Section 2: The Partnership Ladder
This work-based learning continuum of opportunities, activities, and experiences grows in intensity and provides partners a sequence of rungs for moving up the ladder. These activities range from low to high involvement or effort, yet all have the potential to deliver a significant impact.
Often, low-intensity activities are WONDERFUL stepping stones to high-intensity engagement. Building a cadre of employer partners who have exposure to high schools through low-intensity activities helps provide a group who can be called upon for high-intensity activities and WANT to participate! After getting inside the school and seeing firsthand the many engagement opportunities that exist, employer partners typically want to escalate to higher-intensity engagement
How does Ford NGL define low, moderate, and high-intensity engagement?
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“On My Own” Reality Fair (St. Johns County, FL)
Each year, St. Johns County high schools host the “On My Own” reality fair in order to help students better understand financial literacy. Just before the fair, students receive a packet of information about who they will be for the fair, including their career, annual pay, family status, number of dependents, and credit score. On the day of the fair, students receive money and visit booths to make various purchases including housing, transportation, insurance, utilities, childcare, and other necessities. Business partners staff these booths and receive training for the engagement activity prior to the event.
Resources:
A Career Fair for Middle Schoolers (Louisville, KY)
Junior Achievement’s Inspire program introduced more than 350 8th grade students to career opportunities in STEM fields and showcased the high school pathways that lead to these careers. More than 20 businesses participated in the program, giving students hands-on experiences they could see, hear, and touch.
Businesses Open Doors to Educators (Racine, WI)
Racine created a wonderful opportunity for educators and employers to connect. Over 400 Racine Unified high school staff members got a chance to visit local businesses, tour their facilities, learn about day-to-day operations, and meet with employers. In the fall of 2016 this was one of the community’s first steps in implementing the Academies of Racine, and it allowed educators to learn more about local businesses and their needs for future graduates. It also gave both educators and employers a chance to build relationships that will be instrumental down the road.
VMA Manufacturing Champions Bus Tour (Volusia, FL)
In the Fall of 2015, 100 school and career counselors attended the VMA Manufacturing Champions Bus Tour. The tour was a way to introduce them to local manufacturers and build awareness of the exciting, satisfying, and lucrative opportunities available for people with specific levels of skill and education. Participants toured Thompson Pump in Port Orange, Medtronic in DeLand, Teledyne Oil and Gas in Daytona, and Hudson Technologies in Ormond Beach. They met with human resource directors from local manufacturers for lunch; saw various industrial parks; viewed company videos; and ended the tour with a panel discussion at Teledyne Oil and Gas. The tour involved over fifty volunteers and thirty VMA companies, and feedback has been very positive!
The Anchor Swap (Elk Grove, CA)
Broadcast Production students at Franklin High School participated in an “anchor swap” with KMAX-TV’s Good Day Sacramento morning show. Students had the opportunity to operate the cameras during a live broadcast.
Moderate-Intensity Engagement Examples
Worksite Tour (Louisville, KY)
In 2017, five freshman academy teacher teams attended a two-day worksite tour experience at the Ford Louisville Assembly Plant (LAP). The purpose of this experience was to really get to know the different departments within the plant and how these different departments function as a highly effective (organizational) team. The teachers walked away with a better understanding of the climate, culture and interworking of LAP. They also walked away with some tools to use within their own teams such as The Five Whys protocol. This is the perfect set-up to what’s next…an externship.
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High-Intensity Engagement Examples
Challenge-based Learning Externship (Elk Grove, CA)
Elk Grove Unified School District is building out a system to implement Ford NGL Community-connected Learning which is a scaffolded way strengthen the use of project-based learning and work-based learning between employers, students, and teacher teams. In 2016, we gave 65 students from the Innovative Design and Engineering Academy (IDEA) and 131 students from the Manufacturing Production Technology Academy (MPTA) an opportunity to explore an organizational challenge, identify related problems, prototype a solution, and offer recommendations. Amazed by the experiences and results, the academies and employer partners signed on for another year. In 2017, we have introduced two new academies to this experience and are working towards challenge-based learning.
Internships Can Lead to Jobs (Clay County, FL)
The Clay County Utility Authority (CCUA) expressed interest in partnering with the Academies of Clay County. Many workers at CCUA are approaching retirement age, so CCUA created an internship program for high school juniors and seniors to expose these students to different departments within their organization. Students completed applications and interviewed with CCUA, and those who successfully complete their internship can apply to continue working for CCUA.
Leave a comment below or email [email protected]. We would value having your engagement example to share with the Network.
