People

Jill and Kurt Schneider

Community Shares, a partner of Madison Commons, recognizes two volunteers each month. The volunteers come from Community Shares' member groups and are selected for their service to the community and to community issues.

Jill and Kurt Schneider, Community GroundWorks

Students paint a mural for Madison's South Police Station at Hoyt School (Erin Green/Madison Commons).

A high-school student stood near the door of a classroom in Hoyt School, observing quietly as his classmates painted. He appeared nervous to join in. Artist Sonya Sankaran calmly handed him a paint brush and reassured him that mistakes could always be fixed. 

Soon, the student was painting flowers alongside his classmates.

From left to right: Josepha Da Costa, Odessa Schwei, Yani Thoronka

This story originally appeared in the Simpson Street Free Press. The story was written by Jacqueline Zuniga Paiz, an Assistant Editor at SSFP. 

(Photo courtesy of GSAFE)

Shawn Fredricks, a former health and physical education teacher at Beloit Memorial High School in Beloit, described always separating her students between boys and girls.

 Courtney Ross and Clay Yapp work on pizzas for Farm Fresh Pizza Nights at Troy Farm. Ross is a current student in the Beginning Farmers Training program at the farm, and Yapp completed it in 2006 (Logan Garcia/Madison Commons).

Farming can be more fun than traveling Central America or studying bald eagles, according to Courtney Ross, who graduated with a degree in biology from UW-Steven’s Point earlier this year.