Mo Zell, interim dean of UWM’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning, talks to students, their families and community members during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
Students cut boards for the project. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
A student fastens some framing boards. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
A student works on assembling the ceiling. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
Students assemble folding tables. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
The structures were added to a community garden in Milwaukee's Metcalfe Park neighborhood. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
Larry Keaton, who lives across the street from the community garden, tries out one of the new benches. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
Jahsiah Acosta, a senior at Rufus King High School, is interested in a career in architecture or interior design. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
Sophia West, a senior at Ronald Reagan High School, helped put together the folding benches. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
MPS students, staff and mentors pause for a group photo. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
The structures were built by Milwaukee Public Schools students under the guidance of teachers and mentors from around the city taking part in the new NAF Future Ready Scholars program led by UWM faculty members and staff. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
A community garden in Milwaukee’s Metcalfe Park neighborhood has a couple welcome additions – two 10-by-15 foot wood structures that provide a place for gardeners to take a break, complete with folding benches, rain barrels and solar panels to power water pumps.
They were constructed by Milwaukee Public Schools students under the guidance of teachers and mentors from around the city taking part in the new NAF Future Ready Scholars program, led by UWM faculty members and staff. The program gives the high school students experience in a STEM-related activity that could spark interest in a related career.
The project resonated with Sophia West, a senior at Ronald Reagan High School, who helped put together the wooden benches.
“I would love to pursue architecture in the future,” she said, “and it was a lot of fun to get into the community and help.”
