Wisconsin Experience Bus Trip rolls out for the first time
Twenty-eight University of Wisconsin–Madison undergraduates boarded a bus at the Memorial Union Monday morning bound for locations across Wisconsin.
The aim of the five-day trip is to develop their leadership potential and engage in face-to-face activities that demonstrate the importance of the Wisconsin Idea, the principle that the university should improve the lives of people beyond the classroom.
Lori Berquam
“One of our students, Jake Heyka, was the champion behind planning,” says Vice Provost for Student Life and Dean of Students Lori Berquam. “We thought if we can empower these student leaders to learn about the state and the principles of the Wisconsin Idea, they will have a solid foundation and work better together when they return to campus in the fall.” Other student leaders, including Emily Paulson and Kimberly Ebner, continued developing the schedules for attendees.
The trip’s first stop was in Wauzeka, where students volunteered with the Mississippi Valley Conservancy. The trip will finish its first day in La Crosse.
Here are some of the trip’s other major stops this week:
Tuesday: 10 a.m., Neenah, for a visit to the Neenah Paper Mill; 5 p.m., dinner with the Parent Network on Education at the Lac du Flambeau Reservation.
Wednesday: 9 a.m., Lac du Flambeau Tribal Council meeting and tour; noon, lunch at the Trout Lake Research Station near Boulder Junction.
Thursday: 7:25 a.m., volunteer and observe at the Shawano School District; noon, lunch at Luigi’s Pizza and Pasta with Shawano Mayor Lorna Marquardt; 3 p.m., tour of Lambeau Field and meet and have dinner with Badger alumni from the throughout the Fox River Valley.
Friday: 9:30 a.m. tour of Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy in Kewaunee; noon, lunch meeting with George Kerwin, CEO of Bellin Health in Green Bay. The tour returns to Madison on Friday at 4 p.m.
The tour is intended to deepen students’ appreciation for the university’s service history and give them the foundation to articulate and demonstrate the importance of the Wisconsin Idea, both on campus and off.
The trip is a project of Alternative Breaks through the Wisconsin Union and the Division of Student Life.
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