Bradley Tech student-built motorcycle, Gaenslen student-built solar car in action Tuesday
Projects among 25 from more than 20 MPS schools at this year's MPS STEM Partners Spring Student Showcase
MILWAUKEE (May 16, 2013) — A motorcycle built by students at Milwaukee Public Schools’ Bradley Technology and Trade School and a solar mini-car made by students at MPS’ Gaenslen School are among more than two dozen projects in action Tuesday at the MPS Science/Technology/Engineering/Math (STEM) Partners Spring Student Showcase.
Media are invited to the event at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, generously hosted by Direct Supply at the firm’s Champions Hall, 6663 N. Industrial Road, Milwaukee 53223. Reporters should contact Tony Tagliavia, MPS media manager, to indicate interest. Milwaukee-based Direct Supply is one of dozens of local STEM partner businesses that connect MPS students to real-world careers.
The Bradley Tech students’ motorcycle is part of the BUILD project that promotes the hands-on experience of re-manufacturing vintage motorcycles into modern racing machines. Founded by The Iron Horse Hotel in 2011, BUILD is a non-profit organization pairing high school students with bike-building mentors in an effort to learn valuable trade, design and life skills.
Gaenslen’s solar mini-car was designed in part by students – a 5th grader, two 7th graders and one 8th grader. Much of the project was made using a 3D printer and the students’ effort beat out dozens of entries from Wisconsin and Illinois to take first place at a University of Wisconsin engineering expo.
Other projects in action Tuesday include Riverside University High School’s robotics demonstration, a “medical detectives” project from Escuela Vieau and Harold S. Vincent High School’s urban agriculture/landscape design project.
“This is an outstanding showcase allowing our teachers and students to exhibit some of the exciting STEM projects they’ve been working on during the year,” said Eric Radomski, MPS’ Coordinator of Career and Technical Education. “At the same time, it provides us a wonderful opportunity to deepen and expand our business and community partnerships to further enhance the STEM education we provide.”
STEM education in Milwaukee Public Schools includes Project Lead the Way, a rigorous, innovative program helping students learn STEM through hands-on projects and activities. With 5,500 middle- and high-school students involved, MPS has the nation’s largest concentration of students connected to Project Lead the Way. Nearly half of the MPS students (45%) who take part are female and roughly 85% are students of color.
Project Lead the Way is part of MPS’ Career and Technical Education efforts, which develop and supports career-themed curriculum, work-based learning and community partnerships to prepare students for college/careers in high-demand, and skilled industries such as advanced manufacturing, engineering, transportation/automotive, construction/architecture, health, business, IT, marketing, media/graphics and urban agriculture. All programs are directly tied to labor market information. CTE programming is offered at MPS in 30 schools in grades 6-12.
This news is available online at http://www5.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/dept/superintendent/2013/05/bradley-tech-student-built-motorcycle-gaenslen-student-built-solar-mini-car-in-action-tuesday/.
Milwaukee Public Schools is Wisconsin’s largest school district, serving more than 78,000 students in more than 160 schools across the city. MPS is home to the Milwaukee region’s two best high schools according to the Washington Post and three of state’s 25 best high schools according to U.S. News and World Report. In the past year, Milwaukee Public Schools posted a growing graduation rate 14 points higher than the rate for 2000. More MPS news is available at http://mpsmke.com/news.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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