Over 215 Teachers 'Go to Work' At Houston-Area Businesses

7th Annual Teacher Externship Week connects the classroom to the workforce

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: June 15, 2009
Contact: Melissa Milios Davis, Director of Public Affairs, 713-658-1881

More than 215 classroom teachers from 18 school districts spent last week (June 8-12) in Houston-area offices and job sites, during Teacher Externship Week 2009 – a collaboration between Houston A+ Challenge and the Greater Houston Partnership.

This year’s seventh annual Externship Week attracted participation from 68 businesses from across the Houston region.  (Click here for a list of participants)

The Externship pairs teachers with business professionals in their fields of study, in order to make students' learning more relevant to the workplace. After their Externship experience, teachers will spend part of their summer developing lesson plans to share with their students, based on their firsthand experiences.

“Through the Externship program, teachers gain insights into the real-world skills their students need to graduate high school prepared for postsecondary education and the workplace,” said Scott Van Beck, Executive Director of the Houston A+ Challenge. “Teachers are exposed to a broad range of jobs in Houston’s leading industries – energy, aerospace, medial, construction, public service, fine arts and more – so that they can help students create a vision and a plan for a successful future."

For the third consecutive year, the Houston A+ Challenge Teacher Externship program is sponsored generously by Shell Oil Company, which this year hosted 20 teacher externs.

“Strong bonds between the classroom and workplace are vital in order to adequately prepare our students, our city and our nation for a sustainable energy future,” commented Frazier Wilson, Shell Social Investment Manager.  “Through our years of participation in the Teacher Externship, teachers and business professionals are building bridges of understanding – between the public and our industry – while the greatest benefit falls on our students.”

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

Teachers participating in the externship gain exposure to the fields of energy, aerospace, construction, fine arts, from the legal field to the medical field.

"Our students are always asking us, ‘Why do we have to know this?’" said Robyn Filipowsky, a teacher at Cypress Lakes High School who was one of 20 teachers placed at Shell for the week. "Now we have some great answers for them." “We have to let our students know – there are over 16,000 jobs in the Houston area just supporting aerospace,” said Nikki Skinner, an Alameda Elementary School (Houston ISD) teacher who spent the week at SAIC, one of nearly a dozen aerospace companies that hosted teachers this year. “I can’t wait to get back into the classroom to help students make those connections to their dreams.” Teacher Externship Week 2009 began with a breakfast on Monday for teachers and their business sponsors. After the breakfast, teachers went to their host business to work through the morning of Friday, June 13. Teachers and their business hosts gathered again for a luncheon 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.

About Houston A+ Challenge
Houston A+ Challenge is an independent nonprofit that has supported public school improvement and education leadership development in the Houston area since 1997. Houston A+ partners with local school districts to build professional networks and school leaders who create lasting improvements in classroom instruction and student achievement.  On the web at: www.houstonaplus.org.

About Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America's leading oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. Shell, a leading oil and gas producer in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, is a recognized pioneer in oil and gas exploration and production technology.  Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Shell Group, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies, employing approximately 102,000 people and operating in more than 100 countries and territories.

About The Greater Houston Partnership
The Greater Houston Partnership, through its membership, represents the 10-county Houston region's business interests to promote the growth of high-paying jobs, international trade and capital investment. Partnership Members include representatives of small and mid-sized businesses and Fortune 500 companies. The Greater Houston Partnership's board of directors oversees corporations that directly account for one in every 12 of the Houston metropolitan area's more than 2.5 million jobs. These corporations also represent annual sales and receipts that, when combined, exceed $1.9 trillion.