Milwaukee Youth

Earlier this year, NPR's Education Team announced it was holding a podcast challenge for students. With help from teachers, middle and high schoolers from around the country submitted thousands of audio stories.

One podcast from the Milwaukee area stood out and was named a finalist. It came from three incarcerated teenagers at the Vel R. Phillips Juvenile Justice Center. The students go by the pseudonyms JT, JC and Joe.

Whether its Beyonce's Run the World (Girls) or Emma Watson's (Hermione from Harry Potter) #HeforShe campaign, young people are increasingly seeing the world through the lens of female empowerment.

When it started, more than 125 years ago, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee only served boys, but they’ve progressed over the intervening decades.  Since 1984, the organization has been open to girls as well.

Summer vacation is drawing to a close for thousands of Milwaukee students. But for some, learning has continued throughout the warm months. They’ve been taking part in YouthBuild program.

The program, run by MATC and Journey House, prepares people ages 16-24, who've dropped out of school for a career in the construction trades.

For some grade school girls, learning to be healthy and confident comes with significant obstacles. However, the group Girls on the Run is trying to help get girls over those hurdles.

Milwaukee may create a restorative justice system for youth to give first-time, non-violent offenders a second chance to stay on track. The Milwaukee Youth Council is pushing the plan. 

None of its members could attend this week's hearing on the idea at city hall because they were all in school, so City Clerk Jim Owczarski explained the proposal to a Common Council committee.

Helping youth get that critical experience is at the heart of the mission of the Youth Employment Services, or YES, program. It’s run by the Milwaukee nonprofit St. Charles Youth and Family Services, Inc., a social service agency that serves at-risk youth and their families.

Last year, St. Charles’ opened RePurpose, a non-profit resale shop in Sherman Park, to serve as a training ground for these young people to learn on-the-job work skills.