This story was originally published in COA's 2018 Annual Report. Read the whole report here. When she was born, now 20-month-old Dalisa was diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia, a disability of the hip joint which makes walking extremely difficult. As an infant Dalisa wore a full-body harness for 24 hours per day. Dalisa joined COA’s Riverwest [...]

COA is excited to announce that we have introduced brand new after-school programming at two exciting sites: Keefe Avenue School and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School!  COA has partnered with these schools to open Safe Places that provide after-school programming for children and preteens. Programs at both Safe Places will include academic tutoring, visual [...]

“I didn’t know that!” a NOVA High School student was in awe as a senior Amani resident recalled her experience with the Milwaukee riot of 1967. He had heard about the riot before, but this was his first time hearing all the scary details. The two sat around a table with other Amani elders, NOVA [...]

Congratulations to the sixty-six preschoolers who graduated from Milwaukee’s HIPPY program on Saturday, May 12th! HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) is an internationally renowned early literacy and parental engagement program that prepares children ages 3-5 for success when they enter school. Member of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) Milwaukee and [...]

When COA’s STEM Program Coordinator Lina Nguyen first introduced STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) lessons to preteens and teens in COA’s youth development program they were not very excited. “A lot of kids didn’t really know what it was,” recalls Lina. “Younger kids didn’t take it too seriously. Older kids were turned off as [...]

Every Thursday afternoon at COA’s Community Learning Center (CLC) at Westside Academy School, 25 fourth and fifth graders come together for African dance lessons. For over five years, COA has partnered with Express Yourself MKE to give these girls and boys some time to get loose and learn about dance movements around the globe. Express [...]

When local musician and youth advocate Kiran Vedula began giving music and video production workshops at COA’s Riverwest and Goldin Centers in fall 2017, one of the biggest challenges was actually getting kids into the recording studio. Many of the preteens and teens in COA’s new Music and Video Production Program were nervous to [...]

This past weekend, the Riverside Robotigers robotics team from COA’s Community Learning Center (CLC) at Riverside High School traveled to Detroit to participate in the FIRST Robotics World Championships! From April 25th - 28th, the 20-member team got to compete against the top robotics teams in the world. As they loaded up buses and [...]

From April 25th-28th, Riverside University High School’s Robotics Team will travel to Detroit, Michigan to compete in the FIRST Robotics World Championships! Riverside’s 20-member robotics team, the Riverside Robotigers, is based out of COA’s Community Learning Center (CLC) housed inside the school. The team consists of students who attend MPS schools throughout Milwaukee. Even though [...]

Thanks to the generous support of Herb Kohl Philanthropies, a group of teens from COA’s Goldin Center got the incredible chance to take a 5-day trip to Washington, D.C.! During the week of March 26th, 34 teens and nine chaperones enjoyed five exciting days of sightseeing, historical and cultural tours, and college campus visits. Youth [...]