Innovative pre-college program kicks off

The PEOPLE programs for Madison and Milwaukee plan to host orientation receptions for new and returning students Sunday, June 10.

The events will welcome students, parents and staff to PEOPLE, which stands for Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence.

Sponsored by the university, PEOPLE is a year-round and continuing academic enrichment program designed to help minority and disadvantaged Madison middle-school and Milwaukee high-school students acquire the skills, information and resources needed for college. Upon graduation from high school, each PEOPLE student admitted to UW–Madison will be eligible for a need- and/or merit-based tuition grant for up to five years.

The orientation sessions mark the beginning of the 2001-02 program year. For Madison PEOPLE, the middle school three-week non-residential program consists of a workshop series including architecture, computer animation, exploring the solar system, fun with chemistry, hip hop and sound design, how your body works, newspaper publishing, starting your own business, see the world through an engineer’s eyes (for girls only), the little things within us, teen zine and web graphics workshop.

For Milwaukee PEOPLE, the three-week residential program for the new cohort and second-year students includes modules for writing and math, health, biological and physical sciences, and evening sessions on the fine arts and performance. Third-year PEOPLE students will begin a seven-week research and/or internship experience, through July 27.

For more information, contact Akbar Ally, UW–Madison assistant vice chancellor, (608) 265-5228, Ally@bascom.wisc.edu; or Ruby Paredes, executive assistant to the vice chancellor, (608) 262-5175, rparedes@bascom.wisc.edu