For Businesses

Program Details for Businesses

Businesses participating in the Externship Program provide worksite experiences for one or more teachers during a designated week in the summer. Businesses may develop and deliver whatever Teacher Externship Worksite Learning Plan they feel is most beneficial for teachers, but should keep in mind that teachers particularly appreciate seeing the direct correlation between what they teach and the skills needed by businesses.

By participating in the Teacher Externship program, businesses will:

• Help teachers to understand what students need to succeed in your workplace.
  
• Demonstrate the importance of specific types of knowledge and skills that are used in your workplace.
  
• Share lessons that teachers can use to prepare their students for jobs in your workplace.
• Build alliances with local educators and provide a personal mentorship from the workforce.

Each year, the Teacher Externship Week schedule is as follows:

Monday Morning: Extern teachers and sponsors attend kickoff breakfast. From there, extern teachers report to business workplace to become familiar with company.

Tuesday-Thursday: Extern teachers report to work as if they were regular employees of the company and participate in their Worksite Learning Plan.

Friday: Extern teachers complete their workplace experience and review it with their primary point of contact at their host business. In the afternoon, a company representative and the teacher extern attend a follow-up celebration to gain feedback and thank teachers and employers.

 

Participating businesses will be expected to:

• Appoint one person in your organization to help coordinate the externship and develop the worksite learning plan.
• Attend one extern sponsor orientation to receive guidance on planning the externship.
  
• Provide job-relevant experiences for the teacher for four days. See these tips for developing successful work plans.
  
• Provide the teacher business overviews of organizational structure, policies, culture, objectives missions and goals.
• Provide copies of corporate materials that could affect student instruction, such as manuals, pre-employment assessments, job descriptions and job applications.
  
• Provide teachers with a list of academic skills students need to succeed in your workplace, such as math, science and communication.
  
• Attend the orientation kick-off breakfast and appreciation lunch.
• Provide mentorship to the teacher during the school year.
• Provide a stipend of $800 per teacher – payable to Houston A+ Challenge, a 501(c)(3) organization – to fund the completion of a work-relevant lesson plan for classroom use.