Wendy J. Battino. Co-founder and Executive Director.
Wendy Battino began her formal education career working with students who did not fit into the traditional system. Experience at the classroom, school, and 
district levels provided her with an extensive background in standards-based instruction and assessment, school improvement planning, and curriculum design.
Battino was a principal teacher with the Chugach School District during the time that the district re-invented its education system. During her time with the district, she was one of the key individuals who designed and implemented the district’s dramatic shift to a K-12 performance-based system. She also created and implemented thematic units, assessments, and instructional approaches across all content areas, facilitated the Anchorage House Program, the district’s school-to-life program, and co-authored A Guide to Reinventing Schools (Schreiber & Battino, 2002). Battino is the coauthor of Chugach School District’s award-winning application in education for the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which the district won in 2001.
Battino was integral in the development of the RISC Approach to Schooling and, along with Rich DeLorenzo and Rick Schreiber, founded the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC). She is co-author of Delivering on the Promise: The Education Revolution (DeLorenzo, Battino, Schreiber, & Gaddy Carrio, 2009).
Battino has worked with numerous organizations, in the U.S. and abroad, that are committed to transforming their education systems based on RISC’s student-focused, performance-based system.
Battino earned her B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and a secondary English endorsement from the University of Alaska. Battino is an Emergency Medical Technician and Swift Water Responder. Her passion for creativity runs to log building as well. She often works from the log cabin she built with her husband, Rick Schreiber, in Talkeetna, Alaska. Battino can be contacted at P.O. Box 805, Talkeetna, Alaska 99676. Phone: 907.733.7400. Email: wbattino@reinventingschools.org
Richard (Rich) A. DeLorenzo. Co-founder and Lead Education Specialist.
Rich DeLorenzo is an internationally known leader in education and organization 
restructuring, best known for his uniquely comprehensive grassroots approach to reinventing school systems. DeLorenzo led the first K-12 district in the United States, Alaska’s Chugach School District, as it moved from a time-based system to a performance-based system. As part of this process, the district applied for and was granted a waiver from the Alaska Department of Education to transition from a high school credit system to a system in which students must meet performance targets to graduate instead of earning credits.
Under DeLorenzo’s leadership as assistant superintendent and later superintendent, this historically challenged rural district made remarkable strides in student achievement and became one of the first-ever education recipients of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
In 2002, DeLorenzo founded the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC), along with Wendy Battino and Rick Schreiber.
DeLorenzo is the creative vision behind A Guide to Reinventing Schools (Schreiber & Battino, 2002) and co-author of Delivering on the Promise: The Education Revolution (DeLorenzo, Battino, Schreiber, & Gaddy Carrio, 2009). DeLorenzo also serves on the board of Microsoft’s Partners in Learning.
DeLorenzo has more than 30 years of experience working with high-risk youth and students with disabilities of all ages in a wide variety of settings, from urban classrooms of multi-age elementary students to rural school settings of “at-risk” secondary pupils. He began his education career as a special education teacher in the small Alaskan fishing village of Yakutat. Over the next 15 years, working in various schools, he discovered how to help students succeed in ways they never had. As he did, he created the building blocks for what later became a nationally recognized education model, which won the attention of educators across the state and eventually educators around the world.
Often described as a visionary, DeLorenzo has the unique ability to involve others in his dreams for advancing the education system—specifically, making changes thought to be impossible a reality.
The success of RISC and the results realized in the Chugach School District have captured the attention of many organizations. In addition to guiding schools and districts in the United States, DeLorenzo has consulted with organizations around the globe. In recent years, he also has been the keynote speaker or facilitator at educational conferences and global summits in Australia, Brazil, Denmark, England, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, and South Africa.
DeLorenzo earned a B.A. in Education, Special Education, from Central Washington University. He received an M.E., Special Education, and an educational administration degree from the University of Alaska, Juneau. He earned his superintendent credentials from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. DeLorenzo can be contacted at 80 Gold Creek Loop, Carlton, WA 98814. Phone: 509.923.2484. Email: rdelorenzo@gci.net
Rick M. Schreiber. Co-founder and Director of Operations.
Rick Schreiber has spent many years guiding and facilitating systemic school reform as a head teacher, staff and curriculum developer, consultant, principal, and executive.
Schreiber has a passion for helping schools and districts build cohesion through systematic processes for accomplishing common goals. He has a keen interest in working with all cultures and emphasizes the need for schools to mirror the values of the communities.
Schreiber is well versed in using standards-based approaches to realize these goals. He has carried out his work all over the United States and internationally by presenting on and facilitating the change process necessary to re-invent schools at the district, school, and classroom levels. In these endeavors, he has trained more than 20,000 educators worldwide.
Schreiber was a head teacher and principal with Alaska’s Chugach School District during the time that the district re-invented its education system. He graduated the first class using the framework that would later be refined and reorganized as the RISC Approach to Schooling. Schreiber co-wrote the district’s award-winning application in education for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. He also is a co-author of A Guide to Reinventing Schools (Schreiber & Battino, 2002) and Delivering on the Promise: The Education Revolution (DeLorenzo, Battino, Schreiber, & Gaddy Carrio, 2009).
In 2002, Schreiber co-founded the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC), along with Rich DeLorenzo and Wendy Battino. Schreiber has taken the lead role in finance and operations for RISC since 2003. Among other responsibilities, he has managed a number of grants awarded to the foundation and planned and managed more than 50 multi-day statewide conferences. In addition, with the assistance of the RISC board and staff, he has used his background in the Baldrige criteria to lead the development of RISC processes, protocols, and policies, including internal and external operating procedures.
Schreiber has extensive experience in using evaluative methods related to school improvement efforts. He has been the team leader for on-site evaluations of RISC implementation efforts since 2004.
Schreiber earned a B.A. in cultural ecology from Humboldt State University and a K-8 teaching certificate from the University of Alaska, Southeast. He resides in Talkeetna, Alaska with his wife, Wendy Battino. Exploring the Alaska wilderness surrounding their homestead is a tremendous source of inspiration. Schreiber can be contacted at P.O. Box 805, Talkeetna, Alaska 99676. Phone: 907.733.7400. Email: rschreiber@reinventingschools.org
Rebecca Midles. Lead Education Specialist.
Rebecca Midles has worked with the RISC framework since 2000. 
She is Assistant Principal and Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Highland Tech High School, one of the leading RISC schools in the United States. Midles has been involved with Highland Tech High School since its opening, where she started as a teacher. Before her work at Highland, she worked for two other Alaska school districts in the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC).
As Education Specialist with RISC, Midles provides support to districts interested in pursuing systemic change. She has presented and participated in RISC symposiums for the last few years and recently completed a university course for teachers who are interested in learning more about the RISC approach. Her hope and desire is for all students to gain the tools and confidence to achieve a life that is not shaped by limitations, but is instead defined by the pursuit of personal interests and acquisition of personal goals.
Midles earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Central Washington University. After hearing Rich DeLorenzo speak about the RISC approach in 1998, Rebecca returned to higher education and earned her M.A. in education, focusing on standards-based education. After teaching using the RISC philosophy, she returned again to higher education and earned an M.A. in educational leadership from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. She currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her husband, Jeff, and their new daughter, Adeline. Email: rmidles@reinventingschools.org
John Caesar. Education Specialist.
John Caesar began his career as an Officer in the U.S. Army where he specialized in 
communications-electronics systems design with key leadership roles under NATO authority in the European Theater. He began a career in the private business sector developing businesses with an emphasis on systems efficiency, training, and team building.
With a passion for learning and professional development, Caesar returned to school in 2003 to earn his master’s degree in education. His early work in school reform involved research into the Funding Achievement Gap in the United States, which has inspired him to work more intentionally with needed research-based reform in American education.
As Education Specialist with RISC, he trains and coaches teachers and administrators in the successful implementation of the RISC framework. He also is a statewide lead contact.
Caesar earned a B.A. from Eastern Illinois University in political science and military history and an M.A. in teaching, secondary education, from National-Louis University. He holds teaching certifications or endorsements in numerous content areas. He team piloted an after-school program for at-risk students and currently serves as a program volunteer. He also head coaches a basketball team and a 105-athlete swim team and volunteers with numerous child advocacy programs. Email: jcaesar@reinventingschools.org
Kim Hanisch. Education Specialist.
Kim Hanisch has worked with the RISC framework 
since 2002 as a teacher, mentor, instructional model teacher facilitator, and principal with Bering Strait School District.
As an Education Specialist with RISC, Kim provides guidance, support, and data-analysis assistance to teachers and principals who are adopting the RISC framework in their classrooms and schools.
Hanisch’s experience with the model at all levels of education has allowed her to gain a comprehensive, practical vision of the model and strategies for successful implementation to help students achieve.
Hanisch earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Chadron State College. After time in the classroom, she earned a Master’s in Biology from Bemidji State College, then returned to teaching. Hanisch subsequently earned a Certificate in Educational Leadership, Principal degree. From 2008 to 2010, she served as principal at Koyuk-Malemute School with the Bering Strait School District. Hanisch resides in Tok, Alaska. Email: khanisch@reinventingschools.org
Nancy Juergens. Events Coordinator.
Nancy Juergens joined the RISC team in September 2008 as Events Coordinator. Prior to joining the RISC staff, she taught in the upper Susitna Valley and was a stay-at-home mom to her daughter, Kierra, and her son, Raiff.
In addition to assisting RISC with its event coordination and administrative support, Juergens runs her own lodging business in Talkeetna, Alaska.
Juergens earned a B.A. in Recreation Therapy from San Diego State University and her K-8 teaching certificate from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. She has resided in Talkeetna since 1991. She can be contacted at PMB 352, 1830 East Parks Highway, Suite A-113, Wasilla, Alaska 99654. Email: njuergens@reinventingschools.org
Rachel Tolman. Business Manager.
Rachel Tolman joined the RISC team in June 2006 as Business Office Manager. Before joining the RISC staff, she owned and operated a personal bookkeeping and tax service in Wasilla, Alaska, worked several years as an accounting assistant at a firm in the Lower 48 states, served as the payroll/benefits coordinator for a bank, and was business manager for a rural Alaskan school district for five years.
Tolman’s educational background includes a Business Degree in Corporate/Personal Finance with a minor in Technical Writing. As a proud new mother, she spends most of her free time learning, laughing, and cuddling with her daughter, Laura. She can be contacted at PMB 352, 1830 East Parks Highway, Suite A-113, Wasilla, Alaska 99654. Email: rachelt@gci.net
