2012 PEOPLE Prep Program Graduation
Celebration:
Wrap Around Education
Celebration:
Wrap Around Education
Above: Carmen Porco (Seated second left), PEOPLE Director Jacqueline DeWalt
and the PEOPLE Prep staff and students
and the PEOPLE Prep staff and students
| Above: Masaya Xiong (l-r), Jessica Speakes, Jamita Horton, Kesha Wilkinson, and Mikell Coleman |
By Jon Gramling
Back in April, the UW-Madison PEOPLE Prep
Program held at the Northport and Packers
Community Learning Centers held their end-of-the-
year celebration at Gordon Commons on the UW-
Madison campus. As the students gathered for
games and awards put on by UW-Madison students,
these elementary school students from poverty
households were also learning that with the right grit
and determination, UW-Madison is where they belong.
PEOPLE Prep is a wonderful partnership between
UW-Madison, Great Lakes Education Corp. and
Housing Ministries of Wisconsin, which manages the
Northport and Packers low-income housing
complexes. And it is the life-long learning approach
of the centers that offers cradle to grave learning
opportunities and makes them a strong foundation for
the program.
“Our last dropout was seven years ago,” said
Carmen Porco, executive director of Housing
Ministries. “Within two years of starting our program
Back in April, the UW-Madison PEOPLE Prep
Program held at the Northport and Packers
Community Learning Centers held their end-of-the-
year celebration at Gordon Commons on the UW-
Madison campus. As the students gathered for
games and awards put on by UW-Madison students,
these elementary school students from poverty
households were also learning that with the right grit
and determination, UW-Madison is where they belong.
PEOPLE Prep is a wonderful partnership between
UW-Madison, Great Lakes Education Corp. and
Housing Ministries of Wisconsin, which manages the
Northport and Packers low-income housing
complexes. And it is the life-long learning approach
of the centers that offers cradle to grave learning
opportunities and makes them a strong foundation for
the program.
“Our last dropout was seven years ago,” said
Carmen Porco, executive director of Housing
Ministries. “Within two years of starting our program
programming in the complex.
"The best way to bridge the educational achievement gap among
persons of ethnic, racial and economic diversity is to also bridge the
community gap that continues to separate people in communities of
poverty from direct access to resources and the mainstream
institutions,” Porco said. "In this experience, we have found that we
make far greater progress when we view the people in our
communities as a resource adding value to the community as a whole
rather than as a set of liabilities and deficits that draw down the larger
community's assets."
In essence, individuals in poverty are viewed as part of the solution
and not as a problem that must be overcome. And they are surrounded
by the solution during the course of their every day lives.
"The best way to bridge the educational achievement gap among
persons of ethnic, racial and economic diversity is to also bridge the
community gap that continues to separate people in communities of
poverty from direct access to resources and the mainstream
institutions,” Porco said. "In this experience, we have found that we
make far greater progress when we view the people in our
communities as a resource adding value to the community as a whole
rather than as a set of liabilities and deficits that draw down the larger
community's assets."
In essence, individuals in poverty are viewed as part of the solution
and not as a problem that must be overcome. And they are surrounded
by the solution during the course of their every day lives.
base, the grade point average went from 1.4 to over 3.0 on a 4.0 system, and has been sustained at that level. Behavioral problems
have been greatly reduced from the pre-Learning-Center high of 30% with high truancy and other behaviors considered disruptive to the
school classroom and child’s performance. We now have over 90% of our high school graduates going on to higher education. The
community itself is beginning to embrace education as a goal for the whole family works to support the teachers and the school system,
a dynamic that can change the entire school system’s success.”
One of the primary factors contributing to this success is its belief in the residents and active inclusion of them in the operation of
have been greatly reduced from the pre-Learning-Center high of 30% with high truancy and other behaviors considered disruptive to the
school classroom and child’s performance. We now have over 90% of our high school graduates going on to higher education. The
community itself is beginning to embrace education as a goal for the whole family works to support the teachers and the school system,
a dynamic that can change the entire school system’s success.”
One of the primary factors contributing to this success is its belief in the residents and active inclusion of them in the operation of
“These community learning centers are the result of an innovative combination of a unique housing management philosophy applied to
subsidized housing for the very-low income and a holistic human service base within that housing,” Porco said. “The broad program
base focuses on education, offering early childhood education through Head Start and 4K, Family Literacy and Play and Learn,
afterschool homework and tutoring, a special program with the UW Madison (the People Prep), adult education classes with the
Wisconsin Technical College System Board and Madison College, and a summer program focused on exploration and education.”
By transforming communities through the active engagement of its residents, Housing Ministries and its partners like PEOPLE Prep are
transforming lives as well through “wrap around” educational services.
subsidized housing for the very-low income and a holistic human service base within that housing,” Porco said. “The broad program
base focuses on education, offering early childhood education through Head Start and 4K, Family Literacy and Play and Learn,
afterschool homework and tutoring, a special program with the UW Madison (the People Prep), adult education classes with the
Wisconsin Technical College System Board and Madison College, and a summer program focused on exploration and education.”
By transforming communities through the active engagement of its residents, Housing Ministries and its partners like PEOPLE Prep are
transforming lives as well through “wrap around” educational services.