Updates from our Project Managers!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Our College Project Managers give us some insight into their weekly activities, strengths, and weaknesses:


"Meeting with the Neu Life Center's Lead to Succeed group was an impressive experience. I was surprised to see the artistic talent my group has as well as how much work they have already accomplished. My team’s creativity and dedication are their biggest strengths in this project. My goal is to continue to cultivate these strengths as well as others to help decrease our areas of weakness.  I think a weakness affecting our group is the lack of experience with the rain barrels we are trying to create a business pitch for. My group has fantastic ideas on ways to give their rain barrels competitive advantage, yet the some of these ideas cannot realistically be implemented. However, it’s helpful to our group that I’ve used a rain barrel before, so I’m familiar with their practicality and usage. Together, I’m hopeful that my group and I will be able to create a successful rain barrel business plan that will positively contribute to the Neu Life Community Resource Center while decreasing Milwaukee County’s luring freshwater crisis. - Monica, Social Entrepreneurship Project: Neu-Life

"I really enjoyed my first session with my project team! I was very comfortable around them and they seemed to feel comfortable around me, as well. The thing that surprised me the most was that my facilitator asked another project manager and myself to lead the group in a discussion that we had limited time to prepare for. I believe that one of my team's strengths is working together but their downfall is talking when others are speaking. To prepare for the LTS sessions, I have typed a planning guide that was created by my team. I found out that my team's community would like to encourage people to be more diverse and open to other cultures." - Gamilah, Multicultural Mural: Waukesha South High School

"The first session with my project team went really well! I was nervous as to how the girls would respond to having a mentor, but luckily I was received well and we were able to be productive and personal at the same time. I was amazed by how mature and respectful they were, especially when we needed to be productive. Our strengths are that the girls already know each other so there's no awkwardness between them, and they work really hard. Also, they are determined to do a good job on this project. Our downfall may be that they are such friends and will have trouble concentrating and staying focused- but so far I haven't seen any weaknesses with the girls in my team." - Jenna, Youth Water Website: St. Joan Antida High School

2012 Project Managers!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

We are proud to announce that we have 16 new Project Managers working with Lead to Succeed this Spring semester! Want to hear a little bit about their expectations for the upcoming months? Read on!

"As college Project Manager, we are needed because we help to be that "in-between" for the high school students. We are not teachers but we are there to help the students problem solve and stay on track. I know from working with Lead To Succeed in the past that college mentors can help bring some new ideas to a project and have helped open students' eyes to a new way of looking at things. We will be learning with the students and hopefully will help make these project successful- which I am confident we can do. What I, as a project manager, can bring to this position is my previous experience with Lead to Succeed and some of the connections I have made that may come in handy with some of the projects." - Elizabeth, Youth Water Website: PLI & Waukesha 4H

"From my perspective, the role of a Lead to Succeed Project Manager is to guide the Saint Joan High School students to successfully complete their Water Website Project.  I am here to help the project move more smoothly and let each student know that their participation matters.  I am needed to answer any questions they may have about the project, which could be something as simple as “Where can I find credible websites to help my research?”  I feel like I am also a sort of role model to some of these students.  I remember when I was in High School, or even Middle School, and I thought the older kids were always so cool. As far as what skills I bring to the position, I feel like I can lead them in a good direction to complete this project.  I want to celebrate their victories with candy, or maybe a short game.  I’m a pretty organized individual, which also will help my group complete this in a timely fashion.  I have the responsibility of handling a job and being a student, so I know I can handle this too.  I’m excited to get to know my group more!" - Megan, Youth Water Website: St. Joan Antida

"I think a project manager is many things! Most importantly, I think a project manager is someone who leads, without letting the students know that they're leading. Letting the kids know that what their doing is important and that their input is needed is very crucial. Project managers are needed to keep the kids on task and make sure they continue working on what they should be. I am very organized and have been a teacher at my job for a while, so i'm hoping the skills i've learned working there will come in handy during this project!" - Brittany, Youth Water Website: Milwaukee 4H

On-Site Discovery Fieldtrip!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

This past weekend was full of adventure as we embarked on a journey of discovery to Karthauser and Sons greenhouse! Everyone had a great time as we learned about water, filtration systems, conservation, and our favorite flowers! Take a look at some of our pictures to get a taste of what our day was like!

Taking a walking tour of the facility!

Overhead irrigation system!

Very pretty! Tropical bromeliads on the right.

For more pictures from our trip, check out our Flickr account!

New Project!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

2012 is off to a great start! We've been hammering out the details and have finalized an awesome new project that we're incredibly excited about!

Our new Social Entrepreneurship Competition Project- College Project Managers will be leading a team of high school students in the creation of a business plan that will make a positive impact on the community, with an emphasis in the water industry. High school students will have access to Basecamp, a project management website, and attend monthly meet-ups at the OpenMiKE facility at Spreenkler Talent Labs.

Project sites include: SUPAR, Bradley Tech, the Professional Learning Institute, and Neu-Life Community Resource Center.

Competition meetings have already begun, and soon the new College Project Managers will be helping at the sessions! Each team will submit their final business canvas by May 4th and will present it at the Lead to Succeed End of the Year Celebration Ceremony on May 11th! Stay tuned for more updates and pictures from our innovative high school groups!

First Semester Wrap-Up!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Our fall semester Project Managers have completed their work with Lead to Succeed. Here's what some had to say about finishing up their portion of the projects:
How do you feel that your project will impact the community?

"Our team has not only developed a concrete plan for our project, we have completed it.  Our service learning involvement coincides with a class that is only one semester long so we had to fit a lot into a short amount of time.  We spent weeks volunteering in the community with the students and filming their involvement. We made cookies for the church that Milwaukee Excel works with. We raked leaves in the community, wrote letters to the troops, and started a food drive for the homeless! We documented the students efforts and made a short video for Milwaukee Excel High School regarding volunteerism in the community. The goal was to create a relationship with the community since Milwaukee Excel High School is brand new. I think our video will show the community that the school is full of good kids with good intentions towards the neighbors and the community!"  -Elizabeth D., Milwaukee Excel Youth Volunteerism Project

"I think having them [multicultural murals] will impact the community at Waukesha South High School. After having discussions with all of the kids in our group meetings, it is evident that diversity is an issue at the school. I think that having multiple murals (this year's 3 murals and last year's mural) will really be a reminder to the kids to be open to different ideas and people, and to be respectful. I think respecting others is one of the most important lessons that high school youth can learn! Hopefully parents and people from the community that walk around the school will see these murals, and it will make them think about diversity a little bit, because I think it's definitely not a topic that people think about every day, though it should be because it's such a huge part of our lives." -Meaghann C., Diversity Mural

Check it out!

 Friday, January 13, 2012

You guessed it- Lead to Succeed finally has a Facebook page! LIKE us now and stay up-to-date on all the latest happenings in the LTS community!

Find us here!

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Here it is- the fantastic video that our students and Project Managers put together!

The Lead to Succeed students at Milwaukee Excel High School did an amazing job this semester! From outdoor cleanup to writing letter for our troops, they fully engaged themselves in their community and volunteered in a variety of ways.

Check out their video here!