{"id":1032,"date":"2022-08-17T12:06:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T17:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/?post_type=alumni&p=1032"},"modified":"2025-11-26T10:21:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T16:21:25","slug":"cathleen-pollack","status":"publish","type":"alumni","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/alumni-profiles\/cathleen-pollack\/","title":{"rendered":"Cathleen Pollack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Youth empowerment is a passion of mine and I spend everyday helping students know their strengths, develop healthy coping strategies and learn to identify their means toward resiliency and success.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did you want to study social work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From an early age, I felt strongly about social justice. Coupling this with my empathic nature and admiration of resiliency, I believe the draw to social work was a natural one. Prior to graduate school, I worked in corporate management and enjoyed building various skills in others. I wanted to return to social work so I could focus on youth empowerment in education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has been the best social work job you had and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My best social work job is my current one as a school social worker in a public middle school. Youth empowerment is a passion of mine and I spend everyday helping students know their strengths, develop healthy coping strategies and learn to identify their means towards resiliency and success. I\u2019m honored to work with the students and families in the Milwaukee community and want to collaborate and help build strong foundations for the students to thrive. With skeletal budgets, this work also includes advocating for resources to allow equity in building strong public schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth positively respond to community building and restorative practices, which has provided an effective focus in my role. It is rewarding to witness students sharing their voices, revealing their talents and displaying their leadership. \u201cRewrite the narrative\u201d is a motto voiced by our staff and a perfect one to share with the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the vast and varied roles of a school social worker, I was able to create and coach a chess team, which has been rewarding and another means to build skills (and have some fun!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did HBSSW help you?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I continue to quote lessons I learned from HBSSW instructors and professors, often finding myself repeating them to the graduate SSW field students I work with as part of my liaison role with Wisconsin universities. Or, saying them to myself when a moment of courage is required! After 20 years, it validates the extensive education I received in the BSW\/MSW programs. And, experience has taught me that those quotes and lessons learned were significant and accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your best advice for social work students?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My best advice for social work students is to take the clinical track along with your desired area of specialty. My clinical course work, field placement and later employment was invaluable in my professional development. Mental health\/trauma awareness and expertise is essential to effectively practice in all areas of my role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1287,"parent":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-1032","alumni","type-alumni","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nHelen Bader School of Social Welfare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn more about social work alumna Cathleen Pollack who works as a school social worker in the Milwaukee Public Schools.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/alumni-profiles\/cathleen-pollack\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cathleen Pollack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn more about social work alumna Cathleen Pollack who works as a school social worker in the Milwaukee Public Schools.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/socialwelfare\/alumni-profiles\/cathleen-pollack\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Helen Bader School of Social Welfare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-26T16:21:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/alumni-profiles\\\/cathleen-pollack\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/socialwelfare\\\/alumni-profiles\\\/cathleen-pollack\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cathleen Pollack - 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