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MIADBRIDGE

ExperiencingNeighborhood House

This I believe March for Immigration Rights

Jace Rauman Coaching The Jumbos

La CausaVolunteering Experience

NOVEMBER 2009 VOL. 1 | FREE

BRIDGE.MIAD.EDU

SERVICE AWARENESS IN THE MILWAUKEE AREA


Letter From The Editor

Service is something that we often take for granted. It is something that we can all participate in, yet only a few of us actually do it. MIAD is at the forefront in this area. Students at MIAD put in a minimum of 30 hours at their placement locations, some go well over the required hours. This issue of MIAD BRIDGE highlights individuals who have given back to the community and share their experiences. These individuals are a great example of why we should all give back to our communities. Hope-fully by reading their stories it will motivate more people to act and make a difference. This issue would not have been possible without all their hard work. Thanks to all those who made this magazine possible and I hope it is a pleasure to read.

Editor

Publisher

Creative Director

Art Director

Photography

Illustrations

Contributors

Juan F. Hernandez

Juan F. Hernandez

Anne Ghorry-Goodman

Juan F. Hernandez

Juan F. Hernandez

David Beyer JR.

Kristen PalzkillJackie BerndtLisa JensenWarissara MaungasenJace RaumanHeidi Steiber

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Juan F. Hernandez


Table Of Contents

6La Causa

A look at La Cause from the perspective of

a MIAD student, Lisa Jensen.

4Francis BalistreriFaculty profile on Visual Resources instructor Francis Balistreri, an experienced designer, creative individual and skillful artist, whose work has been showcased nationwide.

5History of HS380Leslie Fedorchuk explains the history and her role in MIAD’s Service Learning class (HS380) and how this class supports MIAD’s idea of educating the artist/designer as a “whole” person.

10Experiencing

NeighborhoodHouse

Two Miad students are interviewed about their

social service experience.

16March forImmigration RightsThis I believe essay on the on-going sensitive issue of US immigration.

20Coaching The JumbosMIAD Student Jace Rauman shares his passion for LaCrosse with Milwaukee Youth.

Features

Departments

NOVEMBER 2009


As a former student of Visual Resources, I have known Francis Balistreri for almost a year now. Fran is an experienced designer and creative professional, capable of developing strategically correct solu-tions for the clients. Also a skillful artist, Fran has his sculptures scatter over the states. Over many years, he has worked as a staff designer, art director, creative director and illustrator for various firms. He was also an executive director of the Eisner Museum of Advertising & Design. His clients included Coca Cola/ McDonald’s Restaurants/7-Eleven Stores/RJR-Nabisco and many others.

As of today, Fran is no longer work as a professional designer, but a part-time educator at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design(MIAD). He is a Visual Resources’s instructor, accepting briefs from various non-profit organization. Visual Resources one of the less unique class MIAD has to offer. Visual Resources is a design class operate by an instructor(former Rebecca Ballisteri, and now Francis Ballisteri) and a selected group of students from various majors. Fran always told me, he sees Visual Resources as a small design firm rather than a class. In this class, students would have an opportunity to meet with real clients, come up with a right design solution and carry it through the production process. There are a total of eight students in Visual Resources, each would come up with a creative solution for the brief, and the client would then pick on of the solutions and produce it. Clients in Visual Resources class included many organizations in Wisconsin, and some from overseas.

Gaining so much from Fran, I really see him as someone who has contributed great deal of service to the community. As Visual Resources is the only classes in all of MIAD that has the opportunity that the design would be used and produced. Thus, the student’s design would be a service to various firms and non-profit organization, both local and international. As a student I am honored to have a successful designer as my mentor to help guide me through my last year in my design study.

Department | Faculty Profiles

Francis Balistreri

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By Warissara Maungasen


MIAD’s Service Learning class (HS380) was the creation of Leslie Fedorchuk, MIAD liberal studies professor. Leslie said that she does not have any memory of a continued involvement of service from MIAD before the start of HS380. Certain faculty, such as those in the Industrial Design department, has always made it a part of the courses. However, there may be others that have done the same that Leslie was not familiar with.

The curriculum for the course was worked on between 1999-2000. The curriculum had to be passed by a Faculty Senate Committee and an Academic Affairs Committee before it could become a class.

When the class first started in 2001, students were required to do between 40-60 hours of service hours per semester.

“It took a couple of years to realize that this was too much of a burden and impossible for many students,” said Fedorchuk. “Because of this, and because any change takes time to become part of the culture of the community,” said Fedorchuk, “there was resistance at first.”

The number of hours required for students to volunteer was cut back to 35 hours a semester.

As different people of the faculty teach the course, the focus has changed, said Fedorchuk. However, the core idea of the class has remained the same since 2001.

“We are giving people the tools they need in a profes-sional capacity—but in addition, tools to be participa-tory members of the community they find themselves in,” said Fedorchuk.

This class supports MIAD’s idea of educating the art-ist/designer as a “whole” person.

“The course has had a positive impact on academic performance, critical thinking skills, leadership, activism and promoting an understanding of diversity and civic responsibility,” said Fedorchuk. “The issues that students confront and see in their service placements show up in their studio work— and in other areas of the school as well.”

Department | Backstory

History of HS380

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Leslie Fedorchuk, Liberal studies professor.

By Heidi Steiber


By Lisa Jensen


The students, faculty and alumni of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) are frequently recognized for their achievements. MIAD is known for being the only accredited art school in Wisconsin, as well as only one of 36 in the nation. Its also offers skilled teachers, top-notch programs, and educa-tional excellence. Although MIAD is a nationally recognized art institute, its presence is sometimes overlooked by the Milwaukee community. Unlike other Milwaukee schools such as Marquette University, which has over 100 majors MIAD is a very specialized school, therefore, representative of a much smaller group of people. If you live in Milwaukee, chances are you have heard very little of MIAD, if at all, unless you are an artist, or an aspiring art student. If Milwaukee residence knew about MIAD and what they do as a community to help others, they would have a much greater interest and respect for MIAD.

MIAD does a lot for the community, in fact, Junior year of MIAD every student is required to take a service learning class, and complete 35 hours of service for a center of their choice. Most students when starting the program, are surprised and intimidated by the amount of time they are required to commit out of school, but when it begins, its all worth it. For my service learning class at MIAD, I chose to work with children; therefore I was placed at La Causa crisis nursery, located in Milwaukee.

La Causa is a crisis center for children whose mission is to provide quality childcare services for families in need, ultimately helping to create a stable community, and family atmosphere. Most of the families that use the facility are lower class, or single parents, who can’t afford childcare. While I volun-teered at the shelter, I helped take care of the kids, making sure they were fed, and mostly just giving them attention and making them feel at home. For many of the children La Causa is a second home for them, going there everyday they would get to know and trust the staff as well as the volunteers. Volunteering at La Causa made me realize that I have been fortunate in my

“Volunteering at La Causa made me realize that I have been fortunate in my life.”

Feature | November 2009


life. Nothing that I have experienced or gone through in my life has been as difficult as what some of the kids at La Causa have already experienced at ages between 1 and 15. I’ve never known what it was like to be homeless, to have a broken family, or to not have enough food, clothes or toys. When I was younger these things weren’t even a thought in my mind, because I had everything that I needed available to me. My parents had good jobs, and I had loving grandparents that were there with my sister and I if my parents were at work. We were fortunate enough to get almost whatever we wanted or needed, while living in a good neighborhood and attending only the best of schools. My family isn’t or never has been wealthy, but my parents work hard, and our family has just been lucky enough to not have had to go through anything that was life changing or that required our family to receive outside help or assistance other then help of my grandparents or other close family members. I started thinking about this one day at La Causa when I was watching a Disney

“She told me that her favoriteDisney character was Mickey Mouse, because he has his own house.”


Children served by La Causa In 2008

TOTAL CHILDREN SERVED IN 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,943

Early Education40.8%

Child Welfare39.3%

Social Services10.9%

Education8.9%

5,696 5,483

1,520 1,244


Nothing that I have experienced or gone through in my life has been as difficult as what some of the kids at La Causa have already experienced at ages between 1 and 15.

movie with a three year old girl. I tried making conversation with her by asking her what Disney characters she liked. She told me that her favorite Disney character was Mickey Mouse, because he has his own house. You see, the kids that go to La Causa have a variety of problems. Some of them are homeless, some of them are living with single parents, and some of them are dealing with violence or drug abuse in the family. Even though I know that most of the children who spend time with La Causa are there due to family problems, it is still shocking that the little girl said this.

Living in a family where my basic needs were easily met made it difficult for me to ap-preciate what I had. Even now when I have to work for almost everything that I have, it is still difficult at times to appreciate everything that I have. Through what I had experienced at La Causa with working with the children I believe that it is important to appreciate even the smallest and most insignificant things, because not everyone is lucky enough to get the things that they want and more importantly what they need.

Working at La Causa was a valuable experience that I will never forget, and even though I would like to say I would have done this on my own, the truth is I probably wouldn’t have. I would have never had this opportunity if it wasn’t for the Service learning class at MIAD. Because of this class I continued to do community service and look for other places to volunteer, as many other students in my class did as well. MIAD is well known as a top art school around the world, but what people don’t know is how driven MIAD is to help improve its surrounding communities, which is by far more powerful then any art award or recognition could ever be.


MB


In most cases, these students are of Junior standing, what is said to be the toughest year at MIAD. It is at this time that most of them can’t hardly find the time to breathe, much less find thirty-five hours of free time to complete the required amount of “giving” time to pass the class. Why does it seem that the faculty is trying to kill the students with stress-overload? Because they want the students to realize that there is always time to provide help to your community.

During the semester, I interviewed Jackie Berndt and Juan Hernandez, both filling their hours on Milwaukee’s 27th Street, at Neighborhood House. I thought that it would be interesting to get two different points of view from students doing their work at the same place. As was the case for Jackie and Juan, I think that many students passed that class not only relieved that the semester was over, but feeling good about the things that they had done, and the people they had helped.

Kristen Palzkill: Where are you doing your service?JB: Neighborhood House on 27th and State Street. Not a good area AT all.

K: Why did you choose this place?JB: I had this place chosen for me [by the instructor] because I wanted to work with kids and be able to do fun activities with them, and she hooked me right up.JH: Slim pickings. I felt like it was the only choice. Now, I actually feel like it was a good fit for me because I have done previous volunteer work at other institutions in Chicago, and I can share those experiences with the people at NH.

At MIAD, the start of a new semester means that a new group of students will be enrolled in the community service class, a requirement for graduation. They will be propelling themselves out into the surrounding community to complete their thirty-five hours of service at a placement of their choosing.

Neighborhood House

by Kristen Palzkill

ingExperiencFeature | November 2009


JB JH“Doing community service gives me a chance to con-

nect with my community, and it brings me up to speed on what is needed in a specific neighborhood, and I help in

any way that I can.”

“The services are absolutely necessary. Absolutely. It keeps kids from ages 2-18, sometimes 20+, off the streets and doing activities that involve one another and their community.”



K: How many hours have you done?JB: So far, I’ve done twenty-one hours.JH: Ten hours so far.

K: How do you feel about the location that you chose?JB: The location is awful, it’s scary when the sun goes down and the streets show it. Also, everyone at the NH talks about how the kids shouldn’t be taking the busses in this area because walking to the NH from the busses is iffy.

K: How do you feel about the services provided at the location that you chose?JB: Awesome. The services that these people offer the kids that come here is priceless and worth every cent of the grants that they are given to keep the place running (almost 100 years so far, I think).JH: I was surprised to learn about all of the different services provided. They do the basic after school pro-grams, but go above and beyond that, offering art and cooking programs, wellness fairs, and an environmental program. The facility is nicely equipped, including a full kitchen for the kids to use, a full gym, and roller skate rink.

K: Are the services necessary? Who is benefited by the services provided? JB: The services are absolutely necessary. Absolutely. It keeps kids from ages 2-18, sometimes 20+, off the streets and doing activities that involve one another and their community. It builds discipline and respect, they learn to respect the people who are putting in time to SPEND time with them if they aren’t getting time with role models somewhere else, like at home. Sometimes parents can’t be around and sometimes parent’s just aren’t around, and NH fills that void for kids. It is important for them to know that there are people out there that care enough about them to keep them out of trouble, and yell at them when needed. (haha)JH: Definitely. The place provides kids in the neigh-borhood with a nice place to socialize and a positive environment to grow and learn.

K: What are the people like that utilize the services there (who are they: race, age, location, income, etc...)?

JB: Mostly, all the kids that attend the program are African American. There are the same amounts usually for every age group from 2-18. I’m not sure what their income is, or where they live, but I do know that most of the kids only have to walk within six blocks to get the NH form their houses, typically.JH: I noticed that most of the kids that utilize the services are minorities; African American, Latinos, and South East Asian. Most kids range in age from 7-12 and come from low-income families.

K: Have you met any other volunteers? Who are they? Why do they volunteer?JB: I haven’t met many volunteers, mostly just three or four. I work mainly with the same teens and grasshoppers (I think that’s 4th and 5th graders). So it’s the same people running those programs every Wednesday. They are paid through grants given to the NH and I know it’s not a lot. I haven’t felt comfortable enough to ask more questions than the ones I have so far, but I’m getting there.

K: Have you done community service before? If yes, where?JB: Yes, I used to run a fund raiser for the Golden House in Green Bay. It’s a battered women’s shelter. JH: Yes. LISC Chicago, Bickerdike, CDC Chicago, YMCA, and Yollocalli.

K: Did you find your past experience to be a positive or negative one? Why?JB: Positive. How is community service negative...? It’s a great feeling to give someone else goods you don’t need, and they desperately do.

K: Do you see how your service benefits the community?JB: Hell yeah. I started to really understand the importance of the NH to the kids that come here maybe the third week of working there. It hit me that these kids need someone to be with, other kids to be with, other mentors and leaders, rather than having to be put into a dangerous situation that determines their future. They can be kids here, and learn to grow to be responsible adults here. Those of us who are serving are helping to build our community into respectable loving people by helping these kids make the right decisions, and just being there for them.



JH: I have been assisting in two departments that will definitely benefit the community. I have been helping them to expand their website, and co-teaching a class on how to design newsletters. These things will benefit the community because a website will give NH more exposure which will lead to more funding. Working with the kids to design newsletters will hopefully motivate them to see beyond a high school education and make them aware that there are careers out there that can be fun and exciting and not just a job.

K: Do you feel like doing service benefits you personally?JB: Hell yeah. I love that place. Every night I work there, on the way home my mind just spins with ideas. I never knew these places existed when I was in middle school, or even high school, I was working and studying and blah. I wish I had been a part of one of these programs my whole life, it’s so much fun and taken seriously. It’s a great place.JH: I find working for NH beneficial and rewarding, as [community service] is something that I have been doing on my own, for quite some time. For me, it is a reality check. People are always complaining about how bad they have it, but never make an effort to look at their less fortunate neighbors and really see what is out there. Doing community service gives me a chance to connect with my community, and it brings me up to speed on what is needed in a specific neighborhood, and I help in any way that I can.

K: Did you find your current placement to be a positive or negative experience? Why?JB: Positive. It rocks my socks off. I learn about myself and everyone else every time I go there.

“It hit me that these kids need someone to be with, other kids to be with, other mentors and leaders” -JB


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“The fact of the matter is that we are not going to deport 12 million people. I don’t believe that they will leave [if deported], they will go further into the shadows,” he said. “This is about lifting people out of the shadows. How are you going to send a Mexican mother, or an Irish mother, back to Ireland with her citizen child?” - Jose Salgado, executive director of Instituto del Progreso Latino

Illustrations by David Beyer Jr.

by Juan F. Hernandez



“Half-million or more Chicagoans took to the streets May 1st in support of immigration rights.”

This coming May 1st will be the 3rd Immigrant March rally, which will be held in multiple cities across the United States. Many people are not aware of the purpose or significance of these rallies. Organizers of these rallies strategically planned these rallies on May 1st, because of the historical significance of this day as it commemorates international labor and workers’ struggles. These marches and rallies focus on issues such as ending raids at the work place, separation of families in immigrant communities, harassment by local authorities and a push for a comprehensive immi-gration reform. These marches and rallies are largely modeled after the rallies and marches organized by Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950’s and 60’s. During the past two years these marches have rallied over a million people each time and have always been peace-ful events.

Although many Americans believe that the immigra-tion issue is something that should be resolved or at least studied, it always seems to be pushed aside and not made a priority by our government. Can this be partly our fault? The Immigration issue has become such a sensitive subject that it seems we always avoid it. It’s all around us, yet we prefer to look the other way. I believe that this is an issue that we should confront and try to find a sensible solution. Millions of undocumented residents already play a vital part in our society and our economy. Most of these individu-als are honest hard working individuals, of course there are a few bad apples in the bunch and those should be dealt with accordingly. If we continue looking the other way we will keep alienating millions of people. We all enjoy the fruit of their labor. We like our 99 cents dry cleaning and our 99 cents burgers, yet we don’t stop and think that this might all be possible due to their cheap labor. We complain that they don’t speak English, that they are taking our jobs, and that they are putting a strain on social services. Multiple studies have proved all of these myths to be wrong. Yet many of us still cling onto those myths. Have we forgotten



that the foundation of this country was forged by immigrants?I’m currently doing my social service at the Neighborhood House in Milwaukee. Every Wednesday a group of South East Asianrefugees attend an after school program where I volunteer. Their ages range from about 12-17 years old. Most of them do not speak any English and have been in the country for less than a year. Seeing them interact is like looking in a mirror. I also came to this country when I was young and did not speak any English. I relate to the cultural barrier they are facing, but because they have a legal status, these kids like myself will eventually become fluent in English, finish High School and get a change to attend college. (Hopefully they will finish college in a timely manner unlike me.) Unfortunately that will not be the case for tens of thousands of undocumented kids who are living in this country at the moment. What will their future be? This is why, on May 1st I, along hundreds of thousands will be marching to support their rights.

MB


Coaching The Jumbos

by Jace Rauman


Being from Wisconsin, you either play hockey, football, soccer, or baseball. I grew up playing hockey and was convinced that I someday I would be wearing red & white with the Wisconsin Badgers. After a couple of shoulder injures, I needed to begin my rehabilitation but there was a limit on how much activity I could place on my shoulders. After speaking with my cousins who live in New York and Minnesota, they suggested that I try running more or possibly pick up a new sport called Lacrosse. The next time I saw them at a family get together they taught me how to play the game and I was immediately hooked.

That same year, I helped my high school field a team as well as spread the word that the sport was coming to town. Other high schools followed suit and we eventu-ally had enough teams to host a statewide tournament, which my team ended up winning. After high school, I received a scholarship to play in college. After a couple years I moved home and began coaching at my high school alma mater.

I enjoyed playing the game, but I found that coaching really let me understand the game more. I coached my high school team for three years, taking them to the state finals each year. At the same time I was continuing my education, which led me to Milwaukee after being accepted at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design for com-munication design. I still wanted to pursue coaching in the Milwaukee area but had little luck in the fall since lacrosse in a spring sport. The spring semester came and I was enrolled into a service-learning class that required us to help out in the commu-nity. Jumping at the chance to help coach, Leslie F, my service-learning teacher said that coaching would be a perfect way to complete the service hours as well as help out the community.


I began to make the connections in the area with which teams needed a volunteer coach, it turns out that a youth program by the name of Northshore Lacrosse Club was interested in bringing me on board to coach one of their 6th-8th grade teams. I felt that this was a perfect situation because I could do a better job of teaching new players to the game rather then high school kids who already have developed bad habits. The NLC is based out of Whitefish Bay, which is just north of Milwaukee. They had such a growth with kids who registered that they needed to field two teams, thus asking me to coach one of them. After meeting with the club’s president I was given the dates of when our practices would start as well as our game schedule. It was official; I was the new head coach of Northshore Youth Lacrosse.

The first day of practice, the kids who were on my team were sent over by the club president and we began doing introductions. I gave my experience with the game and in coaching and told them what goals they should strive for as a team. After hearing about who they are and where they came from, I found out that a lot of the players came from different middle schools; everyone was a stranger it seemed. A couple of team bonding and name memorization games later we started practice. Teaching the fundamentals of the game to everyone was really refreshing after coaching high school players who didn’t take criticism well. The youth players were like sponges that absorbed every-thing that you taught them. It began getting dark and my whistle blew to head home, the team had practices for a couple more weeks until our first big game.The practice before the game we came together at the start to work on our pre-game warm-ups and the little things. T.J., our team goalie suggested that we pick a team name. This threw me off because I thought that we were already Northshore. Since there are two Northshore teams, we didn’t have any defining mascot. This couldn’t have come at a better time; another team building exercise and they don’t even know they are doing it! Everyone threw out the obvious team names such as the tigers, eagles, falcons… nothing really seemed to stick. I knew of a team that I happened to know about when I was playing in college called the “Jumbos” and their mascot was a jumbo elephant. Surprising enough the Northshore Jumbos hit the field the next day when we played Kettle Moraines youth team. Being our first game together, you could tell that everyone was a little nervous. We scored early by a



“The next time I saw them at a family get together they taught me how to play the game and I was immediately hooked.”



“Jumping at the chance to help coach, Leslie F, my service-learning teacher said that coaching would be a perfect way to complete the service hours as well as help out the community.”


great shot by Sam on attack. Everyone was so new to the sport that my entire team rushed the field as if we had won the game. The clock said 13:20 left in the first half. Everyone settled down and I explained more about the rules of the game and the game isn’t over until the four quarters are over. The game went back and forth after they scored a couple in a row on T.J. Our midfield bounced back and we went on a scoring rampage by goals by David, Connor, and Quinn. The horn blew and halftime was upon us. After explaining what we did well and what we didn’t do well everyone got pretty quiet. Looking back this was a little funny to think about because at the end of the season you couldn’t get them to stop talking! I suggested that someone should tell a good story, our obnoxious but lovable goalie T.J. talked about how he once went up to an older girl and got her phone number. No one on the team believed him but it was still entertaining to say the least.

The second half started back up and it was a fight to the end. Kettle Moraine ended up tying the game up with only two minutes left to play. We lost possession of the ball in our end and led to Kettle Moraine getting a couple close shots on the net. Our defensemen Will picked up a ground ball and sent a long pass to our attack-men sitting right in front of the goal. He was one on one with the goalie; fake low, fake high, shot right between the legs of the goalie. Everyone on the sideline appropriately ran out onto the field as we had just won the game.The rest of the season went well with wins and losses. Each day I was together with them I taught them a little about life and a little about the sport. I was fortunate to have volunteer coach with some of the best kids I have ever met. I look forward to another great season with them next year.

History of Lacrosse

With a history that spans centuries, lacrosse is the oldest sport in North America. Rooted in Native American religion, lacrosse was often played to resolve conflicts, heal the sick, and develop strong, virile men. To Native Americans, lacrosse is still referred to as “The Creator’s Game.”

Ironically, lacrosse also served as a preparation for war. Legend tells of as many as 1,000 players per side, from the same or different tribes, who took turns engaging in a violent contest. Contestants played on a field from one to 15 miles in length, and games sometimes lasted for days. Some tribes used a single pole, tree or rock for a goal, while other tribes had two goalposts through which the ball had to pass. Balls were made out of wood, deerskin, baked clay or stone.

The evolution of the Native American game into modern lacrosse began in 1636 when Jean de Brebeuf, a Jesuit missionary, documented a Huron contest in what is now southeast Ontario, Canada. At that time, some type of lacrosse was played by at least 48 Native American tribes scattered throughout what is now southern Canada and all parts of the United States. French pioneers began playing the game avidly in the 1800s. Canadian dentist W. George Beers standardized the game in 1867 with the adoption of set field dimensions, limits to the number of players per team and other basic rules.

New York University fielded the nation’s first college team in 1877, and Philips Academy, Andover (Mas-sachusetts), Philips Exeter Academy (New Hampshire) and the Lawrenceville School (New Jersey) were the nation’s first high school teams in 1882. There are 400 college and 1,200 high school men’s lacrosse teams from coast to coast.

MB



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