Former Hartman Literacy and Learning Center student gives back as a Marquette Engineering sophomore
When Markesha Harris first stepped onto Marquette’s campus, she was in third grade.
She battled a speech impediment, was struggling in school and couldn’t read well. Marquette’s Hartman Literacy and Learning Center, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, gave Markesha the wings that she needed to fly. And fly she did!
She went on to graduate from Messmer High School in Milwaukee with a 4.0 grade point average, and today Markesha is a sophomore in Marquette’s College of Engineering, one of the most competitive programs on campus. After earning a degree in computer science she hopes to work for NASA and fly in space.
“The Hartman Center made me think about college at a very young age,” said Markesha. “[College] probably would have been on my radar screen, but probably not Marquette.” Luckily, the stars aligned, and Marquette now counts Markesha as part of the family.
Each year the Hartman Center provides tutoring for more than 100 struggling readers from Milwaukee’s urban schools. These students, who are bussed from numerous partner schools in Milwaukee, work directly with Marquette College of Education students who are training to become urban elementary school teachers.
You can Be the Difference in a student’s life like Markesha by supporting the transformational work of the Hartman Literacy and Learning Center. It just takes a $20 donation, which will purchase Hartman Center T-shirts for three participating elementary students or four children’s books for the Hartman Center library.
Visit muconnect.marquette.edu/hartman to help a child improve his or her reading skills.
Back to the April 2013 Marquette Alumni Newsletter:
