Junior Achievement of Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization that offers programs focused on work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
Junior Achievement’s 3DE is a curriculum model piloted at Milwaukee Marshall High School and Bay View High School to improve student engagement, attendance, academic success and graduation rates among at-risk students. The program is currently in its second year and serves 600 students. Nationally, the program has been implemented in 60 high schools in 31 markets, serving 16,000 students.
Students develop solutions working with local business coaches, focused on creativity, critical thinking, cultural agility, collaboration, communication and self-direction. The schools have seen improved attendance, lower suspension rates and more students say what they’re learning can be applied to the real world.
Attendance among sophomores participating in the program has increased approximately 10%. Suspension rates have also decreased for ninth and 10th graders at Bay View High School.
Ninth and 10th graders work in teams on case challenges with partners such as Educators Credit Union, Arby’s, the Milwaukee County Zoo and others.
Juniors develop their own companies and seniors consult with one company on a business solution that could be implemented.
“This award affirms what we believe, that education can and must be reimagined to better prepare students for success in work, in life and in our community. We believe education must evolve to meet the challenges and the opportunities of today’s world.”
– Betsy McGinnity, director of school leadership, 3DE by Junior Achievement
Finalists:
LAUNCH, School District of Elmbrook
The LAUNCH program from the Elmbrook School District, which serves Brookfield, Elm Grove and part of New Berlin, collaborates with local businesses to provide real-world experiences for students, assigning them meaningful projects with specific goals, deadlines and a requirement to present them in front of a live audience upon completion.
LAUNCH includes 17 different profession-aligned programming. These focus areas include data science, future teachers, engineering, media solutions and medicine and health care. LAUNCH serves over 400 students from Brookfield and Wauwatosa high schools.
Student projects have involved understanding the impact of automation and robotics in a work cell, raising revenue from target-marketing strategies, contributions to awareness messaging campaigns for public health initiatives and developing a new product at an area manufacturer.
Students who have participated in the LAUNCH program have landed jobs as pharmacy technicians, certified nursing assistants and emergency medical technicians. Five former LAUNCH students have entered Elmbrook’s teacher pipeline, with two of those students currently serving as teachers in the school district.
LUMIN Schools
The Lutheran Urban Mission Initiative Inc., also known as LUMIN Schools, offers a Lemonade Day service-learning project that allows students to plan, market and run lemonade stands, with all proceeds supporting Children’s Wisconsin.
LUMIN Schools is a network of seven private voucher schools serving K4 through eighth grade students in Milwaukee, Racine and Beloit. It was founded in 2002.
The Lemonade Day project connects students with local businesses to explore careers, build real-world skills and practice entrepreneurship. Over the past four years, $45,000 has been raised to support children battling cancer.
As part of the project, each LUMIN Schools campus partners with a local business to help students navigate stages of the business process, such as budgeting, marketing and management. This year, one campus worked with Milwaukee-based CG Schmidt to design a virtual lemonade stand. Another LUMIN campus worked with SimsStrong to produce a promotional video.
Over 500 students have participated in the service project, developing skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving and financial literacy.
Messmer High School
Messmer High School’s WinterM program provides students the opportunity to take enrichment courses, complete required courses or earn certification enrolling in special courses. Messmer is a private school located at 742 W. Capitol Drive in Milwaukee.
WinterM is a mid-year term lasting 20 days in January. Examples of courses include classes on woodworking skills, nail technician training, nursing and commercial driver’s education. Messmer has partnered with Aurora Health Care to provide certified nursing assistant courses and with Versiti for phlebotomy courses.
Messmer’s pre-certification course offerings include pre-welding, pre-carpentry, robotics and cosmetology. Faculty and community partners support enrichment courses such as faith and film, dance, karate and clothing design. Local entrepreneurs teach some WinterM courses as well.
Through these experiences, Messmer students learn the basics of creating a business plan and gain an understanding of Milwaukee’s business landscape. Because of their exposure through WinterM, Messmer graduates have gone on to become welders, CNAs and carpenters.
