 From left, McBride
Elementary students
present cookies they baked
to candidates for graduation
from basic training; students from
South Columbus Elementary write “Happy Birthday” messages on the
sidewalk in front of their partner,
Columbus Bank and Trust. |
At a recent Clubview Elementary open house, nearly every student accomplishment or activity the PTA president highlighted was introduced with the phrase: “Thanks to our Partner in Education, Columbus Regional Healthcare System.” Across town, South Columbus Elementary’s Partner in Education, CB&T, is credited with giving one teacher the incentive to keep investing in the school. And outside the Muscogee County School District, students at McBride Elementary get extra comfort when their parents are deployed and learn valuable leadership skills thanks to their partners the 192d Infantry Brigade.
The Partners in Education program was started in 1987 as a joint venture of the Muscogee County School District and the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce. According to Janeen Tucker at the Chamber, the program’s purpose is to improve education by stimulating meaningful business and community involvement in schools. As executive vice president of human resources and management information systems, Tucker oversees Education and Workforce Development at the Chamber, which in turn oversees the PIE program.
“Not every partner has a CB&T, but they have an arsenal of employees who can go out and do things,” Tucker said. “Some truly have to be purely human resources. That’s all they can give is their time.”
“The time is important — reading with the kids, helping the kids with projects, helping out at the school where they need outside influences,” Tucker added. “There are success stories where people have come in and served as mentors, showing the children the importance of being on time and showing respect and going to class.”
There are currently 224 partnerships in the Partners in Education program. Altogether, the partners have contributed an estimated 29,006 volunteer hours and some $396,780 to area schools, according to Tucker. Currently, PIE serves 85 schools in Chattahoochee, Harris, Fort Benning, Muscogee and Talbot counties as well as many private and church-affiliated schools.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of approach,” said Kent Fleming, chair of Partners in Education board. “We recognize our schools’ needs vary, and what the partner has to offer also varies. So at the beginning of each year, the partners get together and set an agenda for the year, and define their needs.”
For example, Fleming said, military units do a great job of mentoring, tutoring and providing leadership training. The 192d Infantry Brigade is one such partner.
Margaret Cogar, the PIE coordinator for the McBride School/192d Infantry Brigade partnership, says the program focuses on four main initiatives: The Mentoring Program, Partners and Adopted Learners (PALs), Army Values Instruction and Leadership Academy.
Mentors commit to one hour each week to build relationships with the students while they provide tutoring and help with homework, class work and organizational/time-management skills.
The PAL program adopts a class and provides students with an opportunity to adopt a soldier.
“The PAL may work with individuals or small groups on specific learning needs, engage in whole-group learning activities, accompany the class on field trips, share in class celebrations or participate in a variety of other activities,” Cogar said.
Drill sergeants from the 192d provide Army Values Instruction in an effort to reinforce the school’s emphasis on character development.
The Leadership Academy, led by the commander of the 192d, includes a training session and monthly seminars to guide students as they assume leadership roles throughout the school, such as being greeters for school functions or working on the flag team, to name a few.
“Through the Leadership Academy initiative, students are able to see first-hand the kinds of career paths that are available through military service,” Cogar said. “Likewise, they are able to recognize how these career choices become applicable once the soldier enters the civilian work force.”
“On any given day at our school, you will see soldiers from the 192d in various classrooms tutoring, mentoring, assisting or sometimes just visiting,” Cogar added. “Our students form bonds with the partners that continue many times after the soldier has been deployed or gone to another duty station.”
Mike Williams, computer lab and technology director at South Columbus Elementary, has been at South Columbus for 18 years and the PIE coordinator for three or four years.
“They’re (CB&T) always willing to help us academically and financially,” Williams said of South Columbus’ partner.
Helen Johnson, vice president of Community Development at CB&T, says academic success, career development and life enrichment are the focal points of CB&T’s partnership. During the year, CB&T routinely offers incentives for students during testing. The incentives focus on team building as well as individual success, offering an ice cream party for 100% class attendance and a prize drawing for students who have perfect attendance during testing. CB&T also offersdoor prizes for parents who attend the PTA meetings.
Johnson says every department at CB&T sponsors a class with employees visiting the classroom anywhere from once a week to every other week or once a month to read to the class, tutor and participate in hobby day and career day, which helps the kids see what careers and hobbies are out there.
“Our time commitment is the biggest contribution we make,” Johnson said. “Our employee’s involvement gives [employees] a renewed appreciation for the education system and a new perspective on what students are doing and teachers are doing [in the classroom].”
Williams said the biggest impact he’s seen from the partnership is the way CB&T employees treat the children. “They try to bring out the best in each child and make each child feel appreciated.”
“At CB&T we are encouraged to get involved in the community, and I can’t think of any part of this community that is a more worthwhile,” said Fleming, PIE board chair and senior vice president of Corporate Banking at CB&T.
As much as the partner gives to the students, the goal is to show students the opportunities they have to give back to the community. At McBride, “The students also have an opportunity to give back to the soldiers by sending cards, letters or e-mail, making goodie bags for holiday celebrations and visiting the brigade to sing,” PIE coordinator Cogar said.
For their partner, Columbus Regional Healthcare System, Clubview students recently created an inspirational PowerPoint presentation titled, “I Wish,” and sang during the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit’s Tree of Light graduation ceremony at The Medical Center.
The PIE program is also a great asset to the teachers.“It is the teachers and the administrators that really do the heavy lifting. PIE is just an opportunity for the community to be involved and help the teachers in a small way to help them out.”
Johnson at CB&T agrees. “We do a lot for the faculty,” she said. “They are our VIPs to us. We know teaching is a demanding job.” The PIE program is a large-scale example of what parents can do to volunteer at their child’s school. To volunteer on a more individual scale, you can contact your child’s school and ask to speak to the PIE coordinator, who will be glad to hear you’re willing and able to share in a piece of the educational PIE.
“The most important thing for any parent to do is be involved — first and foremost in their child’s school, and then in their community,” said Cogar.
Tucker adds that another way of supporting the PIE program is to let your child’s partner organization know you appreciate the work they do. A complete list of the Greater Columbus Partners in Education participants can be found at www.mcsdga.net/schools/pie.html.
If a school has a need and doesn’t have a partner, the school can call on a Partner At-Large. Currently there are some 18 Partners At-Large who provide their services to any school that has a need. For more information, contact to Janeen Tucker at the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce at 706-327-1566, ext. 23.
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