M\u00b3 celebrated its second anniversary with an event highlighting the impact the initiative has had so far.<\/p>\n
The educational collaboration, which involves 51ÁÔÆæ, Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee Area Technical College, is an effort to improve education achievement and career success for area students.<\/p>\n
The goal, 51ÁÔÆæ Chancellor Mark Mone said in his opening remarks Wednesday, is to bring together the area\u2019s three major public education institutions \u201cto transform lives and create opportunities for individuals.\u201d Together the institutions serve more than 130,000 students.<\/p>\n
Among the major areas of focus have been to increase high school graduation rates, increase the number of students going on to two- or four-year degrees, encourage parental involvement through Parent Institutes and help students develop skills that lead to family-supporting employment. These efforts can combine to overcome poverty, unemployment and other social issues, the speakers said.<\/p>\n
Presentations focused on the progress the M\u00b3 (pronounced M-cubed) efforts have made.<\/p>\n
Keith Posley, superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, noted that four-year high school graduation rates have improved from 58.2 percent when the M\u00b3 partnership started two years ago to 62.2 for the class of 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have made progress, but we know this rate is ultimately not where we all want it to be,\u201d Posley said. \u201cAs M-cubed partners, we have set a target of 72 percent by 2019-20.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vicki Martin, MATC president, noted the success of the MATC Promise program introduced in 2015, which offers free tuition to eligible students. That program has been extended to adult students interested in completing a degree. She said that MATC had already enrolled some parent-child teams, including a father and son who did the plumbing program together.<\/p>\n
The Promise program helped boost enrollment of MPS students at MATC by 80 percent between fall 2015 and fall 2017.<\/p>\n
M\u00b3 has also succeeded in efforts to let students and parents know what they need to do to prepare for higher education. With the help of workshops, the number of FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) applications increased from 60.8 percent with the class of 2016 to 74.6 percent with the class of 2018. The target is 80 percent by 2019-20.<\/p>\n
Mone said the pathways to education are vitally important and the M\u00b3 institutions are working hard to create those and to support students in not only accessing higher education but also completing their degrees.<\/p>\n
Summer bridge programs in mathematics, career planning, coaching and dual-enrollment programs that allow high school students to earn college credit are all part of the effort, he and other speakers said.<\/p>\n
Two 51ÁÔÆæ students talked about the impact M\u00b3 has already made on their lives. First-year student Mawah Kromah, who plans to major in education, talked about the support she received at her MPS high school \u2014 James Madison Academic Campus \u2014 and the summer bridge program that helped her graduate from high school and enter college.<\/p>\n
Pilar Olvera, a senior in sociology and urban studies at 51ÁÔÆæ, praised the support she had received at 51ÁÔÆæ that has contributed to her academic success and set her on a path to graduation. \u201c51ÁÔÆæ helped me every step of the way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Mone closed his presentation talking about insights he\u2019d gained from reading biographies of America\u2019s founding fathers, who saw the value of offering public education to all as a way of establishing an informed citizenry. That is a key reason the work must continue, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way we will continue to achieve a true democracy is through continued work in public education,\u201d Mone said. \u201cI\u2019m proud of the work we\u2019ve achieved, but we have much more work in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
M\u00b3, an educational collaboration of 51ÁÔÆæ, Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee Area Technical College, celebrated its second anniversary with an event highlighting the impact the initiative has had so far. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":66140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[249,250],"section":[122,123],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[260,334],"uwmnews-feed":[167],"class_list":["post-66139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-community-engagement","tag-student-success","section-campus-community","section-campus-partnerships","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-community-engagement","related-coverage-m-cubed","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association"],"yoast_head":"\n