The semester is coming
to a end, our college project managers and students are getting the finishing
touches done on their projects and we all are excited to see what they come up
with. Reading through these particular
blogs you can see that many of the managers had a few challenges that they had
to overcome and the experience that they have had thus far with their
students. We are extremely excited to
see what students come up with and how much everyone has learned not only about
water but also about themselves.
“My experiences with Lead to Succeed has impacted my
understanding with water. I am now more informed on what is happening around
me. I didn't really think about stuff that goes on with water. I go to the
grocery store buy a pack of water and didn't realize that I am spending more
than I realized. Water that you get from home is cheaper than the water that
you buy at the store. Also, the difference between the two has no difference in
quality. Your water at home actually may be better for you in general. These
are just some things that I have learned from my group.
My project has one step left and will be complete. They have
finished their slide show and are waiting for a group member to upload their
voices in the slide show. So, one step left and their slide show on water will
be complete. The challenges that we face in Lead to Succeed is not how the
project is turning out but whether or not people will show up. People in the
groups have jobs or other activities with school that sometimes derail them from
going to Lead to Succeed. That is why it is always helpful that when you are in
the groups you know what is happening with every part in the project so when
someone is gone it might be your turn to step up and solve the problem within
the group. Instead of waiting til so and so shows up again.
Everyone
in the group is great. They are regulars that are always there day in and day
out. I feel that my group worked hard on their project. Each person knew what
their job was and all got together to get the project done. I do not have a
particular but I have the group as a whole. I feel that with out each other in
the group they probably would not have gotten as far as they did. Each person
had a role and fulfilled their role perfectly. I feel that my group should be
happy with what they have accomplished and not giving up on their goal of
finishing what they started. Great job!”
-Joel Guidinger
“At the
Wisconsin Conservatory for Lifelong Learning, there are two projects being
worked on. One, a board game, is a presentation for elementary school students,
while the other, an animated video, is a presentation for middle school
students.
The board game group,
which I am working with, has pretty much completed the game. It’s put together
well, and we ran through it at the last session to make sure everything runs
smoothly (it does). My experience with this group is not having much of an
impact on my understanding of water issues in Southeastern Wisconsin. Many of
the trivia questions are things I already knew (water cycle, what water is used
for, etc.) but this is to be expected as the game is for third grade students.
I plan on watching the
animated video that the other group has made, and I have a feeling that that
will give me a better understanding of water issues in the area. I believe that
group has completed their video, but as I haven’t been working with them, I
have not yet had the chance to view it. There’s been a drastic change in
attitude from mid-February (when I began working with the students) to now
(beginning of April). There has been a great increase in productivity, which
can be attributed to their projects taking shape and actually having specific
goals for each student and each session in general. The next session is not for
three more weeks, as the Conservatory is now on spring break.”
-Nick Lister
“This week we have spring break so we do not meet this week. But as the
weeks have been flying by we have accomplished a lot in our projects. As the
semester is coming to an end, our attendance at the beginning of the semester
was not very high, but lately we have had great attendance in our after school
program. It is such a great feeling that our numbers are high again and our
student's are participating! It makes myself feel great because, it shows they
enjoy our presence and being here. Our projects are coming a long well and our
student's have been very hard working and have accomplished a lot!
This service learning site has been very fun and very interesting. We
are not only teaching our student's but they are also teaching us. We have
learned all about water, careers with water, and sanitation processes in
Milwaukee because of all the use of water. A majority of time we all don't
realize how much water we are using. This service learning project is very
unique because people don't realize how many galloons of water you use each and
every day!
I
really enjoy these kids and this service learning project! It has been a
great experience and a blessing to help these kids!”
-Mercedes Brown
“Unfortunately,
we have not reached the water topic in my Environmental Science class at UWM.
We will be starting that unit in the next week or so. In the past I have
learned a lot about water the different ways it can impact our environment, so
I’m not learning too much with this project. But, I’ve never really had to
focus on the different types of water bottles and where the water comes from.
In the beginning of this project the students did some research on water
bottles such as FIJI, Smart Water, Ice Mountain and Dasani, and surprisingly
some of the information they researched was new to me. Overall, this project
has been pretty informative in ways I was expecting it to be.
The
art part of the project has been a little challenging because it’s taking time
to paint bottle caps and glue them onto a poster. Whenever you work with paint
and a time limit, things can get pretty tough but the students I’ve been
working with have been outstanding. Honestly, they stay focused throughout the
hour and a half, and continue to socialize with me and the other students. They
all work really well together and don’t argue about who wants to paint, who
wants to research, and who wants to glue. Since they all work as a team, this
certain challenge hasn’t been a big problem at all!
Most
of the students are from different schools, and they’re different age groups so
some of the students themselves were meeting each other for the first time.
With that being said, they’ve been getting to know each other and they find
things in common which brings them closer. I’ve been working with the art
project and the research part, so I’ve been talking to different students each
time. I would rather try to get to know different students in the short time I
have because they’re all so different and I’ve never worked with this type of
group before. But, on the other side of things, I have connected a little bit
with the other mentor who also goes to UWM. We’re in the same science class so
we get to talk about our projects, tests, and assignments. She’s easy to talk
to and that makes the session even better. ”
-Rudi Hauser
