|
|
|
EDUCATION '99 - Putting the 'Business' Back in Business Education
Companies and educators get increasingly creative about bringing the workplace into the classroom
|
Business New Haven
8/9/1999
By: Linda Mele
|
The rising cost of providing a decent education to the state's children and paying for government mandated programs within local school districts have created an increased need for innovative and creative sources of funding for materials, programs and activities. Now schools are increasingly turning to businesses to help ease the shortfall.
Though the idea of school/business partnerships is hardly new, and the ways in which the latter help schools today are both imaginative and resourceful, are they doing enough?
According to Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Fabio Sampoli, who also oversees the business group's Education/Business Alliance, money isn't always the most important thing a business can offer an educational partner.
"The most important contribution of businesses is the willingness to take the time to work with the teachers and kids in the schools and at their businesses," Sampoli says. "Providing work-study programs and internships for students and externships for teachers is equally important as contributing money."
"Many teachers and students haven't the foggiest idea about what goes on in many businesses," Sampoli says. "So allowing them to visit a business and see what's happening is important, too."
Diane Wheeler, principal of the Regional Center for the Arts (RCA) in Bridgeport, agrees with Sampoli.
"I've always felt we have much more to gain through partnerships than money," Wheeler says. "Of course the business community could always be more involved," she adds, "but we're looking for moral support, for them to spread the word about what we do and to attend performances."
According to Wheeler, the RCA has informal partnerships with both the newly renovated Polka Dot Playhouse in Bridgeport and the Stratford Theater owned by the Scottish Rite in Stratford.
"They provide a place for us to rehearse and perform," Wheeler says, "and give us technical assistance without which we couldn't do what we do."
State Regional Vocational-Technical School superintendent Dominic Spera Jr. says the states vocational school system couldn't operate without input from businesses.
"Each of our 18 vocational-technical schools has an advisory committee made up of local business owners who are leaders in their fields," Spera says, "and we have regional advisory committees who recommend curriculum and equipment changes."
Spera says business owners also donate equipment, take students on tours of their facilities, talk to students about careers in their respective fields and provide internships, scholarships and work-study programs.
"They invest time and expertise in the system," Spera says. "It's like we're the farm team, getting the players ready for the big leagues."
Businesses such as SNET, BankBoston, the United Illuminating Co. and Bayer Corp. have learned the importance of partnering with schools, and over the years have provided funds, volunteers, teaching materials and programs that schools would never have been able to marshal on their own.
Take UI. Its 20-year-old Electrical Safety Program provides free materials to more than 200 schools across the region and reaches more than 25,000 children each year. Schools with tight budgets could never afford to purchase these materials which furnish safety information that's vital for children to have.
UI's "Adopt-A-School" partnership with the New Haven school system provides employee volunteers who assist teachers in reading, math and science classroom activities. Employees also serve as mentors in the New Haven and Shelton school systems. In Bridgeport they judge science fairs and read to students.
And, under its Matching Gifts to Education program UI matches - dollar for dollar - employee donations to eligible educational institutions in the state, and 50-percent matching donations for out-of-state institutions.
UI has been a long-time supporter of education, explains spokesperson Myra Stanley.
"As a responsible business, we work very hard to initiate and maintain successful school/business partnerships and programs in the communities we serve," she says.
"We have reached thousands of students over the years through various projects and hope to continue to grow and enrich our involvement in education-related programs in the future," Stanley adds.
BankBoston has provided funds to purchase a rowboat and custom oars for New Haven's Sound School as well as scholarships, teaching and enrichment programs and volunteers, according to Jeffrey Alpert, assistant to the principal and director of the school's summer program.
"Without their assistance we couldn't do as much as we do with our limited school budget," Alpert says.
Last year, SNET had more than 167 applications for its "Strike Up the Band" program offering $1,000 grants to public and private high school bands and music programs in the state's high schools.
Also in 1998, more than 23,000 students in 531 classrooms participated in the "sporting geography" program that followed the University of Connecticut's men's and women's basketball teams around the country to learn about the regions they visited during the basketball season.
SNET also participates in the Universal Service Fund/"E" Rate Support for Schools & Libraries program, established by the FCC, that provides discounts ranging from 20 to 90 percent for telecommunications services, building wiring and Internet access for schools and libraries. The initiative also provides free Web hosting and donates surplus computers to schools.
"A good education for Connecticut's children will make a difference in Connecticut's future," proclaims Thomas Buckley, SNET's manager of education relations.
"Our roots are in Connecticut and we care deeply about our state and its future. So being involved and committed to education is important to us," Buckley adds.
SNET is represented on state and local educational committees and has established a close working relationship with the state's Department of Education as well as local school districts. SNET offers assistance to educators on new products, services and technologies and other assistance and programs through grants.
Bayer and its employees nationwide have supported programs in science education for 30 years, both directly with schools and through partnerships with groups like the National Science Teachers Association and the Education Excellence Partnership, a nationwide collaboration between businesses, civic leaders, organizations and schools.
Six years ago, Bayer's West Haven site established an alliance with the West Haven school system. Teachers and Bayer scientists team up to teach hands-on science to students in grades K-5.
Bayer also provides scholarships for inner city students to attend Schooner Inc.'s "Seafaring Scientists" program and works with Orange fifth-graders in the "Partners in Science" program.
In association with the Regional Workforce Development Board, the company participates in the School to Work program, an initiative that helps students learn the skills they need to enter the workforce. Employees act as mentors to students participating in the New Haven Science Fair partnership between Yale University, the Olin Corp. and New Haven public schools.
New Haven superintendent Reginald Mayo says we live in a time when school districts across the country are being asked to educate everyone. These kinds of business partnerships are important not so much for their monetary value as for the human value they bring to schools.
"Educators get tired," Mayo says, "and businesses and their employees bring new energy and new human capital which far outweighs any financial consideration."
Bayer's Making Science Makes Sense (MSMS) program has been established at schools across the country through the volunteer efforts of hundreds of Bayer employees.
In April, David Ebsworth, Bayer's executive vice president and pharmaceutical division president, addressed a meeting of company volunteers, business and community leaders and academic partners at a MSMS conference in New Haven.
"Bayer is committed to supporting in words and deeds the kind of quality science education that will develop in our young people the skills they need to succeed in the next century. Our program is one of the most comprehensive business initiatives in place today. It is a model public-private partnership that is helping change the way science is taught and learned in classrooms around the country," Ebsworth told the gathering.
"Today, it seems that our young people are searching for role models. They find them in our scientists who visit our schools."
While all the educators agree they wouldn't turn money down, they say even the smallest companies can make contributions of time, talent or energy to the region's schools and become partners and role models for students.
|
Go FirstGo PreviousGo
NextGo LastGo
to Index
|
|
