Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES)

01/14/2023

01/13/2023

Fresh over frozen: MPS students fight for better school lunches at school board meeting

“It actually feels good to know we as students had our voice actually heard,” said Juliana Cronce, a Sophomore at Riverside University High School.

For a year, high school students across Milwaukee have been advocating for better meals at Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).

01/13/2023

Tonight we took next steps for our “School Lunch Justice” campaign for better school lunches across Milwaukee Public Schools. The meeting was to decide if the proposal of creating a “School Lunch Justice Taskforce”, will take effect. It now goes to the board who will vote next Thursday.

The taskforce would include students, administrators, and the MPS Nutrition Department, having regular meetings together in deciding the future of school lunch in MPS.

Y.E.S. started our efforts in January of 2022. Since last year, students have garnished support from local and state representatives, as well as community organizations. They have also sparked international interest.

The school lunch affects thousands of students around MPS everyday. Lunches are often frozen, turned, undercooked, or simply not appetizing, as they are turned out in assembly-line like fashion.

The Students Demand:

➡️Fresh food cooked in schools with locally sourced ingredients served daily

➡️More options available simultaneously

➡️Food that accommodates cultural, religious, medical, and dietary needs

➡️Larger portions

➡️Hiring more cafeteria staff and increasing their wages

➡️Regular meetings with MPS administration

01/12/2023

Happening NOW: Y.E.S. students meet with Milwaukee MPS to discuss establishing a task force.

01/12/2023

Happening NOW: Y.E.S. students pose with signs that read “Food Justice” ahead of meeting with MPS to discuss establishing a task force.

01/12/2023

What’s Wrong With School Lunch in America?

Join us TONIGHT at 5:30pm as we meet with MPS to discuss next steps in and our request for a TaskForce.

We meet at MPS Central Office 5225 W Vliet St Milwaukee, WI. We aim to gather at 4:45 p.m. near the mural for a rally, group photo, and media interview opportunities. See you soon!

11/08/2022

¡YES presente y votando! Mandeeq entered the polling place with in mind, and candidates who are going to deliver quality education reform.¡Sí se puede!

11/08/2022

Youth about to be hitting OUR streets to get OUR community out to vote! Here we are preparing for the day.

10/29/2022

Racine YES members were honored tonight to attend the Racine Branch NAACP 70th Annual Freedom Fund Dinner.

10/15/2022

Happy Halloween from YES.

10/12/2022

DACA Informative with Soberalski Law

We’re LIVE with Voces de la Frontera Action and Soberalski Immigration Law, LLC talking all things DACA and how you can make a difference this election in the fight to protect our families and our communities.
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Estamos EN VIVO con VDLFA y Soberalski Law hablando de todo relacionado con DACA y cómo puedes hacer un cambio en esta elección en la lucha para proteger a nuestras familias y nuestras comunidades.

10/08/2022

Racine Horlick YES students and the unionized educators met with administration on the policy of locking bathrooms for 2/3 of every block.

YES knows that access to bathrooms is a human right and we hope after our meeting policy changes are made.

09/22/2022

We are Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) and we are fighting for at Milwaukee Public Schools. We demand fresh food cooked at school, more options, accommodations for cultural, religious, and medical needs, larger portions, and pay raises for workers. ¡Sí se puede!

Photo credits: JJessica Schmidt Voces de la Fronte

09/21/2022

We’re here at the Milwaukee office getting ready to screenprint for ! ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

08/31/2022

YES is in search of an organizer to help students build power in Milwaukee. The YES Milwaukee organizer would be helping to build chapters, organize campaigns, and develop student leadership.

Find an extensive job description here-
https://vdlf.org/job-postings/

To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter to Ania Jimenez Human Resources Interim Director- [email protected].

07/12/2022

Big win for the campaign today!

So ecstatic to be able to present Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) with this citation authored by the county board today along with County Supervisor Ryan Clancy. These students give me hope for the future and I am elated to support their continued advocacy work. Thanks to Ari Antreassian for bringing students from Racine and Milwaukee public schools.

07/06/2022

DACA workshop

DACA workshop

07/05/2022

Tomorrow at 1pm: Join Voces and Soberalski Immigration Law, LLC for a virtual DACA workshop, info session, and Q&A, meant for DACA recipients and those interested in applying.

Link to join zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JU94bUbSR9Cvzk0QXPo33Q or watch on Facebook Live!
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Únase a Voces y Soberalski Law para un taller virtual de DACA, una sesión de información y preguntas & respuestas, para los beneficiarios de DACA y aquellos interesados ​​en solicitaciones.

Únase por zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JU94bUbSR9Cvzk0QXPo33Q o por Facebook Live

06/30/2022

'Latino girls can do it!' Milwaukee high school grad headed to Harvard

Congratulations Katherine!

As you will learn, the prestigious school was not only impressed with her grades, but her activism as well.

06/06/2022

We mourn the tragic loss of Y.E.S. and Voces member, Hamdi Abdullahi Hassan, who lived her 16 years on this earth to the fullest. As a Somalian immigrant living in Milwaukee, Hamdi brought an important and inclusive perspective to YES. We will always remember her legacy and we promise to keep fighting for the rights of families just like hers. We send our deepest condolences to her friends and family. Rest In Power, Hamdi.

05/03/2022

A Powerful Day for YES!

05/01/2022

¡Yes presente!

¡Yes presente! Thank you everyone who turned out today for . ¡Si se puede!

04/22/2022

New mural visualizes MPS students' fight for better lunches

New mural visualizes MPS students' fight for better lunches

Students in Milwaukee Public Schools are demanding better quality food and a new mural can now be found on the side of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association (MTEA) building. It reads

04/22/2022

Photos from TMJ4 News's post

04/19/2022

Renewing Your DACA Online

Did you hear? This month, USCIS announced DACA renewal forms can now be filed online!

04/05/2022

Sign our petition! ⚡️✔️✊🏼: https://chng.it/JmqLdn7Bwn

"Hi my name is Katherine Villanueva and I'm a senior at Milwaukee School of Languages and a proud YES student leader.

Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) has called this event to launch our campaign to get MPS to provide quality nutritious food to MPS students. It is common knowledge that students who eat well learn well. has called this event to launch our campaign to get MPS to provide quality nutritious food to MPS students. It is common knowledge that students who eat well learn well.Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES)

We are here today to demand food justice in our schools. Quality nutrition is critical to our success as students. Y.E.S. believes every student in Milwaukee deserves to have access to nutritious, delicious, culturally appropriate foods in school so that they are better able to learn. Youth Empowered in the Struggle surveyed over one thousand students across Milwaukee Public Schools and identified that the poor quality of school lunch is the most pressing issue that must be addressed to improve our school environment. Our lunches are cooked in a central location and distributed to the schools to be reheated, resulting in undercooked food and of substandard quality. This is not acceptable!

This campaign begins here but will not end here. Y.E.S. students have reached out to board members for support, the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, and parents to join us in this campaign. We will be lobbying our board members with our key demands. Working with parents, we will bring our message to the community and working with Voces de La Frontera and other allies we will be bringing our message to the streets.

On May 1st we will be marching with Voces de La Frontera and raising our issue of high quality lunches for the students going to school in MPS. May 1st is a day where thousands of immigrants and workers take to the streets to demand justice. Food Justice is central to quality learning."

Nearly 10,000 have signed the Y.E.S. petition for school lunch justice in Milwaukee Public Schools. Have you? Sign here: https://bit.ly/3LGEMCB

We demand that Milwaukee Public Schools:

1. Provide fresh school lunch that is cooked at the school by food service staff with locally sourced ingredients.
2. Provide more lunch options simultaneously.
3. Put a system in place that identifies and accommodates students' personal, religious, and medical dietary needs.
4. Provide larger, more filling meals that leave students feeling ready to learn, instead of hungry.
5. Hire more lunch staff to cook the meals and increase their wages.
6. MPS Board of Directors establish regular meetings with YES members to ensure these demands are met and implemented with student voices at the table.

04/04/2022

Help us with our school lunch justice campaign by signing our petition! ⚡️✊🏼
https://chng.it/JmqLdn7Bwn

Our demands:
✔️Provide fresh school lunch that is cooked at the school by food service staff with locally sourced ingredients.
✔️Provide more lunch options simultaneously.
✔️Put a system in place that identifies and accommodates students' personal, religious, and medical dietary needs.
✔️Provide larger, more filling meals that leave students feeling ready to learn, instead of hungry.
✔️Hire more lunch staff to cook the meals and increase their wages.
✔️MPS Board of Directors establish regular meetings with YES members to ensure these demands are met and implemented with student voices at the table.

📸:Joe Brusky

04/02/2022

After surveying 1000+ MPS students on
lunches, we have our six demands. But we are not
done, we need your help: sign the petition for School
Lunch Justice! https://chng.it/JmqLdn7Bwn

Graphic by :Rebeca Acosta (Reagan YES student leader)

04/01/2022

MPS students launch campaign for fresher food, more options, better pay for cafeteria workers

. Sign the petition at:

✍️https://www.change.org/p/youth-empowered-in-the-struggle-demands-mps-school-lunch-justice

Students are calling for meals made on-site, bigger portions, more options, accommodations for religious students, and better pay for the workers.

03/31/2022

Today we made our demands to Milwaukee Public Schools clear: ✅food cooked fresh in schools, ✅ more options, ✅ accommodations and consideration for religious students, ✅ larger portions, ✅ higher wages for cafeteria workers, and ✅ regular meetings with the board and administration to discuss and decide these issues. Stay tuned for more calls to action and updates!

03/31/2022

BREAKING: YES is launching our "'' campaign. We are fighting for food cooked fresh in our Milwaukee Public Schools, more options, accommodations and consideration for our religious students, larger portions, higher wages for cafeteria workers, and regular meetings with the board and administration to discuss and decide these issues.

03/05/2022

02/23/2022

Dreamers of Wisconsin is hosting a “How to Apply to Complete the Dreamers of Wisconsin Scholarship Application”! Theywill be going over how to write a strong application and you will be hearing from one of our very own scholarship recipients! 🦋🧡

Register for the event through this link: https://linktr.ee/dreamersofwisconsin. See you all tomorrow 🦋

02/04/2022

Trabaja con nosotros! Voces de la Frontera Action is hiring part-time canvassers to help elect pro-immigrant candidates into office. Start immediately at $18/ hour with paid training and work until the November 2022 election. Applicants with a passion for immigrant rights, racial and economic justice are encouraged to apply by filling out this form: bit.ly/vocesjobs.

01/25/2022

La Beca de Oportunidad de thedream.us proporciona hasta $80,000 para cubrir la matrícula, tarifas, el alojamiento y las comidas en el campus para obtener una licenciatura para estudiantes con o sin DACA o TPS. Ver los detalles aquí: https://thedream.us/
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The Opportunity Scholarship is open to immigrant Wisconsin students. You do not need DACA or TPS to apply! You can apply if you came to the country before November 1, 2016 https://thedream.us/.

01/20/2022

Learn about UW-Milwaukee and see the campus for yourself during Casa Abierta, a bilingual event for prospective Latinx students. Saturday, January 22, 2022, 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m..

Register at: https://uwm.edu/undergrad-admission/visit/casa-abierta/

Do you know someone interested in becoming a Panther?— Let them know Casa Abierta is just two days away! Participate in a resource fair, campus tour and Q&A panel— you won’t want to miss out on this great opportunity!

To register:

https://tinyurl.com/casaabierta2022

01/14/2022

Our letter.

Share our post and why you pledge to keep your community safe!
Tag us and use our hashtag
Thank you for pledging with us!

11/21/2021

11/09/2021

Riverside Yes new member kickoff!