By Gabby Sahm
Staff Writer
@gabbysahm
The Coppell Independent School District launched a new program in November called Partners in Excellence. The program encourages businesses and organizations to partner up with their schools.
The program is designed to have businesses or organizations help a school or multiple schools by letting workers from their companies come and talk to the students. Something that differentiates this program from others is the fact that the district uses “intellectual capital” from the businesses or organizations, meaning they want the learners to gain knowledge and skills in different job fields so they feel better prepared for the world after graduation.
In a CISD press release, it talked about how businesses could also benefit by having employees come and talk to the students and encourage to experiment with different career paths. Coppell Middle School West had a local technology company send speakers out to encourage seventh graders to pursue careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field at Coppell High School.
Lindsay Ayers, Director of Marketing and Business Partnerships at CISD, has overseen the project. She hopes the learners in CISD will be exposed to future career opportunities, as well as have an understanding of how the material they learn in school is relevant to the real world.
“There is a lot that can be gained by getting our learners in contact with businesses,” Ayers said. “I am hoping to capitalize on those relationships for the benefit of all learners.”
In an article in the Coppell Gazette, learners at New Tech High@Coppell who participated in the market research gave great feedback to the company. The company was then able to use the students’ feedback in decision-making for their company. The company also let learners have a behind-the-scenes look at how to make and sell their own products.
“I hope for long-term relationships between local businesses and our schools so that our learners are regularly interacting with local professionals and learning from them,” Ayers said.
If you are or know a business or organization that would like to sign up for the program, click here.
