NEWS BRIEFS

Students from Milwaukee Charter School of Excellence joined alumni, faculty and staff at the game.

More than 100 School of Education alumni, faculty, friends and family members turned out for an annual celebration at the Jan. 31 UWM men’s basketball game. Guests visited with old and new friends, and enjoyed a selection of food and drink in the special gathering area under the basket before the game. Students from the Milwaukee Excellence Charter School joined the fun, and Chancellor Mark Mone and other members of the UWM leadership team stopped by. While the UWM team lost to Wright State in a nailbiter, everyone had a good time.

CARETAKER APP

The School of Education’s Department of Administrative Leadership, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), Children’s Wisconsin and a pair of Brazilian computer experts are teaming up to make life easier for parents caring for children with complex medical needs.

The team is taking 12 printed modules created several years ago and adapting a few of them into an app called CareTaker. The goal is to make the information quickly and readily available, says Simone Conceição, chair of the Department of Administrative Leadership, who is working on the project.

The app provides simple, straightforward educational materials for parents and other caregivers to learn skills to manage the child’s needs within a complex health care system. The original materials were designed as part of the Bridge to Independence project for nurses and case managers to share with families.

“Basically, we’re taking the Bridge to Independence curriculum and adapting it into the app,” says Conceição. The Brazilian visiting scholars from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, who have been working on the project for five months at UWM, are Dauster Souza Pereira and Paulo Rocha. Pereira and Rocha are working on their PhDs in educational technology and computer science. This project is part of Pereira’s dissertation. Also, Rafaela Jardim has been working on the app development with the team from back at the university in Brazil.

The mobile CareTaker app allows users to learn skills, organize and share health information, make checklists fordealing with emergencies, keep track of daily routine treatments, manage appointments and communicate with providers, says Sarah Johaningsmeir, research coordinator from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

“We’ve been expecting people to carry around all this information when almost everybody has a mobile phone in

Visiting scholars Dauster Souza Pereira and Paulo Rocha worked with Simone Conceição (2nd from right) of SOE and Sarah Johaningsmeir, (left) research coordinator at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

their pocket,” she added. The app designers are incorporating animation, PDF forms and other features to make CareTaker more interactive and user friendly. Families can learn about care management, make notes for themselves, keep track of emergency medical contacts and share information in a variety of formats such as email or exportable PDF forms, making it easier to share key information with a babysitter, for example.

The designers are finalizing details on the app and have begun prototype testing in the U.S. and Brazil.

Their eventual goal is to make it available in three languages – English, Spanish and Portuguese, according to Conceição.

Part of the content was created with support from a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and ServicesAdministration,U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Despite a stormy, rainy, morning UWM athletes turned out in force to welcome students back to Hartford University School on Tuesday, Sept. 3, with high fives and cheers. Pounce, Chancellor Mark Mone, Provost Johannes Britz and School of Education Dean Alan Shoho were also on hand to join Hartford Principal Shannon Kilsdonk and staff in making sure the school year got off to a rousing start at the school, which is located in the midst of the UWM campus.

This is the fourth year for the welcome-back-to-school event, which included the men’s and women’s soccer teams. It’s something the athletes always enjoy, said men’s soccer coach Kris Kelderman. The men’s team, which had just returned at 2:30 a.m. from a game in Iowa, was full of energy at the 7:15 a.m. welcome.

UWM CHARTER SCHOOLS OFFICE CELEBRATES 20 TH ANNIVERSARY

The Office of Charter Schools in UWM's School of Education

celebrated its 20 th anniversary during October. An Oct. 17 dinner and program on the “Power of Connection” at the

Italian Community Center marked the anniversary.

UWM’s office oversees 15 charter schools, public schools that operate differently than traditional public schools and are exempt from some mandates affecting the other schools. Legislators made the decision in 1998 that UWM would become a charter authorizer, and the university’s office opened in 1999. Milwaukee Public Schools and the City of Milwaukee are also authorized to charter schools.

UWM’s office is responsible for granting charters to organizations, groups or individuals who demonstrate the capacity to operate high quality schools. The office also sets up clear expectations for performance, gathers data to make sure expectations are met, evaluates school progress, and then renews or does not renew charters based on school performance.

Paul Haubrich and Robert Kattman, the first two directors of the Office of Charter Schools, who laid the foundation for work that continues today, were recognized at the event.

Special guests included Johannes Britz, UWM provost; Keith Posley, superintendent, Milwaukee Public Schools; Nikiya Dodd, Milwaukee alderwoman, District 5; Latoya Holiday, special assistant to the state superintendent of schools; Kevin Ingram, chair, Milwaukee Charter School Review Committee; and Alan Shoho, dean of the School of Education.

Guests had an opportunity to learn about the new Power of Connection professional development series for charter school leaders, teachers and governing boards.

(Left to right) Adrienne Woods, Paul Haubrich and Robert Kattman.