TEACHERS BRING BACK LESSONS FROM
HOUSTON-AREA BUSINESSES

One hundred classroom teachers from eight school districts went to work at Houston-area offices and job sites June 4 - 8, during Teacher Externship Week 2007 -- a collaboration between the Houston A+ Challenge and the Greater Houston Partnership.

The program, now in its fifth year, pairs teachers with business professionals in their fields of study, in order to make students' learning more relevant to the workplace. Teachers will now spend the summer developing lesson plans to share with their students, based on their firsthand knowledge and experiences. This year's program is sponsored generously by Shell Oil Company.

The week began with a breakfast on Monday for the teachers and their business sponsors. After the breakfast, teachers went to their host business to work through the morning of Friday, June 8. The teachers and their hosts gathered again on Friday to share lessons learned.

The Teacher Externship Program was started in 2003 by the Greater Houston Partnership and Houston A+ Challenge as part of an initiative to create a system of high schools in the metropolitan area that assure students a seamless transition into higher education and the workforce.

In the increasingly global, technology-based economy of the 21st Century, more than 40 percent of employers believe that high school graduates are "deficient" in their overall preparation for entry-level jobs, according to a 2006 survey by the Conference Board. In addition, 70 percent of employers surveyed rated high school graduates deficient in the critical areas of writing, professionalism/work ethic and critical thinking/problem solving.

“Through the externship program, teachers gain insights on the real-world skills their students need to graduate high school ready for the workplace,” said Joe B. Foster, chairman of the Houston A+ Challenge Board of Trustees and the founder of Newfield Exploration Company. “In addition, business people become more familiar with the challenges that must be met in order to prepare today's students for the new world of work."

“The Greater Houston Partnership is proud to collaborate with Houston A+ Challenge to bring teachers and business professionals together for the Teacher Externship Week 2007,” commented John Hofmeister, Chairman, Board of Directors of the Greater Houston Partnership.  “We have experienced four wonderful years of success with this program.  Each year we have seen teachers and business professionals greatly benefit from the cross-pollination of experiences and ideas, and each year the greatest benefit falls upon our students.”

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