When Shorewood High School senior Katie Eder began volunteering at COA, she was just 13 years old. Motivated by her passion for writing and her love for volunteering, in 2014 she approached COA’s Executive Director Tom Schneider with a bold proposition: she wanted to teach a creative writing class for youth at COA.That summer, Katie [...]

Each year at COA’s Hollywood Gala, we honor amazing program participants with the Rising Star Award. This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate what it means to reach their greatest potential. This year, we honor Riverside High School seniors Ty’Johnna Gardner and Keshawn Williams for their outstanding dedication to their school, their peers, and their communities. [...]

Every Friday morning at COA's Burke Early Education Center, something unexpected happens; young children from Milwaukee's Amani Neighborhood join a fitness instructor for two hours of morning exercise. Children at COA have been enjoying this physical programming for two years now, thanks to a partnership with Fit 4 You, Traveling Trainer. Fit 4 You provides on-going body and [...]

COA honored four outstanding individuals and organizations for their leadership and service this fall at our annual meeting. The event brought COA board members, volunteers, staff, and community partners together at the Wisconsin Club to hear about another incredibly successful year for COA. We also held an awards ceremony to honor the following organizations and [...]

On Wednesday, November 8th, COA celebrated National STEM Day with a STEM Exploration event at our Goldin Center (2320 W. Burleigh Street). National STEM Day is a holiday that encourages youth to explore their passions for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. 90 youth from our pre-teen and teen programs attended COA’s STEM Exploration event, where [...]

This summer, over 40 COA youth benefited from generous scholarships from Discovery World to participate in the beloved Milwaukee museum’s Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) day camps. Each of the week-long sessions led children through in-depth exploration of scientific concepts taught through fun, hands-on projects and individualized instruction. Over 1405 individual students attended at [...]

Over 125 youth competed in the Kohl’s Explore Your Future STEM Program Showcase this past Friday at COA’s Goldin Center (2320 W. Burleigh Street). Throughout the two hour event youth were challenged to work as teams to complete physics and engineering experiments. Preteens from Auer Avenue School, Hopkins-Lloyd CommunitY School, O.W. Holmes School, the COA [...]

Congratulations to the seventy-six preschoolers who graduated from Milwaukee’s HIPPY program on Saturday, May 13th! HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) is an internationally renowned early literacy and parental engagement program that has been shown to help kids get ready to succeed when they enter school; the Milwaukee HIPPY program is provided by [...]

Brenda Roshell is a faithful participant at COA’s Goldin Center who has lived in the Amani neighborhood for over 42 years. She is dedicated to strengthening the Amani community where she grew up, and is currently raising four of her grandchildren while working fulltime. Before the Burke Early Education Center (EEC) opened last summer, Brenda [...]

72 preschoolers and their parents graduated from COA's Home Instruction for the Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program on May 14th, at the Milwaukee Public Library’s beautiful Centennial Hall. See the picture album here. COA’s Executive Director, Tom Schneider, can’t help getting excited describing the program, “The HIPPY early education program is a core part of [...]