The MPS World Fair Returns to Downtown Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE — The Baird Center will host over 2,400 students from 17 of the most diverse schools in Milwaukee for the 9th annual UNSIL MPS World Fair on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The celebration allows students in grades 4-8 to showcase what they have learned this year about the 193 member countries in the United Nations.

The students will present projects that explore the strengths and challenges of each nation as well as the role each country plays in its region or continent. The World Fair will also feature cultural performances including the Milwaukee School of Languages Congolese Swahili Choir, a German choir from the Milwaukee German Immersion School, African drumming from Stuart School, Vietnamese and Hmong dancers from Rufus King, and African dancers from the Milwaukee French Immersion School.

The 17 schools participating in the 2024 World Fair are part of MPS’ United Nations Schools of International Learning (UNSIL) program and feature the highest concentrations of students with international roots as refugees and immigrants resettled in Wisconsin. Within the participating schools, 35 different languages are spoken by students and families.

WHERE: Baird Center, 400 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53203

WHEN: Thursday, April 11, 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

New this year to the MPS World Fair will be the distribution of the MPS Citizenship Award. The award recognizes outstanding service learning projects designed by 8th-grade students completing the UNSIL program. Three prizes of $500 each will be provided to the winning projects. The projects will be tied to a UN Sustainability Goal and may be used to complete or enhance service projects benefitting the Milwaukee community or to help their classroom or school community.

“We are cultivating global scholars, and this crucial program teaches our children that they are active and interconnected citizens of the world,” said Willie Jude II, MPS Foundation, Executive Director. “Through the exchange of cultural knowledge, students will make significant strides in fostering a more peaceful world by developing greater compassion and appreciation for everyone.”

The World Fair is made possible by visionary local philanthropists Annette J. Roberts & Joan R. Robertson through their Fund for World Peace, World Law and Peace Education. Through the MPS Foundation and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation the trustees of this fund established the United Nations Schools of International Learning curriculum in MPS. The program began in 2016 in nine schools and is now implemented in 17 schools. Six MPS schools are currently participating in UNSIL at the 8th-grade level.

“This was the dream of my mother, Joan Robertson and at 108 years old she is thrilled that it continues on,” said Annette Robertson, active volunteer for UNSIL. “The really wonderful thing is that if you ask any student at the World Fair about their country or what they studied, in response, they’re so excited and empowered. They see that these children and these people are like them; they just speak a different language and live in a different country.”

The UNSIL program prepares MPS students for a competitive 21st-century global workforce by combining academic skills such as research and writing before presenting on real-world issues through debate, negotiation, and conflict resolution. The curriculum also centers on world affairs, current events, multiculturalism, and cultural competencies. Students develop empathy, tolerance, critical thinking, and problem-solving competencies necessary to succeed in any postsecondary career.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.