Katherine Kokal
Education ReporterKatherine joined WUWM in 2025 as an education reporter covering both K-12 schools and higher education.
A native of Waukesha, Katherine grew up camping around Wisconsin in the summers and cross-country skiing and sledding in the winters. She attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism and interned for Lake Effect in 2017.
Katherine covered local government, transportation and environmental issues at The Island Packet newspaper in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina before moving to South Florida to cover education for The Palm Beach Post. She is the recipient of the 2023 Lucy Morgan Award for In-Depth Reporting from the Florida Press Club for her investigation into data privacy for student athletes required to submit medical information to the state in order to play high school sports.
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Puerto Rican restaurants and cafes are serving Bad Bunny-inspired food and drinks ahead of the artist's Super Bowl halftime show Feb. 8. -
Milwaukee is required to have school resource officers on some campuses after a 2025 ruling. Do they make students safer? -
Data from the Department of Public Instruction show that nearly half of Wisconsin private school students use vouchers to pay for private school tuition, according to reporting from Wisconsin Watch. -
Faith communities help newly-arrived international teachers and immigrant families find apartments, furnish their homes and navigate the health care system. -
Milwaukee Public Schools is required to have armed police in some schools. Students are calling for reforms and boundaries for the officers. -
Milwaukee Public Schools has announced it will receive a final payment from the state that was previously withheld after the school district missed financial reporting deadlines in 2024. -
Milwaukee's health department released its community report identifying five major areas putting Milwaukee residents at higher risk. -
A renewed focus on literacy in Milwaukee borrows a training program responsible for a huge turnaround in reading scores in Mississippi dubbed the "Mississippi Miracle." -
Literacy Services of Wisconsin helps adults who want to get their high school diploma or strengthen their reading skills to fill out job applications or file paperwork. -
As Milwaukee addresses its literacy struggles, one-on-one tutoring is showing promise at improving students' ability to read.
