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Dana Marcinkus’s Professional Portfolio

Educational Professional (2007-Present)

Education is the road to discovery, reflection, and growth, both as an individual and as a citizen of our world. In our personal educational journey, we have the chance to obtain an immense amount of knowledge and understanding; however, what holds an even greater importance is what we choose to do with that knowledge and how we put it into practice to make the world around us a better place.

Educational History

Bachelor’s of Science in Communication Digital Media (Carthage College)

  • Major: Communication Digital Media
  • Major: English
  • 2002-2006
    • Yearbook Editor (2.5 years)
    • Newspaper Reporter and Photographer (4 years)
    • Resident Assistant (6 semesters)
    • Office of Alumni Event Planning Assistant (2 years)
    • WURHA Delegate (2 years)
    • Alpha Lambda Delta – English Honorary Fraternity (3.5 years)

Master’s in Education & Teaching Licensure (Carthage College)

  • 2007-2010
  • Emphasis: AP Language and Composition Curriculum

Education Work History

Kenosha Unified School District 
*2007-2008
– Long-Term Substitute (K-12)

Racine Unified School District 
*2008-2009
– Jerstad-Agerholm Middle School (8th grade English)		Racine Unified School District
*2009-Present
– Horlick High School (10-12 English)
AP Language and Composition
World Literature
AP Seminar
AP Research
American Literature
Science Fiction Literature
Mystery Literature
Creative Writing
Newspaper
Yearbook
– Academy Team Lead
Academy of Education & Technical Services

Professional Development History

UW-Milwaukee National Writing Project
*2013-Present
– National Writing Project Teacher Consultant
– Project/Presentation: Revision in the Classroom
*2015
– Summer Session Instructor		UW-Milwaukee Advanced National Writing Project
*2016

UW-Milwaukee National Writing Project Conference Presenter
*2014 – Revision in the Classroom
*2017 – Portfolio Grading in the Classroom
AP College Board Workshops
*2019
– AP Research Summer APSI
*2018
– AP Seminar Summer APSI
*2017
– AP Language and Composition Veteran Teachers
*2015
– AP Language and Composition Veteran Teachers
*2013
– AP Language and Composition Veteran Teachers		AP Reader 
*2018 
*2020
*2021
National Board Certified Teacher (2019) & Google Level 1 Certified Educator (2020)

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AP Seminar – Unit 4

UNIT 4:

Question & Explore: How Do I Formulate Questions to Prompt Further Investigation?

BIG IDEA 1: Question and Explore

LO 1.4A Evaluating the relevance and credibility of the source of information and data in relation to the inquiry.

LO 1.5A Identifying the information needed for the context of the inquiry.

BIG IDEA 2: Understand and Analyze Arguments

LO 2.2C Evaluating the validity of an argument.

LO 2.3B Evaluating potential resolutions, conclusions, or solutions to problems or issues raised by an argument.

BIG IDEA 3: Evaluate Multiple Perspectives

LO 3.1A Identifying, comparing, and interpreting multiple perspectives on or argument about an issue.

BIG IDEA 4: Synthesize Ideas

LO 4.4A Extending an idea, question, process, or product to innovate or create new understandings.

LO 4.5A Offering resolutions, conclusions, and/or solutions based on evidence considering limitations and implications.

ASSESSMENTS:

Individual Assessment – Individual Research Based Essay Practice

*Each student will read and analyze a teacher given stimulus source packet, identify thematic connections among them and possible areas of inquiry. (S)He will then compose a research questions of his/her own; conduct research; analyze ; evaluate, and select evidence to develop an argument; and present and defend their conclusion. The final paper must incorporate at least one of the provided sources. This will be graded using the IWA rubric. *IWA Practice*

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Mrs. Marcinkus

Mrs. Marcinkus chose a career in education in the Summer of 2007.

After graduation from Carthage College (Kenosha, WI) in May of 2006 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in English, Communication, and Digital Media, she worked on campus as an event planner for Carthage’s Office of Alumni Relations until she moved on to work as a Communications Assistant for a Healthcare Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Realizing shortly into the gig that this just wasn’t the career for her, Mrs. Marcinkus chose to leave the field and head back to school.

In the fall of 2007, she began substitute teaching for the Kenosha Unified School District, and after just a few days, Mrs. Marcinkus knew this was her life’s dream… to be a teacher. That Spring, she enrolled in Carthage’s Accelerated Education Program, and in the Fall of 2008, began her career as a full-time educator with the Racine Unified School District as an 8th grade English teacher. Fall of 2009, Mrs. Marcinkus moved to Horlick High School, where she is still teaching today. Throughout her tenure at Horlick, her classes have included AP Language and Composition, Creative Writing, Yearbook, Newspaper, Science Fiction Literature, Mystery Literature, American Literature, World Literature, AP Seminar, and AP Research.

In 2010, she completed her Master’s in Education from Carthage College after successfully completing a thesis about creating and following an annual AP Language and Composition curriculum.

In the Fall of 2013, Mrs. Marcinkus embarked on yet another adventure in the field of education and became Horlick’s Girls’ JV and Assistant Varsity Coach, and every season since, she has loved coaching more and more. In the Winter of 2013, Mrs. Marcinkus also began coaching club volleyball with Racine Juniors. In the Summer of 2017, Coach Dana moved to EPIC Volleyball Club in their inaugural sand volleyball season. Also, in the Fall of 2017, she stepped up her challenge as a Coach and took on the Boys Varsity program at Horlick as Head Coach. As Boy’s Varsity Head Coach, Mrs. Marcinkus helped the Rebels make it to state two out of the three seasons, finishing the 2019 season ranked as #10 in the state, Conference Champions, Conference Tournament Champions, and finishing the season in Green Bay as #5 in the state of Wisconsin.

Currently, Mrs. Marcinkus is in her 16th year as an Educator, 14th year at Horlick High School.

At home, she has an amazing husband, whom she used to share a classroom with until he retired and now, he spends his time “creating.” They adopted a loving Black Lab mix named Maddux and a friendly, lovable Pit Bull named Lando, both of which now run their home. 

Being a life-long learner, Mrs. Marcinkus is also a National Writing Project Consultant and Instructor after attending a Summer Research Session in 2015, which resulted in research and a presentation on Revision in the Classroom (Winter 2016) and a project on Portfolio Grading in February 2017. She also served as a Summer Advisor to other Consultants working on research in the Summer of 2017, and in the 2017/2018 school year, Mrs. Marcinkus continued her research in the Advanced Career and College Writing Workshop. In the Summer of 2019, she attended a National Writing Project sponsored event, called Everyday Advocacy, at Eastern Michigan University, where she worked on and is now an Advocate for Education (a subset of the National Writing Project) after completing a project on improving school culture.

That same year (2019), Mrs. Marcinkus completed her National Board Certification (NBC) and now is an NBC teacher and a Google Level 1 Educator (2020). 

In her free time… oh, who are we kidding? She’s a teacher… free time is spent doing school “stuff” and reading lots of books. However, she does enjoy traveling, coloring, working out, being crafty, spending time with her family, gaming, and writing.