DLiTE
DLiTE Program
Bemidji State University
ARCC - Coon Rapids Campus
11200 Mississippi Blvd. NW #H-137
Coon Rapids, MN 55433
Phone: (800) 723-3567
Direct: (763) 433-1484
Fax: (763) 433- 1485
dlite@bemidjistate.edu
Faculty & Staff
Ms. Mary Brueske
Program Manager
Ms. Mary Brueske is the program manager of the DLiTE K-8 Program and the FasTrack Secondary Initiative. Ms. Brueske's experience with the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system (MnSCU) expands over 17 years and includes community college, technical college, and state university settings. Mary joined Bemidji State University in 2003. Along with the admissions and program details, Mary currently designs and generates the marketing materials for the DLiTE and FasTrack programs and serves as the website editor. Ms. Brueske's previous accomplishments include design consulting with new home construction and Real Estate.
Dr. Barbara Bridges
Professor
Dr. Bridges earned her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota. She designed the DLiTE and FasTrack programs and served as past-director of both programs. Barbara also collaborates as a designer, developer and coordinator for ArtsNet Minnesota -an interdisciplinary website for the Walker Art Center, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Frederick R. Weisman Museum, and The Minnesota Museum of American Art. Dr. Bridges was awarded Minnesota Art Higher Educator of the Year in 1998 and 2008, and Art Educator of the Year in 2008 by the Art Educators of Minnesota. Barbara's relationship with teachers, students and schools began in Maine where she started teaching art in 1976. She has worked with teachers, artists and students since that time in Maine, Mexico, the Caribbean, and in Minnesota. Dr. Bridges is also a sculptor who uses themes of rootlessness, lack of identity, solitude and social fragmentation to create historiographic, record keeping, community building artworks.
Dr. Roxanne Walker Pickle
Assistant Professor/Coordinator/DLiTE Advisor
Dr. Roxanne Pickle is an assistant professor for the PEDL Programs as well as coordinator and advisor. Roxanne received her Doctorate in Education at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.She holds an M.S. degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Learning Disabilities and Emotional Behavior Disorders. Dr. Pickle served for several years as a classroom teacher and principal in both urban and rural settings. Over the past nine years, Roxanne has coordinated and taught in teacher preparatory programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level.Her research interests include collaboration between general education and special education as related to Response to Intervention, creating online communities for optimal learning and investigating the mathematical thinking of elementary school students.
Lisa Schmitz
Assistant Professor
Lisa is an assistant professor for the DLiTE Program. She received her Masters Degree from St. Mary's University. Lisa brings experience as an Elementary Teacher, Student Advocate, Teacher of the Year, and Committee Chair. Personal accomplishments include finishing the Twin Cities Marathon, conducting Planned Parenting Seminars, and training teachers in Math Their Way.
Kris Nei 
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor Kris Nei was born and grew up in Bemidji, Minnesota. She graduated from Bemidji State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and a Minor in History in 1980. In 1995 she earned her Master's Degree in K-12 Curriculum and Instruction through the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has 32 years of classroom teaching experience in grades 2-6 in both Minnesota and Montana. Professor Nei has been an educational consultant for Pearson Educational Services and Learning Bridges, and has taught Continuing Education courses at the graduate level through Learning Bridges as an Adjunct Professor for California State University - Bakersfield. For the past four years she has been an Adjunct Professor of Education in the 2+2 Distance Learning Program at Southwest Minnesota State University and has delivered instruction utilizing both Interactive TV and D2L online. Professor Nei also is an avid student of travel, history, and culture who likes to cook, weave, scuba dive, and has been known to skydive on occasion.
Ms. Sally Gibson
Adjunct Professor, Art
Ms. Sally Gibson earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Education from St. Mary's, her thesis on "Why Art?" earned the "Outstanding Paper of the Year" award. Ms. Gibson teaches in the Mounds View School District and is the Visual Arts Curriculum Coordinator. In addition, Ms. Gibson works with the Perpich Center for Arts Education as a member of the Arts Quality Teacher Network. In 2004, Ms. Gibson was named "Outstanding Minnesota Art Educator".
Mr. Robert Griggs
Vice President
Dr. Lisa Krall
Adjunct Professor
Dr. Lisa Krall is an adjunct professor for the FasTrack Initiative and the DLiTE Program. Ms. Krall earned her B.S. in Elementary Education and her M.Ed. in Elementary Education at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities. She recently earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on literacy at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities. Professor Krall worked as a public school teacher for twelve years.
Dr. Karl Salscheider
Professor, Health
Dr. Karl Salscheider, professor of health has been part of the BSU family since 1981. He holds a PhD in health education from the University of Utah (1988) and has been active in both community health and health education in the Bemidji area. As a key player in the B-TEAM (Beltrami Tobacco Education Awareness Movement), Dr. Salscheider conducted research in Beltrami County that was the foundational data set for the approval a smoke-free ordinance, only the second county in Minnesota to do so. The interventions of Dr. Salscheider's community health students in Beltrami County 5th grade classrooms have contributed significantly in the drop of Bemidji middle school smoking rates from 18% to 8% in just five years. Dr. Salscheider was the 1999 recipient of MAHPERD's "Carl Knutson Award" as the outstanding college professor in Minnesota focusing on service and contributions to health education.