5097, OrtmanBJ22@uww.edu
- Cindy Vergenz,vergenzc@uww.edu
