One of our goals as facilitators in a New Tech school is to create projects that incorporate authenticity, academic rigor, applied learning, active exploration, and adult relationships.
One of the first questions that often follows project rollout in a New Tech classroom is, "Is this real?" Student engagement increases when the problem being addressed or product being created is authentic and relevant, with value beyond our classroom. Community partnerships make it possible for us to bring the career world to our students, help students become involved with improving our community, and give them the opportunity to learn from experts in memorable settings.
Connecting with professionals helps us improve the academic rigor of our projects by linking academic skills with industry expectations and standards, and students are motivated to improve their written and oral communication skills in order to communicate clearly with adults. When students are required to present their research to experts, they show increased drive to excel. Our business and community partners also help students see how the skills they are learning in our classrooms will be useful and valuable in the future.
New Tech @ Gereau facilitators believe that making connections between our students and our community stakeholders is crucial to the development of successful projects and the mastery of learning outcomes that will enable our students to be college and career ready.
We have developed a database of business and community partners from Franklin County and the surrounding areas. Our partners include volunteers and professionals in a wide variety of fields, all of whom are passionate about their work and willing to share their expertise with our students.
Community stakeholders can become involved as partners with New Tech @ Gereau by:
Visiting a class as a guest speaker or leading a discussion
Helping facilitators find resources for specific project requests
Sponsoring a project
Providing feedback for students to help them improve their work in progress
Sitting on an expert panel for student presentations
Collaborating on an authentic project from start to finish by working alongside New Tech facilitators and instructional coaches
For more information about becoming a partner in our educational venture or to schedule a tour, contact Heather Quinn at 540.483.5446