Last Thoughts

As the Spring 2013 semester is ending the Project Managers are giving their final thoughts. All of the Project Manager's this spring have been very diligent in giving the most up to date information about their team and how they are progressing.

“I have learned a lot from working with Lead to Succeed! I have made significant improvements on my leadership skills and have a new sense of responsibility while I attended the program every week. Through this volunteer opportunity I have learned how much a small group of people can make such a difference on conservation in Milwaukee and throughout the United States. It will help me in the future because I will take the skills and confidence I have gained through Lead to Succeed and carry it on to future volunteer projects as well as my own career.” – Lacy – NeuLife

Final Projects will be updated once the semester ends. Stay updated with the Lead to Succeeds blog and Facebook to see how the Spring 2013 Celebration Ceremony goes! The Celebration Ceremony showcases all of the projects the Project Managers and students have worked on throughout the year as well as shows all of the businesses that have contributed to Lead to Succeed’s students success!  

How Water Will Affect The Community

All of the project managers were asked to evaluate what they thought the communities need is and how their group will address it. Each project manager has a different project but all involve the issues of the water industry. They were also asked if this issue will affect their lives. Like always, they were asked how they are getting their students engaged in this issue being addressed. It’s always great seeing the different ways the project manager's get their students involved and how they feel they can best contribute to the high school student’s success!

“The issue that my Lead to Succeed project addresses is the water issues of Milwaukee. This is stemming from the issue of jobs not being filled in the water industry, simply because people are not educated on this matter. I feel that the issue has potential to affect my life because water is an essential part of life. This community need for clean water will also affect my team member's future if this issue is not addressed.

As a project manager, in order to make my students engaged and interested in this issue we try to not only apply the concepts directly to their lives, but also make sure that during this process it is fun and exciting. Some examples of how they are currently interested are; they dedication to the meetings, even outside of the required meetings. They are having a lot of fun with the interviews they partake in and the entire process of going to the locations, ect. I hope to keep the students on this path of excitement towards reaching the final project! “ -- Rachel – PLI

“The community need that my Lead to Succeed project will be addressing is water conservation. We are addressing this by painting custom rain barrels that we will be selling to the public. I think the community need for water conservation will indeed affect me in my life, because the more water we can conserve now the better everyone else and myself will be in the future! The high school students in my team may not think that their community’s need for fresh water will affect them now, but it will definitely affect them in the future when there may not be a lot of water to use like there is now.

I will get my team engaged and interested in conserving water and making custom rain barrels by explaining how it will affect them, using social media to promote it, and by showing them how to use their creative and artistic skills to draw and paint their own designs on the rain barrels! They are already engaged and focused because they get to pick and use their own designs for the rain barrels, a lot of students are very artistic, but they did not know that because they never get the chance to show it!” – Lacy - NeuLife

Michael believes water also plays a crucial role in his team’s life!

“My team, along with the two other teams at my site, is all working with water. I think water plays a crucial role in the spring of life. Its effects are not always on the surface and growing up the issue of water preservation was not ingrained in my head by my parents or teachers. I wish I had a program in my formative years like Lead to Succeed.

I certainly feel that water will affect my group’s life. We must always take care of our natural resources. Water might take up 75% of the world but drinkable water is in high demand and politicians battle every day for their constituent’s share. It might not take a direct toll on them now, but if we over consume we will put ourselves in danger.

I don’t believe it’s hard to engage the fertile minds of my team, since they all seem to have a thirst for the issue. Regardless, I am trying to integrate fun into what most people- not my team members- may find to be a dry subject.

I found that going out in the field and experiencing a real-life interview with a certified organization really engaged them intellectually. I encouraged them to believe that they were capable in pulling off a professional- level interview. I told them they would be surprised at how well they could equip themselves in that kind of setting and they all responded to that challenge. “ -- Michael -- PLI

Melanie's take on Lead to Succeed

Melanie, one of our project managers at Lead to Succeed explains how her group project is coming along and how their project is affecting her students and herself.

“Our Lead to Succeed project addresses the issue of waste and pollution in our water. On this our third meet up, we focused particularly on the poor quality of the Milwaukee River and how we contribute significantly to this trash buildup that seems to increase on a daily basis. I definitely feel that this issue affects my life. I have learned so much from working with these kids about water conservation and management, and how to prevent my own waste from polluting our waterways.

            I also feel that this issue will affect my high school students. These students are learning even more than I am because they are completely hands on with this project. They are the ones finding the information that will be used in their final presentation and they are the ones coming up with different ideas for how they can showcase the amount of waste each person creates every day. These kids have grown significantly in the few weeks that I’ve worked with them, and even if they don’t end up changing their water-using habits significantly, they will think twice before they leave the sink running while brushing their teeth in the morning or taking that unnecessarily long shower after school!

As project manager, I am getting my team of students engaged and interested in this project by asking them to find how it is most closely related to them. When I was in high school, I always learned best when there was some type of visual or physical representation, so with these kids, we came up with different ideas of how they use and can then re-use water in their daily activities. The kids were especially interested in the project when they found out that they could talk about athletics and sports the importance of hydrating with clean, safe water.”

            As you can tell Melanie believes this project has and will continue to affect herself and her group of students. Lead to Succeed hopes that all of their students are as engaged and excited as Melanie's group!

What barriers have the teams faced?

This week, the College Project Managers were asked to tell us how their teams are were coming along.  They also were asked to elaborate on their barriers that their team's are facing and how they will overcome them. Here's what they had to say! 

“My team’s project is coming along smoothly. There are still lots of things we need to get done, but we have come a long way. Our Lead to Succeed group has been divided into subgroups. The teams interaction with each other has come a long way and has helped with creating their game. They have begun to understand the software and so far it seems like a lot of fun. 

As a team, the students work together very nicely and have come up with some great collaborative ideas. 

The only obstacles we have had with the team’s success are absences.  A couple of the students have been absent a couple times which make for an obstacle but we ended up creating a team email when needed. We have used this in contacting someone to interview. That way if a student is absent, it will not hinder the rest of the group. “ 

– Paula – PLI

 

“The team is progressing on schedule. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come in such a short period of time! After meeting with a representative from a River Revitalization group for a practice interview, the team met with a local environmental leader to do the real thing. Using the interview skills and techniques we taught them in class and the questions we crafted they conducted a successful interview with someone from which they got valuable information. The interview will be a great addition to the burgeoning website. 

I’m Happy to report that the team, which is made up of a bunch of kids from a handful of different high schools, has meshed well together. Like any sports or business team, our group of young environmentalists and ambitious thinkers has set aside their differences for the greater good of the whole. The result has been one primary focus which has gotten us closer to our goal of contributing to Milwaukee’s environmental conscience. The students may come from different backgrounds, but they all share the same enthusiastic approach to working n our project. 

We have encountered a few barriers to team success. Unfortunately, my team partner Rachel and I have not been able to make that last couple of meetings. The students have shown a remarkable amount of determination and independence in our absence. Even though spring break and health concerns have gotten in the way of the meetings, Rachel and I have been diligent in our preparation and action with the program. We can’t wait to attend more meetings, spend more time with the students and continue our path to the end goal of a completed project. “– Michael - PLI

 

“Our team is making extensive progress over the past couple of weeks. After completing the interview questions we had worked on for a few weeks, we actually conducted 2 full interviews. The project is at its final stretch of conducting more interviews and then proceeding to edit them. The team is going above and beyond by meeting outside of the typical meeting days. They are meeting at different locations to conduct the interviews and are doing a wonderful job!

The team in itself is also progressing and continuing to work well together. They are complementing one another more and more as time passes. They are coming together to complete this project and are still working well under a time crunch.

Some barriers that we have come across are sound quality, in regards to the interviews, scheduling interviews with organizations, and the technology itself. These are all things that the group was able to overcome and figure out all together. This was one of many times that the group exemplified problem solving strategies. This group has shown massive progress and I am proud of them or their ability to work towards completion of this project.”- Rachel - PLI

Savannah's first experience with Lead to Succeed!

One of our College Project Managers was very detailed in how her first experiences with Lead to Succeed went and with her new students. Here is what Savannah had to say:

“As a new project manager for the Lead to Succeed program, I originally envisioned an environment where students came for studies, homework help, but after my first session, I was pleasantly surprised. My students or “scholars” as I call them were distant at first, with good reasoning. Many of the students I work with have very few mentors to look up to and communicate with, so when I was introduced in our first session, I expected them to react with suspicion. After familiarizing myself with each student and making them feel comfortable with one another, I knew that my team was destined to succeed. We work together splendidly, taking turns and showing each other respect along the way, which assists in completing our tasks in a reasonable manner. Making personal connections is one of my biggest goals with my students; ensuring that there is trust, teamwork, and respect within one another. 

My team and I have decided to work on a movie educating other students about jobs and careers in the water industry. With Wisconsin being one of the most innovative and adapted water industries in the United States, it is crucial to educate our youth on new and exciting jobs in the water field to encourage schooling and training for these growing positions. My group and I have gathered information on several different water careers; and have conversed openly about the benefits these jobs have to the community and one another. 

So far, so good! My students have shown exceptional interest in environmental problems having to do with water and the lack of certified workers to complete the job. Working together, we completed a survey on our own personal water consumption, and began to think more critically about preserving what we have. We also discussed the importance of knowledge and education in regards to the environment and water, and came to the conclusion that many people in our community are unaware of these important things. 

One of our team members, Tony, has been experimenting with video making in preparation for our interviews and movie. A clip of one of his drafts, which was done on his first time using moviemaker will be uploaded soon for everyone to see. Go Tony!!"

 - Savannah - COA

Welcome Spring 2013 Project Managers

All of the Spring College Project Managers have been assigned to their schools and have begun working with their high school students! We asked the Project Managers to check in and tell us how their first meetings with their team went and what are looking forward to accomplishing this semester.

“My first meeting with my team as being project manager went better than I expected! I was not sure what to expect because I have never done anything like this before. I also wasn’t sure what it would be like working with high school students because I have typically only supervised younger children. We met at the Neulife Community Resource Center, and there were about seven of us. I was surprised at how much my team knew about water conservation and why it was important. I was also surprised at how eager they were to work on this project; they seemed to really care about what they were doing. This really impressed me and excites me to continue to come back. Overall, my first meeting went great and I am excited to keep working on this project.”  - Lacy – Neulife 

“My first week with the team consisted mostly of getting caught up to date on what has been done so far with regards to the project. We figured out what we could further do to advertise the Beasty Barrels so we will be able to continue to sell them. We used Facebook to put posts and pictures for our friends to see and we brainstormed other possible ideas to advertise as much flyers and the website. We have very strong creativity skills so we are confident we will be able to think of ideas that will be effective in getting the word out about Beasty Barrels.”  - Mary – Neulife 

“The first session with my team was a lot of fun. We met at the Open Mike room in the Grand Avenue Mall. The room is very spacious and there were quite a few kids involved in the program. I am in charge of the group that is working on doing interviews with non-profit organizations around Milwaukee that deal with the water crisis. These interviews will then go on the website for public viewing in hopes that people will become educated about the organizations and of the water crisis as well. 

My group is comprised of about ten kids. I was surprised at how intelligent the kids in my group were. They all worked very well together and they also had a lot of great ideas and input for the interviews. Some strength that I will bring to the team are organization, word and sentence structure, and manageability. In terms of weaknesses, sometimes I get lost in the fun and lose track of time. I also may et off topic once in awhile. Hopefully the kids will keep me on track. 

The team’s strengths overall are their ability to work together, their friendliness, their work ethic, and their dedication, The group is a wonderful group of kids and they are extremely dedicated to the program. At the same time, they have fun with what they are doing. I am excited for the upcoming meetings and the completion of the project.” – Rachel – PLI

“For the first session, my classmate Rachel and I met the Milwaukee Public School students at the Lead to Succeed offices at the Grand Avenue Mall. I was impressed with the turnout of students and the organization of the program directions. Immediately, I felt like a part of the fabric of the program. Everyone was welcoming and by the end of the first session we were taking pictures of the whole group working together! I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I was hopeful there would be an opportunity to help some young students work on something that would fulfill a passion of theirs. It turns out that the high school students are incredibility thoughtful and excited about environmental issues, which is the program’s primary focus. One of the three options we were asked to choose from was an interview assignment, which is one of my strengths, as I come from a journalism background at UWM. I am hoping I can provide the students with some insight to help them on their task. The group of kids, our team shows an impressive amount of enthusiasm on this subject, which I feel is the biggest strength in not only this assignment, but in life.”  – Michael – PLI 

“I have officially started my role as project manager for WCLL with Lead to Succeed. I was not sure what to think going in to my first meetings with these kids, but I was excited. I love working with kids, especially those who all have a common goal and purpose. And these kids definitely brought a bit of passion for our projects with them to the first meeting. 

Trevor Hines, who is the facilitator of our project, told me that the usual number of students that show up is eight, so most of them were still showing up faithfully. Not too bad considering that these kids have been working on this project for weeks already before I joined. 

Our project focus is to help people who understand the damage that can come from overusing water, and from polluting our water. I was surprised at how much these kids already know about the pollution in Milwaukee. As a high school student, I was aware that as a population we are slowly but surely destroying our earth, but I had no idea how much the smallest things can have the largest impacts. These kids, on the other hand, seem to grasp this, which makes this project a lot easier to manage because I don’t know to spell it out for them. They are wise beyond their years and are willing to do what needs to be done to educate other about water usage in Milwaukee. 

My team’s strengths are that we have a solid group of kids who come prepared to work and who come with ideas. None of these kids seem shy, which is a huge strength for our team. These kids were also never afraid to give a new idea or piece of advice for how e can relate to the people we plan to go out and interview. The biggest weakness would have to be the fact that as much as these kids now, they are still kids, and can only comprehend so much without actually experiencing some of the stories and instances we talk to them about. This is where I come in as project manager. I can help these kids see the bigger picture and give them more facts and statistics that will make us stronger as a team. It also helps that Google is right on our fingertips! I am already learning so much from my group and I cannot wait to learn more!”  - Melanie – WCLL

Final Recaps From Fall 2012

With the Fall 2012 Projects Managers finishing up, Spring 2013 Project Managers will be coming in and filling in the previous managers shoes. Here are some last thoughts and reflections from the Fall Project Managers. We can’t wait to have our Spring Project Managers come in and finish these projects with all the students!

On our final days, my team and I worked on our goals we set for the future. My students needed some help with motivation but once I got some ideas flowing they slowly started to get going. I feel respected but it is hard for me to motivate them at times. When I told my students that I was going to come back after the holiday break and continue to volunteer, they seemed excited. I think they liked the fact that I was not just going to ditch them once I fulfilled my requirements. I am looking forward to next semester to continue the projects with them.

           -- Stuart, Youth Water Website: PLI

While being the project manager, I have begun to feel comfortable in my own skin in regards to talking in front of larger groups. I have learned how wonderful of an experience this was to contribute to the girls I worked with and to see what wonderful things are offered to educate the community. I was very challenged coming into this because I don’t usually like large group situations but this did help me out a great deal. Thus far, my team is not finished with our project, but we are continuing through winter break. When we finish this project, the community will have knowledge about Lake Michigan, aquaponics, and hydroponics. 

          -- Kendal, Youth Water Website: SJs