WEST ALLIS, Wis. — The start of every project begins with a brainstorming session.

Dottke High School junior Ariana Dudley spent Friday working with her classmates to figure out some ideas on how to promote a “free the UFOs” theme night at a December Milwaukee Admirals game.

“We’re brainstorming how to reach out before the actual event, how to advertise, and how to reach out to different demographics, and communities, and different ages,” Dudley explained.

They’re coming up with ideas for everything from social media, in-game jumbotron videos, drink specials, giveaways, souvenirs available to buy, and even desserts and concessions.  

“I don’t know if they have a dessert plate, but you make like a UFO cookie or something like that related to the theme,” Dudley pitched to her classmates.

This project is the first full school community project of the year.

Greg Goelz, the school principal, said it’s an important one.

“It’s a way for our students to learn how we do school here,” Goelz said. “We’re a project based learning high school, and we do school very different. We say we’re different by design. So, we have to teach our students how to do school differently.”

All 170 students will take part and are split up into five different projects.

Aside from the Admirals, they’ll work with the Wisconsin State Fair to find out how to educate fair-goers about healthy soil and root types.

They’ll partner with the Aurora West Allis Medical Center to find how they can impact the opioid crisis.

They’ll also work with West Allis Fire Department on two issues: how to help teens struggling with mental health, and how to make sure the community is safe at home.

“What better way to do that than do to an actual, real world community project lie this,” Goelz said. “So they feel like, ‘whatever I’m doing has an immediate and real impact,’ and they can see it. They can walk out of the school and see something they created and did in the community, it’s awesome.”

Students will spend 90 minutes a day for the next month on their pitch and then present their ideas to their community partners on Oct. 7.

“Like, we are young, but we have really good ideas, and we’re able to contribute to the community we have,” Dudley said.