Milwaukee Recreation uses Lions Quest to facilitate service learning at MPS

Service learning, which the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction defines as “a method of learning that engages students in solving problems in their schools and communities as part of their academic learning,” is a key component of modern education, and it’s what many Milwaukee public school students learn through. various programs, including those of Milwaukee Recreation.

One of the latest, which Milwaukee Rec has offered for more than a decade through a partnership with Lions Clubs International, is the Lions Quest program.

In 2013, Milwaukee Recreation introduced Lions Quest, a self-confidence, conflict resolution and goal-setting program with a focus on service learning, to the City of Milwaukee, and that year more than 250 youth completed six service learning projects with partners such as the Wisconsin Humane Society , City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works, Hunger Task Force and Assistance Centers.

Last year, 159 MPS students participated in Lions Quest learning projects at 11 sites, according to Jaterrance Young, director of programs at CLC Milwaukee.

The program dates back to 1975, when teenager Rick Little surveyed more than 2,000 high school students, asking them about the issues they were most concerned about. Deciding to try to create a program that would help his peers develop skills and build character, Little consulted with veteran educators and got started.

His program quickly became popular and soon expanded to include younger students. Little eventually founded the International Youth Foundation and became its CEO.

In 1984, Lions Club International – a community organization with 1.4 million members in nearly 50,000 clubs worldwide – began supporting the program.

Lions Quest programs also began to appear in the Milwaukee area, particularly in Brown Deer and Greendale in the early 1990s.

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In 2002, the Lions Club assumed leadership of the program and over the years has provided more than 350 grants totaling more than $20 million to advance Lions Quest programs.

Another key figure in the history of Lions Quest was Mike Buscemi, who co-founded Quest International and traveled to more than 25 countries on five continents over the decades to help build the program.

When the program launched in Milwaukee in 2013, one of the first projects was “green” artwork painted on city trash cans by students for a neighborhood beautification project in partnership with Ald. Joe Davis Sr. and the Milwaukee Department of Public Works.

“The graffiti I’ve seen on the containers is creative and amazing, and serves as a visual reminder of how important it is to keep the campus and neighborhood clean for everyone,” Davis told the daily at the time.

Lions Quest students at LaFollette School recently visited a local memory care facility and made ardas, gift bags with coloring books and snacks to give to residents, and interacted with the residents by playing games, talking and reading books together.

At Lincoln Center of the Arts CLC, students focused on mental health in the age of Covid, interviewed other students, created posters and banners, held forums and other activities to raise awareness.

The appearance of the program in Milwaukee was apparently not related to its previous implementation in the neighboring suburbs. Instead, it appears a Milwaukee Recreation employee heard about it while traveling out of state.

“In 2013, I learned about the Lions Quest program at an afterschool conference in California,” wrote Helen Hamilton, Milwaukee’s recreation manager for our preschool and afterschool programs, in a report to the state’s DPI.

“In my school district, our middle schools and especially our high schools have had a lot of fights and problems after school. I researched and looked for more structured programs for middle and high school students. I inquired about the program and learned that it was headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, and decided to launch the program.

“Over the past five years, we have successfully implemented the program in all of our middle schools, traditional middle schools and select grades 6-8 in our K-8 after-school facilities.”

In a 2018 report, Hamilton, who still works for Milwaukee Recreation, offered a detailed explanation of the program.

“Students participate in large and small group, research-based and project-based activities using Lions Quest’s After-School Skills for Teens curriculum and Change and Challenges textbook. Activities include projects to build self-confidence, improve communication and listening skills, conflict resolution and emotion management, violence prevention, problem solving, decision making and goal setting,

“Students read and discuss thought-provoking articles, using writing assignments to improve speaking skills and ideas for family and community engagement. Students also learn personal and social responsibility by choosing and participating in a service learning project. The school district has agreed to provide graduation credits to all students who complete a service learning project through the Lions Quest District.”

Hamilton explained that each Lions Quest program requires at least 20 students to participate, and she added that Milwaukee Recreation seeks out at-risk students for the program.

At the beginning of each school year, each program site is required to attend a Lions Quest training. A second training session focusing on the service learning component will be held in January.

Students then meet once or twice a week for Lions Quest training.

“The first semester is strictly focused on social-emotional learning (SEL) and building community among students,” she wrote. “The entire second semester is focused on service learning, with students contributing and giving back to their communities.

“Service Learning is student-led, and their instructors act as counselors for adults. Students conduct research on their communities and vote to decide which project is most needed and will have the greatest impact on the needs of that particular community.”

During the school year, Hamilton and a Lions Quest staff member visited the programs to provide support.

Initially, Lions Club grants supported the implementation of Lions Quest in Milwaukee Public Schools, but after several years the funding was transferred to the county budget.

In 2017-18, 16 Milwaukee sites participated in the program, and Hamilton said the results were easy to see.

“More positive leaders are emerging from the at-risk group, and at-risk students are starting to look at school differently,” she said. “Overall attendance has increased, the number of fights and suspensions has decreased. Students want to do more service learning projects than required. More than 600 students received the required Lions Quest course credits for graduation.

“More students are taking advantage of broader educational opportunities, such as applying for apprenticeships, doing research, and applying to colleges or trade schools. School administration, teachers and fellow students recognize students for their achievements, which increases their overall self-esteem.

“It also increased awareness and sensitivity to others. Because of the influence of educational community service projects, even the community is starting to look at our students differently.”

At the Lincoln Center for the Arts on the Lower East Side, this year’s focus was on adolescent mental health, as the children decided after a survey and further discussion that “everything has changed dramatically for them” since the pandemic, the program concluded.

While some students interviewed, canvassed, and polled other teenagers, others created posters, banners, and stickers, and still others focused on finding and sharing information about depression, peer pressure, burnout, and anxiety with other students.

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According to the closing statement, “collectively, the LCA CLC team produced vision boards, affirmation cards that were hung in trees outside the school for passers-by to read, and we also held a hygiene drive where we collected food for those students in need. elementary hygienic care.

“The students and staff at LCA CLC set out to make a difference and bring attention to a topic that can sometimes go unnoticed as people remain busy with their daily routines and routines.”

Meanwhile, at Borchert Field’s LaFollette Elementary School, Lions Quest has been working to help seniors in the community.

Students visited a local memory care facility and shared cards, snacks, and coloring book gift wraps they created.

The youth also engaged the residents by playing games, reading to them and chatting. Through this interaction, the children learned that residents included former teachers, lawyers, dentists, and even a former school district principal.

“Youth learned about compassion and how they should treat every adult with respect and dignity, regardless of their physical and/or mental abilities,” LaFollette’s CLC summary states.

“They realized that one day it could be them or a loved one.”

(NOTE: This article was written for the Milwaukee Recreation Institutional History Project. While the subject was provided by Milwaukee Recreation, the content was not.)