I have been in education for over 12 years. I have been in special education for over 5 years. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s Degree in Teaching & Learning, and Special Education. I am currently 4 classes away from obtaining my Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management as well. I hold 4 teaching licenses and 1 variance, K-6 Elementary Education, 5-8 Mathematics, K-12 Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD), K-12 Learning Disabilities (LD), and a variance for K-12 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

I believe in being a lifelong learner and passing this knowledge onto my students. I love spending time with my family, watching football, and traveling to experience new and exciting places. I look forward to working on the board of education for district 4087 to empower and change our students' lives.

Leslie Geist

Laurie Traxler
ltraxler@sageacademy.org

PARAPROFESSIONALS

Christine Johnson

cjohnson@sageacademy.org

Hey everyone!

My name is Christine and I’ve been working with kids in various positions for the last 25 years. I have been a nanny, a preschool teacher, chemical dependency technician, youth counselor and paraprofessional. This is my second year at SAGE, I started after Christmas last year.

I love spending time with my family and my zoo. I have way too many pets, including 3 dogs, my Manx kitties and our new little Savannah kittens. We enjoy kayaking, camping, scary movies, movies in the backyard along with drive-in movies in the summer. I am most definitely a Harry Potter fan and a Ravenclaw. We are rarely home during the Halloween season at my house, too many haunted houses and pumpkin patches to go to. Winter is all about Hygge; warm tea/cocoa, comfy blankets, curled up in front of the fireplace with my family...and some sledding.

I look forward to seeing all the SAGE kids this year and I hope everyone had a super amazing Summer!

Dylan Ramstad

dramstad@sageacademy.org

Hello, my name is Dylan Ramstad. I work at SAGE as a paraprofessional. This school year will be my second year working at SAGE. I studied education at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls. I really enjoy my time spent with the students and staff at SAGE Academy.

Outside of school I enjoy camping, reading, playing with my cats, and watching football (Skol!). I grew up in Minnesota, but traveled to and lived in Wisconsin for many years. I enjoy the changing of the seasons in Minnesota and Wisconsin. My cats have enjoyed the increased attention from me and the students during distance learning. I hope we all have a fantastic school year!

Marissa Ramstad

mramstad@sageacademy.org

Hi all, my name is Marissa Ramstad and I am a paraprofessional. This is my first year at SAGE and I am so excited to be part of the team! I earned my BFA at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls and have enjoyed teaching art classes over the past few years and love working with students.

Outside of the classroom I enjoy camping, painting, and spending quality time with my cats.