Work-Based Learning Team Getting Students Ready for the World of Work

The M³ (pronounced M-Cubed) Work-Based Learning Team continues to prepare today’s students to be tomorrow’s skilled professionals by forging meaningful connections with regional employers.

In 2025, the team plans to host a Work Readiness Conference and two job fairs for high school juniors and seniors. The events, scheduled for March 19, 2025 (for junior students) and April 9, 2025 (for seniors), will be at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

Principals, counselors, teachers, parents and community partners can help the team by:

The 2025 events will build on what the team accomplished in 2024. 

  • More than 1,000 students attended two career fairs held at UWM, where hundreds of employers distributed information. Surveys taken following the fairs showed that 94% of employers at the events planned to hire our students.
  • On August 22, 2024, the team recognized 400 regional employers that have partnered with M³ to develop a workforce pipeline for the Milwaukee area. The appreciation breakfast, held at Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Downtown Milwaukee Campus, honored industry partners for giving students valuable opportunities to explore the working world. 

“We are in this together with our M³ partners and with our employers,” said MATC President Anthony Cruz, Ed.D., at the event. “You are the engine that drives our economy. With your valuable help, our students can learn what to expect in the workplace.”

The participating businesses support M³ efforts by offering internships, participating in job fairs, sharing career information with students, and connecting what students learn in class with the skills they need to succeed, said MPS Interim Superintendent Eduardo Galván.

“These connections are so impactful,” Galván said. “They help students to not only find out what they might like to do, but also what they might not want to do.”

M³ partners view employers as co-educators, said Laurie Marks, executive director of UWM’s Center for Student Experience and Talent. “Students absorb and understand the working world so much better when employers are in the room,” she said.

At the breakfast, the Aviation Careers Education (ACE) program, managed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Bureau of Aeronautics, won the Paving the Pathway Award, given to an employer that provides exemplary opportunities to students and helps them advance in their educational journeys. 

ACE is an ideal example of effective collaboration between schools, industry and government, said Tamera Coleman, MPS internship coordinator. “This program has been a trailblazer,” she added. 

More than 1,000 students have learned about aviation careers in the 35 years ACE has operated, said Max Platts, Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Aeronautical & Technical Services section chief.

“This is a unique program and super special,” Platts said as he accepted the award at the event. “We have been able to have so many students explore an industry that has so many options and opportunities.”

During the program’s eight-week internship, students work 40 hours a week at Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport and experience every function in aviation, from boarding a plane, seeing air control tower operations and fixing aircraft, said Olivia Conklin, the program’s education manager. 

One of those students was Mohammed Hameed, who graduated from Milwaukee Public Schools’ Bradley Tech High School and is in MATC’s Aviation Maintenance Technician program. 

At one point in high school, Hameed wanted to be a pilot, so he signed up for the ACE program. Once he saw the hands-on world of aircraft maintenance, he quickly changed his mind. 

“I love the idea that people’s safety, from the moment they take off until they land, can be in your hands,” Hameed said.

For more information about the M³ Work-Based Learning Team, email: