The School Factory

The School Factory is a non-profit organization based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its mission is "to bring the entire community into its schools, and bring the entire school into its community."

The School Factory is a voluntary think-tank concerning public education occurring through community participation. It concerns the development of community-owned and operated learning centers and learning environments. They provide leadership, infrastructure, and training to local community leaders who implement their center following a self-constructed design plan.

Programs

• Space Federation aims to provide financial and organizational support to open communities in shared physical spaces who use methods and technology in hands-on education, such as makerspaces, hackerspaces, and co-working spaces.
• Bucketworks. This organization calls itself "a health and fitness center for your brain". Its services focus on art, theater, dance, technology, media, business and leadership, and it serves as a "co-working" location where community members can learn from each other by being in the same physical environment
• The Young Women's Institute for Global Studies is a new high school for young women proposed by Virginia Cassel and James Carlson. It has received a $50,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the Technical Assistance and Leadership Center (TALC) in Milwaukee, to research and develop the school concept and plan. The school's stated mission is "To equip young women with the skills to transform an unstable world into one in which peace, justice, and equity are the norm."
• Emergency Digital creates Wiki- and Drupal-based websites for individuals and organizations intending to encourage community collaboration. It was one of the first ideas from the Bucketworks incubator.
• Working Innovations works with groups and teams from for-profit and non-profit organizations to create experiences known as "Value Gatherings."
• Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival, whose stated mission is to celebrate and showcase the achievements of young film visionaries with an annual film festival and awards ceremony.

External links

• School Factory homepage
• Bucketworks
• The Young Women's Institute for Global Studies
• Emergency Digital
• Working Innovations
• Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival
• http://www.schoolfactory.org/TheYoungWomensInstituteForGlobalStudies/PressRelease
• http://onmilwaukee.com/family/articles/tywigs.html

Similar organizations

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO)
• http://www.unesco.org