Photo via Teens Grow Greens - teensgrowgreens.org
Teens Grow Greens "Leading the Way" internship
Teens Grow Greens "Leading the Way" internship
Since taking root in 2014, Teens Grow Greens (TGG) has used urban gardening and food education as a foundation to empower high school-age kids to become future leaders and good citizens of Milwaukee. Recently the organization has expanded its skill-building paid internships and apprenticeships beyond culinary, gardening and entrepreneurial programs to offer teens opportunities to experience their hometown in news ways.
The new TGG internship, Leading the Way: Exploring & Rethinking Milwaukee, runs from June 15–August 23. With notebooks and cameras in hand, the teen interns will explore neighborhoods and learn about each chosen neighborhood’s original indigenous inhabitants, its immigrants, the history, natural landscapes and other aspects. The teens will engage with residents, business owners and community advocates in each area.
Dominic Inouye, internship director and education apprenticeship educator for TGG, affirms that creating safe, brave and bold spaces for teens through gardening, culinary and business workshop programs is an integral part of TGG’s programs.
However, conversations with the teens over the years revealed that they felt Milwaukee isn’t always “their Milwaukee.” The teens might be familiar with their own side of town but hear either positive or negative things about other neighborhoods.
The TGG staff felt that a missing piece for teens in their programming was learning about what other neighborhoods have to offer, and how these neighborhoods have developed into the spaces they are today.
“Neighborhoods should be a safe space for family, home and community,” says Inouye. “Leading the Way: Exploring & Rethinking Milwaukee will fill in gaps that school and life doesn’t afford them, whether it’s because of their age, or limited transportation. They’ll also earn job skills like having to show up on time and keeping a schedule, following expectations, acting in a particular way and keeping a field notebook.”
Inouye says the new city internship is near and dear to his heart. As an educator, journalist, and artist who has documented Milwaukee neighborhoods through projects such as the ZIPMKE photo challenge, he affirms that exposing teens to new spaces throughout their city can help them network and build trust.
Creating Safe, Brave and Bold Spaces for All
Photo via Teens Grow Greens - teensgrowgreens.org
Teens Grow Greens
Teens Grow Greens
As of early June, approximately 13 teens have been accepted for the Exploring & Rethinking Milwaukee program. Inouye says the interns will see city anew via walking tours, bicycles and kayaks. A typical day will involve getting to know each other, starting conversations about assets and deficits in the city, community-based asset mapping, and keeping a field notebook of written notes, sketches, interview scripts. The teens will also sharpen their interviewing, photography and video skills.
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The teens will wrap up their week in each neighborhood with a meeting at a local restaurant to review their findings. At the end of the internship, each teen will give a presentation of impact— what impact the experience made on them, and what impact they want to make on the city.
The teens will learn from sites such as the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, the Lakefront, Sherman Phoenix, Three Bridges Park, Pulaski Park, Milwaukee’s rivers and waterways, and Havenwoods State Forest. Proposed neighborhoods include Lindsay Heights, Silver City, Riverwest, Harambee, Historic Mitchell Street, Lincoln Village and Pulaski Park.
Inouye also plans to include a walk across the James E. Groppi Unity Bridge (formerly the 16th Street Viaduct) to educate the interns about the fight for open housing in Milwaukee, which began in 1962 by Alderwoman Vel Phillips and was continued in August 1967 with 200 days of Milwaukee Fair Housing Marches across the 16th Street Viaduct, led by Father James Groppi and the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council.
“I cannot wait to see what new adventures the teens have and what new ideas they create,” Inouye says.
Any residents, business owners and community advocates in the aforementioned neighborhoods that want to volunteer or participate in interviews can contact Dominic Inouye at dinouye@teensgrowgreens.org. For more information about Teens Grow Greens, visit teensgrowgreens.org.
