Admissions • Giving • Contact

You run into Wingra grads in the most unexpected places. For me, it was my neighborhood picnic. I mentioned my work at Wingra, and one of the participants looked up and said "Hey, I went to Wingra!" It was Lisa Kerr, aka Lisa Ledford, who attended Wingra School between 1973 and 1977. Lisa agreed to sit down and talk about Wingra, and where life has taken her since her times at 3200 Monroe Street.

Lisa's path to Wingra School was not unusual. She started out in a traditional school, and by first grade was finding it difficult to sit in a desk in a row. Wingra had opened its doors the year before, and she visited to see what it was about. Lisa liked the way she was allowed at Wingra to go on tangents while learning, not from "A" straight to "Z," and how she learned at her own pace. Although reading and writing were a "huge challenge" for Lisa, teachers at Wingra didn't make her feel bad or "less" for that. Her teachers were JoAnn Schoell for two year and Jackie Hass for three years "I loved those two teachers." Lisa still appreciates how her Wingra School art projects influenced her visual sense.

Nowadays, Lisa has two businesses, one doing corporate videos, and one in horticulture, designing flora container gardens.

Lisa credits Wingra School for her first job in films, because of the school's encouragement of community service. At age 18, Lisa had a job at CBS in Madison, but also did volunteer work with the March of Dimes. A co-volunteer suggested that Lisa try for work on a Snickers commercial that was being shot in Madison. (The director for the candy ad was Michael Mann, who recently directed Johnny Depp in Public Enemies here in Wisconsin.) Lisa landed a job as prop assistant.

Lisa was told over and over that if she wanted to work in film, she'd have to move to Chicago or L.A. So shortly after her Snickers gig, she moved to Chicago, where alumna Andrea Richardson (1972-1978, daughter of school founder Judy Richardson) offered Lisa a spot on her couch during the job hunt. The jobs came quickly, in the form of free-lance work. Lisa rubbed elbows with actors from Second City, and had a hand in the Wendy's "Where's the Beef" commercials directed by Joe Sedelmaier.

After three years in Chicago, a move to L.A. brought even more exciting work, with many directors, such as Joe Pytka (director of the "This Is Your Brain on Drugs" PSAs, as well as many, many other commercials). Lisa was part of the team with Michael Jackson filming Pepsi commercials and the Dangerous video. She describes Jackson as coming onto the set with a phalanx of body guards. Lisa did producing, production management, set-decorating, props and wardrobe.

The other exciting L.A. development was meeting her now-husband, Barnaby Kerr. Although Barnaby is originally from the east coast, and they met on the west coast, Lisa brought Barnaby back to Wisconsin to marry and live. They now have two kids.

It was in Madison that Lisa started on a path toward her second business, Flora Container Gardens. She was in her neighborhood garden club, and worked at the florist shop on Monroe for a year before taking a U.W. Master Gardening class. Her expertise has lead her to work with private individuals as well as businesses (Inner Fire Yoga, for instance). There is, of course, a Wingra connection to her love of plants. A Wingra parent came and taught her class about horticulture, doing experiments and plant dissection with the students. Lisa says she still uses the tips that mom taught her about potting a plant.

If you'd like to reach Lisa, you can do so by email or find her on facebook!

Lisa would agree that you run into Wingra grads in the most unexpected places. She literally ran into alumna Becky Shirah Zambrano at Golden Gate Park. This was particularly surprising as both of them live in Madison now, and it took a trip out to California for them to get back in touch. Where do you run into Wingra grads? Or where can we run into you? Let us know what's up with you and your Wingra School friends!