Written by Katie Kotowski
Five Southern Ohio teams, each comprised of four to six regional education and business leaders, will complete the Strengthening Partnerships program on March 20. Teams will have the opportunity to use a $2400 mini-grant, given to them upon completion of the program, to create a one-time program that shows what they have learned about the connection between education and community. Strengthening Partnerships is a school-community partnership program of the Ohio Appalachian Educators Institute supported by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, Ohio University Southern, the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs.
The program which, according to Voinovich School staff member Anita Frederick, was created to “help Appalachian communities recognize the vital role education plays in enhancing a community's capacity to compete in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st Century,” commenced on Sept. 19, 2008.Teams from Chesapeake, Gallia-Vinton, Gallipolis, Minford, and New Boston met for six learning sessions and addressed a broad range of topics focusing on creating a school-community partnership.
The sessions were taught by Ohio University faculty and Ohio leaders who are recognized as system change experts and focused on a variety of topics including ways of mobilizing the community and understanding system change.They educated teams on how business and area leaders can support education in their local communities to create growth.
The Strengthening Partnerships curriculum stemmed from the Ohio Appalachian Educators Institute (OAEI), a two year program created to bring school districts together to understand their own areas of need and growth.The Voinovich School staff agreed that a “next step” was essential to bring together the necessary bodies to create the change and development needed in education systems in southern Ohio.
Leaders of the program believe it is especially beneficial to the communities of southern Ohio now that the state has recognized the dire need to revamp education to prepare the leaders of tomorrow.
“Strengthening Partnerships works to reunite communities around education as a means to rebuild a vital community around the opportunities provided by emerging technologies and the flattened global economy,” Frederick said. “[it]brings leaders together to address an educational issue in their community that is related to preparing children for higher education and working and succeeding in the new global economy.”
Upon completion of this program and the mini-grant projects community leaders will have a greater understanding of how to work together and to enact change.Voinovich School program leaders expect that this program will work to enhance OAEI’s goal to create effective leadership and coordination among schools and area leaders that will allow for better implementation of plans to “improve student achievement and the region’s economy.”