July 18, 2008 "Promoting parent, business and community involvement in our schools"

Overview

Business Partners

91% of Americans are concerned about the quality of education.
75% of Americans feel public schools are failing to prepare youth for employment.
63% of Americans said most youth lack the skills necessary for future jobs.

(Roper Organization poll commissioned by the Center for Workforce Preparation and Quality Education.)

The above statistics are indeed frightening. While many people are content to point the finger at public school administrators and teachers, the fault for our educational shortcomings lies with our society in general. Where the blame lies is not important. Finding solutions is.

Involvement from the business sector is one way to combat the statistics presented above. Businesses are not educators but should be interested in education from an economic perspective.

The aim of a Business Partner is to help teachers and administration effectively engage students in the learning process. This may be accomplished through hands-on support or monetary grants. What one business can do for a school may be vastly different from what another can do. It's a matter of available resources. However, employee involvement is key to the success of the partnership. Activities vary widely among partner to partner. Your program is limited only by your vision.

Examples of model partnership activities:

  • Donates materials
  • Donates funding for special projects
  • Sponsors employees to volunteer in schools
  • Sponsors special events
  • Provides mentors to youth
  • Provides job shadow or internship opportunities
  • Sponsors field trips
  • Gives tours of the business to students

If you are interested in becoming a business partner to a Portland public school please contact Sue Steele at 842-5340 or the Partnership Developer at the individual school.

Information was adapted from Adopt-A-School publications printed by GeigerBros.