{"id":435,"date":"2019-05-20T17:54:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T22:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/m-cubed\/?p=435"},"modified":"2023-06-14T11:29:44","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T16:29:44","slug":"visits-to-matc-and-uwm-help-mps-students-with-academic-and-career-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/m-cubed\/news\/visits-to-matc-and-uwm-help-mps-students-with-academic-and-career-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Visits to MATC and UWM help MPS students with academic and career plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Early exposure to careers is part of an M3<\/sup> plan to help students connect education with their interests and long-term goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, college experiences are offered to students in 11th and 12th grades to assist them in choosing a college. Although this is important, research also shows that earlier exposure to such experiences provides more time for students act on what they learn about postsecondary options and encourages them to align their high school coursework with college entrance requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, M3<\/sup> received a grant from Herbert H. Kohl Charities, Inc., to supplement school-based Academic and Career Planning (ACP) with exposure to a college campus for ninth- and 10th-grade students. During the program\u2019s second year of implementation, more than 4,000 students met with faculty, staff and students while exploring MATC and UWM for Academic and Career Plan events and a job fair. At both institutions, more than 80 percent of the students reported positive outcomes. This story offers a snapshot of what they experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UWM Empowering Education experience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ninth-grade students interface with UWM in groups of 75 to 150 for an Empowering Education experience, ensuring each group is small enough to connect with current UWM students, hear more about life on a college campus, learn how college differs from high school and ask questions. MPS students also tour an area on campus featuring classes that align with their career interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience is preceded by several weeks of in-school curriculum focused on planning for the future. After the Empowering Education program, students update their individual Academic and Career Plan (ACP) based on the new information and provide an overall evaluation of their experience. During the 2018-19 school year, 1,054 MPS students completed the experience at UWM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UWM begins the Empowering Education experience with a multimedia presentation that introduces high school students to the campus through college student testimonies explaining how UWM impacted their life. After the presentation, students move into small groups for a more interactive experience, where they share their career plans and discuss what is important about life beyond high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each MPS group also meets current UWM students, who provide a more personal perspective of their college experience through a panel discussion. They answer questions about what\u2019s challenging about attending college, the best part of their experiences, how they\u2019re paying for college, and how they\u2019d change their high-school preparation for college. UWM students dive further into the college experience during a subsequent campus tour that\u2019s tailored to the MPS students\u2019 career interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They talk about how college provides students with extraordinary resources to satisfy their desire to learn, including faculty expertise, equipment, technology, dedicated space and other support. Students are introduced to the idea of intrinsic learning, which is driven by each students\u2019 desire to know something or do something rather than simply pass an exam. The tour also includes visiting a student activity resource, such as the UWM Student Union or the recreation facilities at the Klotsche Center and Pavilion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MATC Explore Your Future experience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MPS 10th-grade students discover MATC during the multicampus Explore Your Future experience, which was most recently held March 21, 2019. It featured 1,272 MPS students attending morning or afternoon sessions at one MATC\u2019s four campuses \u2013 Downtown, Mequon, Oak Creek or West Allis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a general presentation about MATC, students engage in two different mini-lessons that are based upon their career interests and led by MATC faculty. Hands-on activities were designed to ensure students participated and would understand the education necessary to prepare for their selected career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if students desired a career in health and human services, they met with faculty from that field. In fact, because health and human services was a popular choice, MATC offered multiple tracks. One track introduced students to the work of a dental technician and a radiology technician, while a second track introduced students to health information technology and the work of a cardiovascular technician. These in-depth experiences helped students to differentiate among the many options in the health and human services field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to tracks in health and human services, students enjoyed experiences focused on many other fields, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n