From left: Nelson Raisbeck and Curtis Hall of TDS, Laura Masbruch, Anna Jensen of TDS, Silvana del Val, Greg Stewart
By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
The entire student body, teachers and staff at Whitewater High School (WHS) were assembled in the gym on Wednesday, October 23 at 10:15 a.m. for an unannounced purpose. Kate McNulty opened the session by celebrating that the student body had thus far exceeded the goal for attendance, with over 3/4 of the students being present 98% of the time or greater. McNulty then introduced Anna Jensen of TDS Telecom, who announced that the company had reviewed over 40 nominations from around the state for their WI Most Valuable Educator Award, which honors a person working in schools and making a difference in the lives of students and their community. TDS had chosen a WHS teacher, namely Laura Masbruch for the recognition. Masbruch, who was obviously surprised, received hearty applause as she joined Jensen and the two teachers who had nominated her.
Multilingual teacher Silvana del Val, who told The Whitewater Banner that she’s originally from Argentina, shared the following reasons why she nominated Masbruch, who’s been with the school since 1993 and teaches computer science, math, and robotics.
“To me, Ms. Masbruch, Laura, is the epitome of an exceptional teacher. I have the privilege to have been her co-teacher in Pre-Algebra since 2023. During this time, she has always brought to the table innovative approaches to make her classes more appealing, more meaningful for her students. She uses visuals, manipulatives, charts, videos, tables, chants and whatever resource you can imagine to engage her students. This unique feature makes her perfect when it comes to ML [multilingual learner] students, as she naturally offers multiple scaffolding strategies that aid emerging bilinguals in their understanding of new concepts.
Her class notes were amazing last year; she made sure they were translated into Spanish from beginning to end but this year, they are even better! She has incorporated most of the techniques the ML department included in their professional development session in August. As for instructional time, she paces herself when speaking in English and makes a conscientious effort to make herself understood to ALL her students by enunciating with intention and avoiding idioms or proverbs that would only mislead non-native speakers of English. Seeing our students’ eager and frequent participation today speaks volumes of the amazing job Laura has been doing since day 1. Our learners have become more autonomous, enthusiastic and certainly less apprehensive of the big math monster!
She works so hard for her students and dedicates more time to them than anyone I know. Apart from her Pre-Algebra class, she devotes tons of her personal time to the growth of the robotics team, Ferradermis, so much so that last school year, they made it to the national championship in Texas.
In conclusion, as a teacher, Ms. Masbruch is impeccable. As a co-teacher, she is empowering, capacitating, enabling. And most important of all, as a human being, she is simply unique.”
Social Studies teacher Greg Stewart, the other nominator, focused his remarks on Masbruch’s much appreciated many efforts to keep the community informed of athletic and other events. She maintains the school’s Facebook page and also regularly posts news to The Whitewater Banner.
Masbruch, who was described as a big Packers fan, received a Green Bay Packers prize package that includes two tickets to the January 5 game against Chicago, as well as the opportunity to take a group of students to Lambeau Field to tour the stadium and meet with a team alum.
“We’re proud to honor our educators who work tirelessly every single day to help students achieve and make our communities a better place. Laura is an incredible teacher who for years has made a deep impact on students and her fellow educators. We were excited to shine a spotlight on her with the Wisconsin Most Valuable Educator Award,” said Anna Jensen, TDS associate manager of Field Marketing, who presented her with the award.
Madison-based TDS has served Wisconsin for 55 years. The company is continuing construction on a high-speed, all-fiber internet network in Whitewater, with work ongoing to expand to more neighborhoods. TDS is also building in several other Wisconsin communities including Janesville, Eau Claire, Appleton, and Green Bay. For more information, visit TDSFiber.com.
