Learning how to take things step by step, and to really think about the choices I’m making, will really help me.
In the fall 2025, Brandon Leonard had a great time taking college classes during his senior year of high school.
The spring semester 2026 will be even better, said the MacDowell Montessori School student, thanks to the information he received on Tuesday, January 13, at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
“I have to say when it came to my decision-making process, I was pretty terrible at it,” Leonard said. “But learning how to take things step by step, and to really think about the choices I’m making, will really help me.”
Leonard is one of nearly 100 seniors from Milwaukee Public Schools who participate in College Connections, a dual enrollment program through M-Cubed, a collaboration between MATC, MPS and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In College Connections, students attend classes at MATC and UWM while completing their high school diploma requirements.
On January 13, the students gathered at MATC’s Downtown Milwaukee Campus to reflect on the fall semester, prepare for the spring semester, and hear encouragement and advice from MATC advisors.
“This is a great way for you to meet your new classmates, make a new friend and build your networks,” said Megan Poytinger, the college’s dual enrollment coordinator.
Dr. Josie Veal, MATC’s public health officer, encouraged the students to seek help when they needed it. “Ask questions,” she said. “That’s a big part of success. You need to be willing to do things you have never done, because that’s how you grow.”
Kyle Hayden, an advisor in MATC’s Manufacturing, Construction and Transportation Academic and Career Pathway, shared his own experiences of struggling to grow and find success.
“We are the product of the choices we make,” Hayden said. “Everything is a choice. If you hang out with four people who don’t go to class, you’ll probably end up being the fifth.”
Hayden said he finally decided to leave behind a life of poverty and truancy. He earned three college degrees (including one from MATC), got married, raised three children and got a job at the college. “You change your mind, you can change your life,” he said.
Isabella Giovanni, who attends the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, could relate. She said she barely attended classes during middle school and her first year of high school. “Then I decided to take classes seriously, so I surrounded myself with friends who wanted to do the same thing,” she said.
Samantha Burgos, a retention coach at MATC, told the students that changing their lives doesn’t require sudden, bold action. Instead, they can do it incrementally.
“Find a small thing of one degree that you can accomplish and put that on your calendar,” Burgos said. “Keep doing that. It’s amazing how far you can climb.”
Along with thinking about their futures, the students also had some fun. They participated in a rock-paper-scissors tournament, with the final two students squaring off to become workshop champion. The crowd erupted as Taea Rhodes of Pulaski High School took two out of three matches to win it all.
The students finished their morning by using a speed networking format to ask questions of several MATC employees, including the college’s president, Dr. Anthony Cruz, Dr. Veal; and Marwill Santiago, the college’s director of student recruiting and the college’s call center.
Now in its 11th year, M-Cubed has made a significant impact on helping MPS students tour colleges, earn college credits and connect with mentors. During the 2024-25 school year, M-Cubed programs helped more than:
- 1,900 high school students tour MATC and UWM
- 2,000 students earn college credit and save more than $2 million in tuition costs
- 1,100 students meet local employers at job fairs
- 300 educators unite to align learning from classroom to career
- 60 parents participate in the Milwaukee Parent Institute, strengthening their roles as partners in their children’s success
“M-Cubed continues making a difference for individual student success, connecting staff across the education continuum and helping families discover what they need to guide their children’s education pathways,” Dr. Cruz said.
Read the M-Cubed 2025 Impact Report
About M³ (M-Cubed): Founded in the spring of 2015, M³ seeks to transform the future of Milwaukee through education. Through collaboration, coordination and partnership, MPS, MATC and UWM will increase the retention, graduation and career success of our students and provide a prepared workforce and citizenry for the Wisconsin economy. M³ will also provide the education and resources to help drive an entrepreneurial mindset for all students to increase choices and opportunities for growth.
About MATC: Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.