Milwaukee Travel Study Trip 2013

Community Partners:

Southside Family Charter School is fortunate to work with many community partners in Wisconsin to help our students learn about labor history, immigration, desegregation efforts, Civil Rights History, and urban agriculture during our 2013 Spring History Trip. Learn more about some of the people and organizations that are contributing to this year's travel study trip:

• Workers' Rights Center of Madison.  The Workers’ Rights Center is a "community center dedicated to educating and advocating for worker justice. The Center is committed to empowering workers. A major focus has been training people in the community as advocates to assist others in resolving workplace problems. By its work and advocacy, the Workers’ Rights Center seeks to affirm the dignity of work and the dignity and respect that should be afforded to all members of our community, as expressed in the social teachings of many faiths."
   
• Ian's Pizza, Madison.  Labor- and eco-friendly pizza place in Wisconsin that has provided "pizza powered" support to striking teachers and protestors at the Capitol in 2011.
   
• Mount Mary College, Milwaukee.  Students will tour and present Keep the Dream Alive! at Wisconsin's first four-year women's college.
   

  *Ken Germanson, President Emeritus of the   Wisconsin    Labor History Society will take us on a tour of significant labor history sites and artwork in Milwaukee and share the work of Community Advocates Milwaukee, where he currently volunteers.

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• Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), the youth branch of Voces de la Frontera, Wisconsin's leading immigrant-rights group.  Students will have dinner with YES participants, learn about the organization and help them prepare for a May Day march.
   
• Arts@Large Gallery will host students for a viewing of the March to Equality exhibit produced by students from Nova High school.  The exhibit is about the Milwaukee Civil Rights movement of the 1960's.  Nova students will also lead us on a tour of significant sites of the Milwaukee Civil Rights movement.
   

• Margaret (Peggy) Rozga, Professor of English Emerita at the University of Wisconsin Waukeshaka, will join us Friday as well.  Peggy was a member of NAACP Youth Council and is the widow of Father James Groppi, who was very active in the Open Housing Movement in Milwaukee during the 1960's.  Peggy has continued to be involved in civil rights activism.  You can see part of her interview for the Milwaukee Public Television project "Freedom Walkers for Milwaukee" here.  
  
  
   
• Marcia Williams, Assistant Professor at Marquette University, will join us to talk about her experiences in the fields of education, sociology, and academia.  Marcia is a longtime friend (and former employee!) of SFCS.
  
   
•     Wisconsin Black Historical Society Museum.  We will visit and tour the museum, whose mission is        " to document and preserve the historical heritage of people of African descent in Wisconsin. the Museum exhibits, collects and disseminates materials depicting this heritage. Serving as a resource center for all people interested in Wisconsin's rich African American heritage, the Museum's purpose is to encourage and promote family community and cultural activities."                       
  
   
• We will have dinner with Dr. Shirley R. (Berry) Butler-Derge on Friday night.  Dr. Butler-Derge is an author of several books about race, education, and history; a teacher, poet, motivational speaker, and school developer.  Dr. Butler-Derge was also an active member of the NAACP Youth Council in the 1960's and has continued her activism into the present day.
  
   
• Our last stop is at Growing Power and the Growing Power Cafe on Saturday.  Growing Power "transforms communities by supporting people from diverse backgrounds and the  environments in which they live through the development of Community Food Systems. These systems provide high-quality, safe, healthy, affordable food for all residents in the community. Growing Power develops Community Food Centers, as a key component of Community Food Systems, through training, active demonstration, outreach, and technical assistance.  Will Allen, our Chief Executive Officer believes, "If people can grow safe, healthy, affordable food, if they have access to land and clean water, this is transformative on every level in a community. I believe we cannot have healthy communities without a healthy food system."  We will visit Growing Power's urban farm in Milwaukee where they utilize methods such as vermiculture and aquaponics to produce healthy, sustainable food.
   

Food:

Whenever possible, SFCS tries to work with local, sustainable organizations to provide food for our travelers.  The Milwaukee Trip will include several food from several organizations we are proud to support:

• Ian's Pizza, Madison.  Labor- and eco-friendly pizza place in Wisconsin that has provided "pizza powered" support to striking teachers and protestors at the Capitol in 2011.
   
• Beans & Barley Deli, Market, and Cafe, serving "healthy, home-made", reasonably-priced food.
   
• Terri Lynn's Express, soul food restaurant in Milwaukee, owned and operated by a family involved in the NAACP Youth Council in the 1960's (and special friends of Dr. Butler-Derge!).
   
• Growing Power Cafe, part of Growing Power, Inc.  Read more about Executive Chef DeShawn Parker.