UWM: Lead to Succeed-Milwaukee announces 2010-2011 projects with UWM

Karin Gratz (Lead to Succeed), 414-456-1733; kgratz@communityconnectionsconsulting.com

Julianne Price (UWM), 414-229-3702; price2@uwm.edu

MILWAUKEE – Lead to Succeed, an industry-driven youth leadership development program in Milwaukee has joined forces with the Institute for Service Learning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) to guide high school and college students as they learn collaboratively in a series of projects this year that focus on the water industry and financial literacy.

In Lead to Succeed, local college students mentor a team of high school students in a specific service learning project. These projects address needs identified by local nonprofit organizations while exposing students to in-demand careers and employability skills.

The collaborative teams, organized in partnership with the Milwaukee Water Council,will support the following projects around the Milwaukee area:

* Global Youth Service Day Project: Students will learn about the water industry and how water affects our environment. The students will brainstorm and plan water-related service projects that will become part of Global Youth Service Day (April 2011). Project teams will be located at St. Joan Antida High School and MPS’s School for Urban Planning and Architecture (SUPAR). The Milwaukee Department of City Development, the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, Gathering Waters Festival, and Southeastern Wisconsin Watershed Trust, Inc. are the supporting community organizations for this project. The participating UWM courses are “Green Architecture” with Professor Mark Keane and “Introduction to Conservation and Environmental Science” with Tim Ehlinger.

* Custom Rain Barrel Business Plan Project: Students will develop a business plan in which residents, businesses and community organizations can purchase a custom-designed rain barrel. Project teams are located at Neu-Life Community Resource Center and Milwaukee High School of the Arts. The supporting community organization is the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The participating UWM courses are “Green Architecture” with Professor Mark Keane and “Introduction to Conservation and Environmental Science” with Tim Ehlinger.

* Financial Literacy Project: Students will learn about financial literacy and subsequently develop and present related workshops at area schools. Location of the Project team is SUPAR. The supporting community organizations are Wells Fargo and Palermo’s Pizza. UWM students from “Introduction to Human Services” will serve as the college mentors.

The Service Learning projects are designed to:

* Develop youth leadership skills

* Engage students in their learning and planning for the future

* Create responsible citizens and active community leaders

* Expose students to the careers and skills employers demand

* Encourage post-secondary education opportunities and success

In addition to working on these Service Learning projects, some of the students will have an opportunity to use their new-found skills in a paid after-school job funded through the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board and coordinated by the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development.