Wisconsin educational leaders and future college graduates
launched the KnowHow2GO College Access Campaign for Wisconsin Friday.

The event took place at the Dane County Boys and Girls Club
in Fitchburg, concluding with the launch of the KnowHow2GO website, while
secondary education students simultaneously "launched" paper airplanes into the
room.

The campaign encourages low-income middle and high school
students in Wisconsin to be prepared and excited for their postsecondary
education and provides students with multimedia tips and resources to achieve
their goals.

"Middle school and high school students are telling us they
want to go on to higher education — most of the students have career goals and
dreams," said Wisconsin first lady Jessica Doyle, a former educator.

Doyle said regardless of how students choose to further
their education past high school, there are many people supporting them
throughout the process.

"Whether you plan to go to Madison Area Technical College or
UW-Madison or Edgewood or UW-Whitewater, all of these schools are working
together," Doyle said. "They are pledging to help you go to college, and they
are committed to standing behind KnowHow2GO Wisconsin."

The four steps offered to future college students are titled
"be a pain," "push yourself," "find the right fit" and "put your hands on some
cash."

Other information available on the KnowHow2GO Wisconsin website,
Doyle said, includes video testimonials and factual information meant to help
guide students through a postsecondary education.

UW System President Kevin Reilly, who spoke at the launch,
said a postsecondary education is becoming more and more necessary.

"KnowHow2GO is really a program designed to help make your
future bright and our future bright as a state," Reilly said. "Going to college
is really something you’re going to have to do in the 21st century."

Reilly added the campaign is about inspiring and motivating
students to attend some type of post-high school education.

"We recognize that the process of preparing you to go and
actually getting in and being successful when you get there is not a simple
process," Reilly said. "Research showed first-generation kids have high aspirations
to go to college, [but] don’t have clear information about what to do when you
do get there."

Because of this, Reilly said, the KnowHow2GO site has
interactive resources to answer questions future college students may have
about a postsecondary experience.

Although the KnowHow2GO program is not connected to
Wisconsin’s Growth Agenda — a plan to increase access to UW System schools and
boost Wisconsin’s economy — Reilly said the two programs complement each other
well.

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said in addition to the website,
the multi-year, multimedia campaign will include television and radio public
service announcements and both outdoor and print ads.

The national campaign is sponsored by the Lumina Foundation
for Education, the American Council on Education and the Ad Council, Giroux
said.

Giroux added the KnowHow2GO Wisconsin campaign would be
critical to the future of Wisconsin’s prosperity.

"It’s an issue of economics and an issue of quality of
life," Giroux said. "People are beginning to understand now how the economy is
really shifting toward a knowledge base and how one’s ability to have a high
quality of life … in many ways depends on one’s educational attainment."