Conference Agenda

You can download the complete agenda in full detail here and the conference brochure here. Look below to review the complete schedule.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Friday, July 11, 2008

BREAKOUT SESSION 1 (11am-12pm, Thursday, July 10):

1. Building a diverse and engaged membership
James Brown, Co-director; STEM Education Coalition
The STEM Education Coalition has a large and active member base, and is effective at keeping its members informed and engaged on issues critical to the field. Attendees interested in building their own base of active and involved members will learn how leaders of the STEM Education Coalition built the organization’s diverse membership, and how they keep members active in the coalition’s work through a range of communications efforts.

2. Maximizing the impact of corporate philanthropy in education
Brian Fitzgerald, Executive Director; Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF)
Kirstin McCarthy, Assistant Director; Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF)
Through mini case study presentations focused on three locations, attendees will learn about successful partnerships of business, K-12, higher education, and foundations to increase student achievement and college readiness through the P-20 pipeline. Attendees will also take away specific strategies for leveraging corporate philanthropic efforts to make high impact investments in education.  

3. Driving results through effective partnership program operations
Janet Delaney, Director, Community Relations; San Diego Unified School District
San Diego Unified School District currently has more than 1,400 community partners, a group that contributed more than $5.6 million in value to the district in the 2006-07 school year. Using the district’s array of programs as examples, participants will learn about effective program management, including developing partnership priorities, engaging partners with a tangible “menu” of opportunities, managing a customer-friendly office, maintaining an accurate tracking system, and building organizational capacity.

4. How a hospital partnership puts youth on the “pipeline” to employment
Nancy Vaughan, School/Community Relations Coordinator; Waterbury Public Schools
Juana Clarke, Director, Grants and Operations Audit; Waterbury Hospital Health Center
In this session, participants will learn how the Waterbury Hospital partnered with the Waterbury Public Schools in an innovative K-12 program that helps introduce and prepare students for possible future careers in the medical field, working with students from the elementary level on up through high school through three separate but complimentary programs.

 5. Partnering to turn dropouts into graduates
Barbara Richardson, Deputy Director; Simon Youth Foundation
Simon Youth Foundation began its work in 1998 when staff at Simon malls wanted to find a way to improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged and at-risk youth. As an independent nonprofit endeavor, SYF works with school districts to re-engage at-risk students through an alternative high school program  in a nontraditional environment. Attendees will learn about their successes and consider how they can use existing internal resources in their partnership efforts.

BREAKOUT SESSION 2 (2pm-3pm, Thursday, July 10):

1. Bringing partners together to achieve excellence in education
Jeff Edmondson, Executive Director; Strive Foundation
Mike Brandt, Superintendent; Newport Independent Schools
Attendees will learn how Strive, an educational partnership in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, builds successful, sustainable collaborations by focusing on data driven decision making and accountability to the community served. By sharing successes and lessons learned, attendees will have the tools needed to immediately begin building comprehensive education partnerships in their own regions.

2. A case study in the effective use of community stakeholder forums
Ken Koch, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer; Meridian Technology Center
In order to introduce a new superintendent and rebuild relationships with stakeholders, Meridian Technology Center, an area vocational technical school serving ten partner school districts, launched a series of stakeholder forums across the district to great effect. Learn how to plan and implement forums in your own community and how they can jumpstart your efforts to build relationships and stakeholder engagement.  

3. Engaging the community in career awareness and engagement
Kim Litzau, Partners in Education Supervisor; Rockwood (MO) School District
Linda Souder, Project Interface Facilitator; Rockwood (MO) School District
Over the past 24 years, the Rockwood (MO) School District has developed a series of career awareness and exploration programs, including classroom presentations (6,000 presentations every year), career shadowing, and Project Interface, a unique for-credit internship offered to qualifying seniors. Learn about their spectrum of programs and how you can engage the business community in your own career awareness efforts.

4. Aligning education outreach with workforce needs
Cheryl Harvey, Workforce Preparedness Manager; Eastman Chemical Company
Years ago, Eastman Chemical Company’s work in education emphasized “checkbook philanthropy;” today, however, the company is fully engaged in strategic partnerships that provide greater value, leverage core capabilities, and align with strategic business needs. Attendees will learn about this fundamental shift in approach and about the hands-on partnerships that are generating a real return on the company’s outreach investment.

 5. Strategic leadership: maintaining and sustaining science and math partnerships
Francis Eberle, Executive Director; National Science Teachers Association
Strategic leadership is critical to effective partnerships, particularly in maintaining and sustaining them beyond their original vision. This session will explore the importance of leadership in both the tactical and strategic elements of successful partnerships. Examples of specific partnerships and the interactions of partners, measurement of progress, roles, and decision points within those partnerships will be presented.

BREAKOUT SESSION 3 (3:15pm-4:15pm, Thursday, July 10):

1. Building partnership with your Chamber of Commerce
Kim Durand, Volunteer & Partnership Specialist; Arlington Public Schools
Rich Doud, President; Arlington Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber of Commerce can serve as a connection to the community and as a resource itself. Learn how Arlington Public Schools worked with its local chamber to build a strong relationship and hear about the benefits both parties see as a result.

2. Creating and sustaining partnerships that provide results…not promises!
Jeff Rubel, Vice President; Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce
To build initiatives that produce relevant and measurable results, the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce leverages effective practices such as market analysis (including surveys and polls), strategic communications, budgetary planning, and campaign assessment in its work with school, business, government, and other community partners. Attendees will learn how to analyze and address community needs using these and other effective practices.  

3. Partnerships that make a difference in math and science education
Tony Fowler, Acting Executive Director; Federal Interagency Committee on Education, US Department of Education
In his role with the US Department of Education, Tony Fowler has seen a wide range of corporate-led initiatives to improve education in the STEM fields. Attendees will hear what’s working and what’s not, review critical opportunities and needs in the field, and discuss how a case can be made to corporate partners to solicit their involvement.

4. Executive mentorships: the Partnership to Advance Student Success (PASS) model
Elaine Liftin, President and Executive Director; Council for Educational Change
Patricia Penn Dixon, Leadership Development/Director, Special Projects; Council for Educational Change
Jeffrey Miller, President; Weeks Gas
Attendees will hear about the PASS model, which focuses on building an executive mentoring relationship for school leaders, and how this model has been successfully implemented in Florida. They will review case studies and hear from business and school representatives on the impact of this proven initiative, and then strategize on how they can advance school leadership using this model in their own communities.

5. Identifying and recruiting partners for elementary-level initiatives
Ellen Steverson, Business Partners Liaison; Dorchester (SC) Public Schools
Elementary schools have a wide variety of needs and priorities. By identifying and recruiting businesses, schools can work with businesses to share resources that will be mutually beneficial. Attendees will learn how a successful elementary school partnership program identifies and pitches partnership opportunities to the community and builds relationships that continually develop.

BREAKOUT SESSION 4 (9:10am-10:10am, Friday, July 11):

1. Creating a winning multi-stakeholder STEM partnership
Elaine Naleski, Director of Communications/Community Relations; Colorado Springs School District 11
Larry Cutter, Principal, Mitchell High School; Colorado Springs School District 11
Laurie Maxson, Director, Youth Programs; Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation
William Gessner, Assistant Chief of Staff; Peterson Air Force Base
Colorado Springs Schools (district 11) has turned support from partners in the business, foundation, and military communities into a summer STEM institute designed to encourage high school students to enter science, technology, and engineering pathways. Participants will learn how to build a winning partnership team, set project goals, and sustain their projects over time in order to meet STEM workforce needs.

2. Building community-wide partnerships that promote service with learning
Margaret Wheeler, Senior Coordinator, Community Involvement; Polk County Public Schools
Bridget Fetter, Director, Chain of Lakes Community High; Polk Community College
Service learning enables students to link meaningful community service with the academic curriculum, and can be built through vertical partnerships between K-12 and postsecondary institutions and horizontal partnerships with corporate funders and community agencies. Attendees will learn how to incorporate service learning into the K-12 and college syllabi and to identify and nurture community partnerships.  

3. Essential elements to successful school-based and district fundraising
Stacy Carlson, Vice President of Transitions; Helios Foundation
Research has shown that there are five main characteristics that contribute to success in school-based or district-wide fundraising. Come learn about these five factors and how they contribute to the success of your fundraising and partnership efforts

4. How stronger relationships led to a multifaceted partnership program
Nancy Schopf, Vice President of Education & Leadership; Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce
PIE was initiated in 1992 by leaders of business and education because of adversarial feelings between the two entities about the development of our future workforce. In this session, you’ll learn how these leaders built mutual understanding and strong relationships as a result of their participation in PIE, and about the integrated system of school-to-work initiatives that have been created as a result.  

5. Local and regional P-16 compacts: The new frontier in education partnerships
Adrienne O’Neill, President; Stark Education Partnership
Joseph Rochford, Vice President; Stark Education Partnership
Working with district, higher education, business, philanthropy, economic development, and human service organizations, the Stark Education Partnership established a P-16 compact focused on increasing both the high school graduation and the college attendance rates. Based on their success, they have been instrumental in launching additional compacts across Ohio. Discover how they did it and what lessons they learned in the process.

BREAKOUT SESSION 5 (10:20am-11:20am, Friday, July 11):

1. Using the Critical Path method in designing your partnership initiatives
Jim McMurtray, Executive Director; NASSMC
The Critical Path method is an effective tool to be used in designing and managing your education initiatives. Attendees will learn how to define their desired program outcomes and to identify the interim objectives, barriers, and project requirements they must address in order to chart a path to the successful fulfillment of their goals.

2. Using business principles to maximize partnership success
Joan Fox, Specialist, Partnerships Office; Howard County Public School System
Mary Schiller, Manager, Partnerships Office; Howard County Public School System
Market research…prospect targeting…strategic planning…these and other skills are most often associated with business management, but they can also be applied successfully by schools in building effective, rewarding partnerships. Attendees will learn how these practices are being used in Howard County Public School System partnerships and how they can be leveraged in enlisting the support of partners in their own communities.  

3. Education foundations…more than you expect!
Bob New, President; Mid-Atlantic Consortium of Education Foundations
Many local education foundations (LEFs) never realize their true potential. Using a proven model, this session will outline the important aspects of the school district/LEF relationship, and look at various elements of foundation operations, from governance to marketing and fundraising, to help foundations use the techniques and procedures best suited to helping them become more effective.

4. Building strategic partnerships through regional collaboration
Serenity Kelton, Marketing Director; Texas Association of Partners in Education
The Texas Association of Partners in Education has convened a series of Regional Education Partnership Planning Forums across Texas.  These forums are focused on engaging all sectors of the regional community in a discussion around the planning and implementation of education partnerships.  Workshop attendees will participate in a “mock forum” and take home strategies for implementing these unique and effective meetings in their State.

5. Partnering to drive workforce development through career clusters
Joe Unterreiner, Executive Director; Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
The Kalispell, MT Chamber of Commerce has played a critical role in exploring challenges and solutions to workforce issues and in creating a dialogue among leaders and influencers to raise awareness and drive action on the issue. Attendees will hear how the Chamber’s initial partnership with its local schools to explore workforce solutions resulted in major reforms, and culminated in a conference that raised the profile of this issue along with promising solutions.

BREAKOUT SESSION 6 (11:30am-12:30pm, Friday, July 11):

1. How smart strategy leads to greater impact
Terri Smatla, Community Partnership Coordinator; Mesa County Valley School District #51
In 2001, Mesa County (CO) Schools placed all of its existing community partnership programs under a single umbrella. Come learn about the range of programs operating in tandem, and how aligning everyone’s efforts created a structure in which staff members were able to work more efficiently and more effectively.

2. Building a State Scholars program in Tennessee
Ruth Woodall, Director; Tennessee Scholars
The State Scholars Initiative utilizes business leaders to motivate students to complete a rigorous course of study in high school, one that will give them a boost in college and their careers. Tennessee is fully engaged in the program: from two pilot sites 5 years ago, the Tennessee State Scholars Initiative has grown into a 48 -county operation, and has already graduated over 10,000 Tennessee Scholars in 4 years. Attendees will learn how state leaders have built the program over time and how they continue to increase involvement from leaders in participating communities.   

3. Creating a conduit between schools and their communities
Joni Krieg, Executive Director; Business & Education Alliance
The School E-Lert Program is a centralized clearinghouse, connecting school needs with free and discounted resources from community stakeholders with the click of a mouse. Many of the 200+ schools served by the program received more than $100,000 in resources just in the Fall 2007 semester, with contributions such as office supplies, furniture, computers, and more. Find out how this program is connecting schools and donors and how you can create a program of your own.  

4. Buy-in brings benefits: A lasting partnership with a science museum
Maddie Zeigler, Education Outreach Specialist
This session will cover the process of developing a lasting relationship between the Albuquerque Public Schools and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, and the many benefits both organizations have realized from this longstanding and award-winning multifaceted initiative.  

5. Fostering school business partnerships in Manukau City, New Zealand
Sarah Harvey, Education for Entreprise Regional Coordinator, Manukau City
In this session, attendees will learn how the City of Manukau Education Trust (COMET) facilitates and implements a range of educational projects to foster school business partnerships within the wider community. The presentation will report on the processes involved in developing and implementing three successful and enterprising projects - Principal for a Day, Executive for a Day, and Education for Enterprise -that are offered to Primary and Secondary schools in Manukau City New Zealand.