A project with ties to the UW–Madison School of Education is one of seven that have been awarded 2022-23 Wisconsin Idea Fellowships.
Now in its 24th year, Wisconsin Idea Fellowships are awarded annually to UW–Madison undergraduate projects working to address issues identified by local or global communities. Fellowships are awarded to semester- or year-long projects designed by an undergraduate student or group of students in collaboration with a community organization and a UW faculty or staff member.
A project by undergraduate students Siena Laws and Elizabeth Liu is among this year’s winning proposals. Their project, titled “Peer Share: Using a Peer Model of Education to Spread Mental Health Awareness at Madison East High School,” aims to “promote mental health knowledge and create a sense of community at Madison East High School through the power of peer learning,” according to the project description.
The project description further explains that UW–Madison students will lead workshops in order to prepare a cohort of East upperclassmen to give presentations of their own to the school’s freshman class, sharing important information on mental health topics and school resources.
Laws is pursuing a double major in education studies and psychology, while Liu is pursuing a major in biomedical engineering. Travis Wright, an associate professor in the School of Education’s Department of Counseling Psychology, has served as the students’ advisor for the project.
Laws and Liu anticipate that through the workshops, “upperclassmen at East High will have the opportunity to grow their understanding of psychology and mental illness,” and in addition, they will share the knowledge they gain within the Peer Share program with others.
Says Liu, “As a former student in the Madison Metropolitan School District, I’m excited to support other students in my community by promoting mental health awareness and education.”
Read more about all of the outstanding undergraduate projects that were awarded 2022-23 Wisconsin Idea Fellowships.