Past Events

What becomes possible when students can see a bit of themselves in someone else? The point of community-engaged learning isn't simply to connect students and teachers to expertise. It's an opportunity for students to find inspiration in the path someone else has taken, to build a network of relationships that can support a students as they pursue their dreams.  We'll kick off our 7th season of Collab Labs with a focus on the roles mentors can play to support the…

What can we take from our discussion about the roles of mentors at Collab Lab 49 that we want to act on? Our discussion at Collab Lab 49 brought out both a lot of passion about the value successful mentor/mentee relationships can offer students as well as concerns for what needs to be in place to do this well. Given what we hear, what do we want to act on, within your classroom or as part of a collaborative effort…

What new possibilities do students see when their work supports a broader effort? Where are there opportunities to connect the work of students to support community engaged science efforts in Milwaukee? How might this broaden students' perspectives on who does science, and when and where that can happen?  What needs to be in place for students to see that they can make a useful contribution on issues they care about? Join us on November 10th to talk through ideas and…

What if we let students drive the issues that are the focus of their work? Any issue of significance provides a rich opportunity for interdisciplinary exploration.  If the issues students care about are the focus of student work, how might they use their passion to help them see connections across domains and develop the knowledge, skills, and practices to make a difference? How do we navigate our own fears about where this might lead to create the possibility? Join us…

Calling it STEAM is selling it short. Going from STEM to STEAM just adds another silo to the acronym. Agree? What if we recognized the arts not as simply another discipline students deserve to be exposed to? What if we recognized the arts as opportunities to explore and share ideas across domains? Imagine, what more could students take on and contribute to science, engineering, etc. projects, if they had a solid set of tools to do so? What does it…

Given the winter storm warnings for Thursday March 9th, we have rescheduled the session, and will look forward to seeing you on Thursday March 16th. What if students could see their work and stories impact the community? A real audience drives effort and engagement. How can we leverage community engaged projects to create opportunities for students not simply to share their work with the broader community but to see that it is valued, and can impact the issues they care…

What if students took the lead to create a culture in school where both students and educators feel safe, affirmed, and free to build the skills, knowledge, and relationships needed to pursue their passions? The pandemic did a real number on schools. That's reflected in the mental health concerns raised by students, and the additional strains put on teachers.  There are a bunch of folks in Milwaukee doing interesting work around youth mental health and violence issues. What could happen…