Congratulations to AWL Scholarship Winners Seymour and Brisco

Taylor Brisco and Christa Seymour
Taylor Brisco and Christa Seymour at the AWL Annual Luncheon.

Yesterday, September 25, 2018, the Milwaukee Association for Women Lawyers (AWL) Foundation honored two Marquette University Law School students with scholarships.

Christa M. Seymour, 2L, received the AWL Foundation scholarship. The AWL Foundation Scholarship is awarded to a woman who has exhibited service to others, diversity, compelling financial need, academic achievement, unique life experiences (such as overcoming obstacles to attend or continue law school), and advancement of women in the profession. As a child, Seymour moved from South Milwaukee to Rio, Wisconsin, a small town in the northern part of the state with just over 1,000 people (as 2010). She completed her undergraduate degree at UW Madison, and in the next 13 years, she worked in business and became a mother to four children. When she started law school—13 years after finishing her undergrad degree—Seymour’s children were between 2 and 8 years old. On top of a busy life with a family and law school, Seymour works with the Milwaukee Justice Center, volunteers with the Domestic Violence Injunction project, and is involved in student associations. Seymour said she wanted to be an example of where hard work and perseverance can take someone, and to be that example for her children and for others.

Taylor Brisco, 3L, received the AWL Foundation’s Virginia A. Pomeroy scholarship. This scholarship honors the late Virginia A. Pomeroy, a former deputy state public defender and a past president of AWL. In addition to meeting the same criteria as for the AWL Foundation scholarship, the winner of this scholarship must also exhibit what the AWL Foundation calls “a special emphasis, through experience, employment, class work or clinical programs” in one of several particular areas: appellate practice, civil rights law, public interest law, public policy, public service, or service to the vulnerable or disadvantaged. Brisco, a former sports journalist, is the first African American woman to serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Marquette Sports Law Review. Last spring, she received the Anne Wall “Ethics in Sports Law Writing Competition” Award for her essay about unethical practices of player re-entry in the National Football League and how to fix those practices. Brisco is currently the legal intern for the West Allis City Attorney’s Office and the legal intern for the Milwaukee Bucks. In addition to pursuing a sports law certificate here, she is also completing her master’s degree in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University. Somehow, Brisco still finds time to be a research assistant for Professor Mazzie, participate in mock trial, serve as a student ambassador for the law school Admissions Office, and volunteer for the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic.

Congratulations to both women for outstanding service and for their representation of Marquette University Law School.

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Posley Offers Optimism on MPS’ Future, Driven by Emphasizing Basics

You can’t build a home from the roof down. You have to start with the foundation and build upward. And that’s what Keith Posley, interim superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, is stressing in the early months of leading Wisconsin’s largest and most challenging school district.

Educators often get caught up in new programs and ideas for education that sound appealing, Posley said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program Wednesday at Marquette Law School. But education – and building greater success for MPS – needs to be start with teaching the basics so that all students learn to read, write and do math early in their school years. Add to that building good school attendance and the ability to work well with others and you have grounds for a bright future for kids and for MPS, Posley said.

Posley offered Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, and an audience of about 200, including many key figures in education in Milwaukee, an optimistic vision of what lies ahead for MPS.

“Milwaukee Public Schools is alive and well and we’re going to do great things,” Posley said. “Give me five years,” Posley said, and MPS tests scores in reading and math will be above the state average. Maybe it can be done in three, he added. Overall, MPS scores as of last year were far below state averages.

Gousha asked how patient people should be with seeing improvement in the overall success of MPS students. It will take some time to see results, Posley said, but people should see right away how energized Posley and MPS as a whole are in improving. “We have to move at a fast pace and I am moving at a fast pace, my team is moving at a fast pace.” Posley said. “I know exactly what needs to happen.”

He said, “Everyone knows if we have a strong Milwaukee Public Schools, we’re going to have a strong Milwaukee and a strong Wisconsin. . . . We’ve got to continue to work – to work until we can get to where we need to be.”

Posley proposed to the School Board during its budget work in the spring that large cuts be made in the central administration of MPS rather than cutting budgets in schools. Posley said he did that because “if we’re going to make a change, it’s going to happen in the classroom.” He said, “I have to put every ounce of money we have – I put 89 cents of every dollar we have — in the classroom.” His goal for next year is to raise that to 90 cents, he said.

Concerns were raised in a recent report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum about the long-term financial picture for MPS. Asked about that, Posley said MPS could use more money, but he would not be deterred by finances. “I’m going to make it happen with whatever I have,” he said. What will he do if MPS gets fresh revenue in upcoming state budgets? “I’ve created a wish list already,” he said. The list, he said, includes reviving an effort of about a decade ago called the Milwaukee Math Partnership and doing more to strengthen offerings for children from birth to five.

Posley grew up in a small town in Mississippi and was recruited for a teaching job in Milwaukee almost three decades ago. He said he expected to stay in Milwaukee for one year. But he loved working in schools and advanced from being a teacher to an assistant principal to a principal to a series of administrative positions before being named to head the system.

His willing to make a long-term commitment to this job? “Mike, this is home,” he said. “Mississippi is in the rear-view mirror.” Posley wants to drop the word “interim” from his title, a step the Milwaukee School Board is likely to take soon. He certainly is not acting like someone who intends to fill the job for a short time. “I have the steering wheel now, and I’m driving,” Posley said.

To view the one-hour video of the program, click here.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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National Voter Registration Day: Make Your Voice Heard

Today has National Voter Registration Day—a good time to remind everyone register to vote so that all eligible voters can make their voices heard on Election Day (which, by the way, is Tuesday, November 6). While Wisconsin allows same-day voter registration, save yourself the time and the hassle of doing it all on Election Day and register now.

You can register to vote online at My Vote up to 20 days before Election Day (para Mi Voto en español, haga clic aquí), by mail up to 20 days before Election Day, or in person at your municipal clerk’s office until the Friday before Election Day. I’ll explain how to register online at My Vote, but first let me explain who is eligible to register to vote in Wisconsin.

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