Business and Education Round Table
September 7th, 2018
Hosted at Enloe High School by Business North Carolina http://businessnc.com
Last Friday I had the opportunity to participate as a panelist at the Business and Education Round Table thanks to Caterpillar, INC. The discussion will be featured in the October issue of Business North Carolina. It was a true honor to connect with like minded people who care and have also found ways to bridge the gap between the world of business and education.
Amongst those participants were:
Caroline Sullivan, executive director, N.C. Committee for Business and Education
Dr. Will Chavis, Principal, William G. Enloe Magnet High School
John Chaffee, President & CEO, NCEast Alliance
David Young, CEO, Participate
Milanka Muecke, Director, NA PR & Communications, Direct Response Marketing, Lenovo
Lew Ebert, President & CEO, North Carolina Chamber
Annah Riedel, Kenan Fellow, Teacher, Exploris
Creighton P Blackwell, Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Community Engagement Coastal Credit Union
As well as three Enloe High School students.
The flow of the conversation was as such; the high school students were invited to speak first about the value of internships and opportunities to connect with business, followed by the opportunity for each one of the panel members to speak and talk about current programs that their company are creating or are taking advantage of.
I shared about Exploris and Kenan Fellows (Caterpillar). Both are models for the community in terms of creating partnerships to improve the rigor and relevance of classroom instruction. I was proud to be an educator in this discussion representing these two “brands”.
When preparing for the round table discussion I was fearful. I felt too small to be valued. After all, I’m just one teacher, in one classroom in North Carolina. But in a call preparing for the discussion with my mentor, Annette, she told me that I am flexible, intelligent, and have a voice worthy of being heard. That was the encouragement I needed to enter this discussion open and willing to share my story. Moving forward I hope to empower others to use their voices to advocate on behalf of students. I also hope to share more widely why internships in industry are valuable for every person, in any profession.
Overall, the tone of the discussion was encouraging. Every person in the room has taken active steps to play a supporting role for educators across NC. For that I am truly grateful.
My wish for more teachers is the opportunity to partner with businesses and create meaningful partnerships. Partnerships need to be rooted in more than just teachers going to businesses asking for financial support. Partnerships need to be about developing curriculum and resources that can be shared with the community at large. In addition to developing curriculum here are some ways I believe business can support education:
- Creating video resources for virtual experiences
- Volunteering time in classrooms
- Participating on school boards
- Hosting interns HS & College
- Hosting Teacher interns (paid internships in summers)
- Partnering with Universities to develop programs
- Hosting school visits on site
- Appointing an education person at each company who focuses on developing community partnerships and outreach
While I know there is no cookie cutter answer I believe the main thing we all must do is take active steps towards developing programs for schools. If you are saying, “I care, I just don’t know how to get involved.” The first step to accomplishing anything is by taking a step.
Take yours today, don’t wait to make the difference. You never know whom you will inspire. The next president, CEO, general, barista, engineer, architect, or doctor.
Don’t wait. Take a step. Reach out. Make a difference.