Mitchell eighth graders in Racine, WI, learn about growing trees in communities from Chris Litzau and Great Lakes CCC.
Thank you Ryan Patterson and The Racine Journal Times for covering the “Impact your Community Expo.” Our director, Chris Litzau had the opportunity to interact with middle school students about the importance of the natural environment in our communities. Read the article below that appeared on the front page in the May 3rd issue.
RACINE — Chris Litzau spoke with middle schoolers about the process for and importance of growing trees.
Students then took home swamp white oak saplings to plant.
“You’ve got it right in your hands; the power to make change starts with you,” said Litzau, director of the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps.
Litzau was part of an inaugural event intended to help eighth grade students grow and become more rooted in their communities.
The GLCCC was one of more than a dozen organizations at Mitchell K-8 School, 2701 Drexel Ave., on Tuesday for an “Impact your Community Expo.”
The expo was designed to help students learn about the community and potential ways to become involved and employed. It also aimed to increase awareness for students and their families about the variety of offerings from local organizations, such as affordable housing and literacy assistance.
“They’re learning about all these great entities in the community, (and) a lot of them are under-tapped,” said Kari Morey, Racine Unified academy and transformation coordinator.
Small groups of students attended several workshops that lasted about 20 minutes and listened to keynote speakers for an hour.
The organizations were mainly nonprofit and civic groups such as Focus on Community, United Way of Racine County and the Mount Pleasant Police Department.
Tuesday’s event was a pilot program. Next school year, RUSD plans to have one large event at the start of both semesters for eighth graders at Mitchell, Gifford and Jerstad-Agerholm schools to learn about the community and get potential ideas for capstone projects.
Capstone classes are new this school year at Racine Unified. They are part of the middle school academy models that began last school year at Mitchell, Gifford and Jerstad-Agerholm.
RUSD will likely adjust the events next school year based on feedback from organizations and students about Tuesday’s expo.
The expo was logistically difficult to organize and included a few late cancellations, which resulted in other entities filling in at the last minute.
That included the Racine Fire Department, which provided hands-on examples for how to use a fire extinguisher and help a choking baby.
Morey said it is an ongoing process to engage community entities to work with the school district on the middle school academies, and she encouraged interested organizations to contact the district.
“We’re going to have to grow it with two more schools next year,” Morey said.
One committed organization is the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps, which Litzau said many young people work at, including middle schoolers during summer.
Mike Brichta, GLCCC project manager, spoke about the importance of biodiversity and planning ahead when planting trees, which also applies to students’ futures.
“It starts with the next generation,” Brichta said.
Chris Litzau, director of the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps, speaks about the process for and importance of growing trees during an “Impact your Community Expo” Tuesday at Mitchel K-8 School, 2701 Drexel Ave. Ryan Patterson
