Community partners help make lessons relevant with real-world, hands-on experiences that go beyond traditional textbooks, according to an article in K-12 Dive.
Who are these community partners?
- Erica Schnee, the principal of Gallatin High School in Montana. recently collaborated with community partners to develop a new construction course. Students participated in specific lessons and then helped with the excavation work required to create the outdoor space needed for the new course.
- Erik Lathen, the principal of Illinois Valley High School, a rural school in Oregon, has partnered with the non-profit Project Youth+, which provides mentorship and academic guidance for students, and the Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative that supports the school’s new fire science class by giving students hands-on learning opportunities.
- Chu Hong, who teaches agriculture at Kaimuki High School in Hawaii, fostered community partnerships to supplement her teaching efforts and help with the challenges of teaching a new subject for the first time. Hong is new to teaching agriculture, after years as a math department head and teacher.
She leveraged connections with experts in her community such as professors and professionals to create real-world lessons, including a local indoor vertical farm to bring in healthy produce that students sell to a local restaurant.
Here are keys to making ere Hfa partnership work:
1) Educators and administrators must step outside their comfort zone and think outside the box to learn how to meet the needs of the school and those of the community partner. In that same vein, he also suggests not being afraid of “thinking big.”
2) Don’t shy away from bigger projects. “The first thing that I want is, ‘I’m going to go bigger.’ And then there’s usually an excitement and enthusiasm for that, and it’s worked out almost every time that we’ve been able to do that,” says Lathen, the 2025 Oregon High School Principal of the Year named by the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators and the Oregon Association of Secondary School Administrators.
3) Take the plunge and make cold calls to develop first-time relationships. Hong says it’s important to be open to rejection, but keep in mind that people are nicer more often than not and are willing to help.
4) Have a clear vision and mission for what the partnership will look like. Hong emphasizes the importance of being specific about what help is needed and when partners can make a classroom visit.
“There’s so many retired people who want to help, but if you don’t have clarity on what you need help with, then it’s just messy and it’s boring,” she says.
5) If you’re intimidated by cold calling, think about the pool of potential partners in parents and school community members, Schnee recommends. Ask yourself who has an interesting job that students might want to hear about or is in a career pathway that students should be aware of.
6) Dedicate time for these outreach efforts. Teachers are busy meeting the needs of students and grading papers, so carving out some time to not only meet with a community partner but to make phone calls and do some outreach is crucial ,Schnee says.
7) Schedule time to thank and keep up with community partners, even if it’s just sending a text and photos showcasing how students are utilizing the resources or knowledge they learned from them, says Hong.
K-12 Dive
