What Went Down at Collab Lab 76

If you’ve been following along with what we’re trying to build here in Milwaukee, you know we talk a lot about "connecting the dots." But it’s one thing to sketch connections on a whiteboard during a planning session, and it’s a completely different thing to watch those connections come alive in a room packed with educators, university students, and community organizers.

Recently, we hit the stage at Learn Deep’s Collab Lab 76, hosted right alongside UWM’s Experiential Learning Showcase.

The big focus? Figure out how higher-ed experiential learning can actually back up K-12 youth and families when it comes to massive, real-world fields like architecture, construction, and real estate. #wearetrueskool

To understand why this night felt so major, you have to rewind a bit..... All Spring after school Session, our team of students at TRUE Skool was grinding away on our TRUE Knowledge Monday series. Each week we tackled massive math concepts; financial growth modeling, data science, and even environmental justice.

At the Collab Lab, everyone got to see what happens when you bridge those gaps.

Our own Fidel Verdin sat down with Krisann Rehbein, who heads up Community Design Solutions at UWM’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning. If you don't know the backstory, TRUE Skool is straight-up outgrowing our current home in the lower level of The Ave. We are actively looking to design and build a brand-new facility over the next several years.

HERE is a recent article about our collaboration!

Instead of hiring a detached firm to hand us a finished design of a generic building, almost 10 years ago - we turned the entire project into our ongoing Designed Awareness Learning Lab. The rest is Past Present & Future History in the Making!

Fidel and Krisann shared how our leadership team and our youth have worked directly with UWM design students to co-author some early architectural and ecological blueprints and design details of our Future TRUE Skool Campus. They talked about what it takes to MAKE COLLABORATIONS WORK!

After the panel, the UWM students took over the floor. They facilitated an open, messy, incredibly honest discussion about what it actually takes to support community-engaged projects and collaborations or long term partnerships.

They didn't just talk about the wins; they talked about the real stuff. How do you respect a kid's attention span after a grueling school day? How do you deal with the natural frustration that bubbles up when you're trying to solve broken, real-world community problems? What do you do when the resources are NOT there??? And WHO wouldn't want to see a Future TRUE Skool Campus and WHY??

As we head directly into our CEO Summer 2026, we are turning these Spring concepts into a full-blown Creative Entrepreneurial Opportunity Internship and workforce development agenda of action! Nothing but oppotunity ahead!

If you're ready to get your hands dirty with us, drop a line or pull up!