Pemi-Baker

School To Work Partnership

Application Based Learning Experiences


Office: PO Box 500 Rumney NH 03266
tel (603) 786-9278 fax (603) 786-9730
SAU #48: 47 Old Ward Bridge Road Plymouth NH 03264-1296
tel(603) 536-1254 fax (603) 536-3545

About Pemi-Baker School To Work

Current Business Partners

Back to The Future in Education
An article by SAU #48 Superintendent John W. True

STW Highlights, Year One

SAU #48 School to Work Diagram

Pemi-Baker School To Work Partnership
Year Two Plan

Pemi-Baker School To Work Partnership Committees

Other STW Links

Pemi-Baker School To Work (STW) Partnership


The Pemi-Baker Partnership--our local School To Work collaborative--is dedicated to advancing a community system for lifelong learning and regional economic development.

Our local School To Work system provides a means for the Pemi-Baker community--parents, teachers and school administrators, school boards, businesses, civic and social organizations, legislators and, of course, students themselves--to participate in a dynamic process for strengthening education, by preparing students (K-16) with the "knowhow" necessary to compete and thrive in a global economy.

The Pemi-Baker STW Partnership is committed to mobilizing and supporting a range of opportunities for all students to learn and interact with our communities by building "partnerships" that connect classroom learning with real world experience.

"Our goal is to help all students focus on their areas of interest and to make their educational experience a part of that process. In order to do this we must challenge our schools to be a more central part of our communities and challenge our employers to make the success of our schools their business."

Ultimately the Partnership's mission depends on the ability of schools and businesses to form an alliance capable of promoting and supporting systemic educational and economic reform within our region...and we invite anyone interest in helping to join our Pemi-Baker STW Partnership."

John W. True Superintendent SAU #48



The goal of the STW system is to link the isolated school world, in which students have narrow work experiences and limited opportunities for career exploration, with our greater community. Through the formation of dynamic partnerships between employers and teachers, application based learning introduces students to experiences outside the confines of school and moves the real world into their classrooms. STW centers teaching and learning around real situations and problem solving skills. By bringing employers into classrooms and transforming worksites into educational opportunities, students can learn about a variety of jobs or career fields, and, general workplace competencies for success.

STW supports education that is more rigorous and relevant so students--from kindergarten through postsecondary education--can readily understand how they can actually use what they are learning in classes within their own lives, and, what it takes to be successful in the workplace. As a result, students are less vulnerable when they graduate because they are more motivated in school; have opportunities for actual career exploration and work experience; and, have practice applying their knowledge and skills in real situations. Ultimately, all students are better prepared to make decisions about their education, training, military and employment choices in a dynamic global economy.

The responsibility of educating our children is shared by parents and guardians, teachers and administrators, school board members, businesses, civic and social organizations, legislators and of course, students themselves. The Pemi-Baker STW Partnership provides a means to fulfill this shared responsibility by joining concerned citizens throughout the greater Pemi-Baker community in a locally controlled collaborative process for strengthening education.



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School to Work

Back to the Future in Education


John W. True Jr.
Superintendent, SAU #48

If you are a student of education the name John Dewey is evocative of a philosophy of education seemingly extinct in today's schools. But the theories of Dewey and other experiential educators are undergoing a rebirth today in America through the national "School to Work" program. School to Work, and Application Based Learning may seem like only the latest iteration of education focused on providing academic relevance to curriculum but it is much more. It is the beginning of a fundamental reform of our educational systems to make them equal to the challenges of the 21st century.

Change comes slowly to all institutions in America and schools are no exception to this rule. But change is inevitable and the changes heralded by the School to Work movement promise to reinvent our schools, providing new opportunities for reaching students at all levels.

Consider this. . . colleges today look to the future and see a large blip in population during the early years of the next millennium as the children of the baby boom and succeeding boomlets enter their college years. To accommodate this blip it seems - at first blush - appropriate to add bricks and mortar to their facilities - particularly in terms of classrooms and student housing. Yet to do this is to invite disaster in the future as the number of students for which they will compete is likely to shrink - even accounting for an increased number of high school graduates who continue their education. . .

. . .On the other hand, high schools find it increasingly difficult to provide an education that reaches students at all levels, particularly those far ahead and behind the norm. Yet, reams of social research shows the validity of tracking students socially with their peer groups, even when they are academically advanced or special needs.

These two seemingly intractable problems have a common solution. An educational system that is academically structured to break down the walls previously constructed between educational levels and our communities. A system that breaks down the walls separating primary education from secondary education and college; and the walls between school and work.

The day is not far away when the average student will experience a far different academic life than today's student. Advanced elementary students will be able to accrue high school credits while remaining with their peer groups, high school students and adults within the community will be able to take college courses during their regular academic day and evenings, allowing them to enter college with a host of new skills and the potential of an early graduation or advanced degree; both college and non-college bound students will experience work based learning during their school years that allows them to appreciate the requirements of the workforce and to sample the smorgasbord of career opportunities available to them. All these things are possible and much more.

Imagine a future in which schools contain not only classrooms but businesses where students work during part of their day. Businesses who share the overhead costs and provide job training opportunities for students and the expertise of their employees to the academic curriculum offerings.

Imagine a future where full utilization of school facilities means classrooms, gyms, shops buzzing all year round with people of all ages eager to increase their skill levels or to share their knowledge with others.

Imagine a future where businesses will partner with schools to produce a quality workforce tailored to meet their specific needs.

Imagine a future where classroom lectures are a thing of the past and a teacher has the ability to individualize curriculum to meet the unique needs and qualities of each student.

This is the direction heralded by the school to work movement. If you would like to get involved in making these changes happen call your local superintendent of schools or the principal of your local school and ask for more information.

John W. True Jr. is Superintendent of Schools for SAU 48

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Pemi-Baker School To Work (STW) Partnership

Highlights Year One



During the Fall of 1996, a group of employers, educators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens joined together to form the Pemi-Baker Partnership--our local School To Work collaborative--now an active, unified coalition, representing dozens of interest groups within our region. Our Pemi-Baker STW Partnership's commitment is to champion expanded opportunities for all students to learn and interact with our communities by advancing a process for connecting classroom learning with workplace experiences.

Over the course of three years, funding to support STW provides a means for the Pemi-Baker community--parents, teachers and school administrators, school boards, businesses, civic and social organizations, legislators and, of course, students themselves--to participate in a dynamic system for strengthening education, by preparing students (K-16) with the "knowhow" necessary to compete and thrive in a global economy. Taking what is essentially a systemic approach, the Pemi-Baker STW Partnership serves as a catalyst for introducing, mobilizing, building and supporting a range of activities that address five goals to link our schools and community by November 2000.

Pemi-Baker STW Overview as of August 1998
The Pemi-Baker STW Partnership provides an infrastructure for efficiently allocating limited resources (time, money, and people), as STW evolves into a locally driven, self-sustaining system throughout the greater Pemi-Baker community and SAU #48 schools.

During the initial months of implementing Pemi-Baker's STW plan, our local Partnership achieved operational committee status in all areas prescribed by our first year goals. The Partnership currently functions through an expanded Executive Committee, with members actively participating between regular monthly meetings on one (or more) of three standing STW committees, denoted as follows: Executive Committee (EXC), Public Relations Committee (PRC), Career Development Curriculum Committee (CDCC), and Work-based Learning Committee (WBLC). Each committee assumes responsibility for implementing specific STW objectives, with leadership and support for effectively managing the tasks underway in 1998 provided by their respective Chairs and part-time (paid) consultants. The Executive Committee guides the overall process for achieving STW on the basis of reports prepared for deliberation and action at the Partnership's regular monthly meeting.

Each month, a Partnership Meeting Summary is produced to report progress in attaining annual STW objectives. The monthly report includes all Executive Committee actions and decisions, committee highlights and accomplishments, strategic recommendations for coordinating specific STW functions or activities, and "next steps" for moving Pemi-Baker's Year One STW Plan forward. The Meeting Summary is distributed to the greater Pemi-Baker STW coalition--a network that now represents more than 200 individuals or concerns--so that all Partnership participants, constituent representatives, and interested citizens can know about STW progress; and, take actions or form opinions on the basis of accurate, up-to-date information.

As of August 1998, progress within SAU #48 is underscored by the following Partnership and school accomplishments, which collectively establish the foundation for achieving STW goals over ensuing years.

·STW Executive Committee grew from 16 to 24 members and, the Partnership's reach extended from a network of 157 to 215

·STW activities received increased press coverage in local, statewide, regional and national publications

·The Pemi-Baker STW Partnership prompted the clarification of criminal history records check (based on RSA 189:13a) for employers providing WBL sites; culminating with Commissioner Elizabeth Twomey's administrative memorandum exempting STW

·The Town of Plymouth included STW questions in their "Business Visitation Program Survey"

·PRHS's alternate day (modified block) scheduling supports alternative teaching methods and WBL; more than 80 PRHS teachers have participated in "Analyze & Apply" training

·STW surveys from 54 PRHS teachers regarding work experience outside of teaching reported: 30 (55%) currently have other outside employment; 23 (43%) had careers in a profession other than education prior to teaching at PRHS; 37 (68%) apply their nonteaching professional experience to class curriculum; and, 26 (48%) incorporate their own business connections/partnerships in teaching

·The CDCC's complete set of competencies for SAU #48 schools was distributed, in audit form, to all principals and teachers; thus initiating the process for refining and individualizing each school's career guidance curriculum
·The design of the Pemi-Baker STW Web Site for students (K-16), out of school youth, and adults was distributed to the Superintendent's Advisory Council and selected business partners for final input

·STW Coordinators have procedures in place for connecting PRHS students with real WBL opportunities; and, academic credit is given for internships

·Local employers sponsored WBL sites at: Shop 'n Save, Speare Memorial Hospital (radiology), Bobcat Branch of the Pemigewasset Bank, NH Fish & Game Department, Pemi-Baker Home Health Agency, and The Whole Village Family Resource Center's Outdoor Learning Project

·Business Partnerships include: 42 students participated in marketing classes at Shop'n Save; 11 students received individual career planning in connection with SBL placements; 30 students are rebuilding the Campton Elementary School's playground; 10 students compiled consumer research surveys and presented the results to Main Street Plymouth; PSC marketing students conducted a survey (re the visual appeal of downtown Plymouth); and, a PRHS art class is compiling ideas and conceptual drawings for a building mural and riverfront park improvements

·PRHS Principal and faculty paved the way for furthering high academic and occupational standards by initiating plans for SAU #48's first Registered Youth Apprenticeship Program in Carpentry

·Assistant Superintendent for SAU Curriculum organized an AIMS Institute (graduate practicum with Plymouth State College) in cooperation with STW's Quincy Bog Partnership; elementary math and science teachers trained on site, at the Bog's Natural Area

·Wentworth Elementary School used "Saturday school" to plant a community garden and pumpkin patch, involving students, teachers, town residents and PRC press coverage

·Holderness Central students are developing a "virtual tour" of the Plymouth Heritage Trail for the Chamber of Commerce web site

·Plymouth Elementary School partnered with the Historical Society for students to develop a "Downtown Discovery Tour" handbook that will be used for a NH History course curriculum and the general public
·PRHS students contributed to designing a model public event format that demonstrates how students' capacities are optimized by integrated curriculum, skills, opportunities for applied learning and relevant experience

·PRC's plan for local businesses to sponsor 20 school teams (160-200 students & their teachers) who enter the October 14, 1998 "Extreme Machine" contest--the first major public event to build understanding of the value derived from applied and work-based learning, interdisciplinary teaching, skills for success, and, to encourage interest and increased support for SAU #48 schools and faculty.





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Pemi-Baker School To Work Partnership

Year Two Plan

Revised Goals & Objectives




The Pemi-Baker STW Partnership effectively provides a means for the greater Pemi-Baker community--parents, educators, employers, labor unions, civic and social advocates, legislators and, of course, students themselves--to participate in a dynamic process for strengthening education, by preparing students (K-16) with the "knowhow" needed to compete and thrive in a global economy. Last year, our STW Partnership developed a blueprint that opens opportunities for all students to learn and interact with communities by establishing a STW system that connects classroom learning with workplace experiences. In advancing a systemic approach for reform, our STW Partnership serves as the broker for planning, introducing, mobilizing, building and supporting a range of activities that address five goals, with accompanying objectives, to link our schools and community. These goals blend the fundamental components for STW within locally prescribed activities, undertaken annually, to infuse a community-driven, self-supporting system for lifelong learning and regional economic development throughout the Pemi-Baker Valley by November 2000.

This year, STW funding from the NH Department of Education, coupled with support from SAU #48 and local businesses, positioned our Partnership to initiate the Year One Plan for STW. In just seven months of implementation, our Partnership has moved STW forward--and in doing so, not only reaffirmed the validity of our established goals and objectives, but observed positive evidence of their value in contributing to specific outcomes prescribed by Pemi-Baker's STW system. Our Partnership's annual self-evaluation--which included our collective rating for each item in the "STW Local Readiness Assessment"--showed significant advance over last year's assessment. On the basis of this experience, the goals and objectives our Partnership formulated for implementing Pemi-Baker's STW system by November 2000 have not changed, but rather, are revised within our Year Two Plan for STW.

Our revision, as described below, serves to accommodate various regional or statewide parameters for STW implementation, without deterring from our Partnership's mission to evolve a locally driven, self-sustaining STW system.

·Goals I and V are combined--thereby reducing our original five goals to four--and condensing the respective objectives and outcomes to achieve a single goal. Effectively, the revision connects promoting a shared community vision for work-based education (I) with securing the future of the Pemi-Baker STW System so that it is self-sustaining (V). This first year, the activities undertaken and accomplished to reach objectives within Goals I and V, indicate that during Year Two, the major areas of public relations and STW sustainability must advance in concert. Our Partnership's revised Goal I includes objectives and activities that must build upon one another, so that public education, STW promotion and image marketing can proceed hand-in-hand with our longterm strategies for funding and continued support for STW.

·Goal II is refined and restated to better complement the SAU #48 District Education Improvement Plan (Attachment D, p. 90), and in particular, to align the fundamental elements of STW as they relate to the role of SAU #48 Curriculum Committees and the 1998-99 Goals specified in the Plymouth Regional High School's District Education Improvement Plan (Attachment E, p. 97). As refined, Goal II specifically aligns SAU-wide curriculum development, teaching practices, professional staff development, and to a lesser extent, career guidance, with STW objectives and activities--all intended to help students and out-of-school youth achieve high academic and occupational standards. Inasmuch as successfully integrating the STW System Model for Career Preparation within SAU #48 (Figure 2, p. 40) will depend on developing regional articulation agreements--along with participating in efforts for a statewide articulation system--the activities inherent with these curriculum objectives remain under Goal II.

·Goal III remains as originally presented to support all students (K-16) with career guidance. However, during Year Two, the membership structure of the Partnership's Career Development Curriculum Committee (CDCC) is expanded from including K - 16 guidance administrators and counselors to involve the participation of teachers in writing the curriculum as well.

·Goal IV remains as stated, but it is reconstituted placing greater emphasis on work- based learning. The Year Two revision consolidates all of the objectives and activities for establishing a progression of learning opportunities and support services, exclusively under Goal IV, as depicted by the STW System Model for Career Preparation (Figure 2, p. 40) within SAU #48.

Comprised of nine school districts and ten school boards, SAU #48 is the largest district in the State. While local education improvement plans are operative throughout all districts, it is the SAU #48 District Education Improvement Plan (Attachment D) that provides a unified process and structures for improving education for students in all Pemi-Baker towns. Although the Partnership's goals are not taken "word-for-word" from these plans, our STW goals are congruent with the overall "mission statements" established for all SAU #48 School Districts, as evidenced by the "PRHS DEIP" (Attachment E, p. 97). Additionally, during Year Two our Partnership will advance STW implementation by:
·Proactively "cross-pollinating" membership among SAU #48 structures, all local school district committees, and STW committees by "recruiting" members to participate in Partnership efforts and likewise "volunteering" Partnership members to contribute to all nine school districts' initiatives and committees. [Note: This year, the value of having four members of the Partnership's Executive Committee concurrently serving on Plymouth Regional High School's School Community Council (SCC) cannot be overstated. This is documented by the SCC Minutes (Attachment G, p. 111), in which SCC members each listed one goal on which s/he would like to focus--and all eleven of their individual priorities are STW objectives!]

·Steadily transferring management responsibilities for Pemi-Baker's STW System to the SAU #48 Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Assessment; and extending the role of the Public Relations Committee (PRC) to incorporate targeted promotion, image marketing and fundraising efforts that develop "vested partnerships" for sustaining STW in individual schools and districts.

·Retaining and relocating a parttime WBL Coordinator in the high school to expand opportunities for WBL to all PRHS students/teachers; sustain the faculty's Registered Youth Apprenticeship Program; and smoothly transition this function to a district position ("Career Coordinator") by Year Three.

We hope that the preceding narrative and reorganization of our STW goals and objectives for Year Two, meet the spirit of the Central Region's expectations for submitting our Partnership's application for continuation funding, as communicated by the June 30, 1998 Memorandum from the Educational Partnership of Central New Hampshire (Attachment F, p. 110). For the above-stated rationale, we elected to use the "Yearly Outcomes Form" required by the NH School To Work Office--and in use throughout our Partnership since last July. In doing so, we will attempt to include both "action steps" and "outcomes" within our current reporting format. To the extent practical and appropriate, details (steps and activities) undertaken to achieve our objectives are included under the "outcomes" column on the State's form. However, it is important to note that in most instances, our objectives describe the major activity (i.e., what we will do) to impact STW system performance and student achievement.

The Pemi-Baker STW Partnership's Year Two Goals and Objectives are delineated on the following Yearly Outcomes Forms (p. 41). The objectives that fall under each of our four goals, specify major activities that we will undertake to weave the fundamental elements of STW within the fabric of a community-driven system for career-oriented education and economic development throughout our region. Each objective for Year Two is further specified to denote outcomes for measuring our success over time. Our outcomes include discrete accomplishments that reach completion at a particular point in time; and other quantifiable activities that are objectively counted at quarterly and annual intervals.



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Current Business Partners

Current School To Work Business Partners

One of the primary goals of the Pemi-Baker School To Work Partnership is for students to graduate with a defined career path. Through school to work activities, students have the opportunity to participate in a number of work-based learning experiences relevant to their career interests. School To Work Partnerships connect classroom learning with real workplace experience so that students can receive the basic knowledge and skills needed to pursue a job or further their education in a particular field.

School To Work Partnerships as of October 1998

EVENT VIDEO PRODUCTIONS

MAIN STREET PLYMOUTH

NEW HAMPSHIRE FISH HATCHERY - NEW HAMPTON

PEMIGEWASSET NATIONAL BANK

PLYMOUTH DOWNTOWN DISCOVERY TOUR

PLYMOUTH PEDIATRICS

PLYMOUTH STATE COLLEGE

QUINCY BOG NATURAL AREA

SHOP 'N SAVE SUPERMARKET

SPEARE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

WHOLE VILLAGE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER

Many more Work-Based Learning sites are under development to partner students and teachers with businesses in our region. If you are interested in becoming a partner business please contact us by email or telephone.

School to Work Partnership Committees



Public Relations Committee

Public Relations Committee Chair Event Coordinator
Ty Gagne Joel Bourassa
Director of Public Relations Operations Manager
Speare memorial Hospital Tenney Mountain Ski Resort

Ann Kent R. Steven Rand
Board of Directors President and CEO
Quincy Bog Natural Area A.M. Rand Company

Rob Riley Mary Ruell
Executive Director Teacher Emeritus
Main Street Plymouth, Inc.

Executive Committee

Executive Committee Co-Chair Executive Committee Co-Chair
Fletcher W. Adams Cindy Bland
President & CEO Social Studies Teacher
Pemigewasset National Bank Plymouth Regional High School

Dr. Sally Boland Joel Bourassa
Plymouth State College Professor Operations Manager
Tenney Mountain Ski Resort

Elizabeth Clark Work Based Learning Committee Chair
Instructional Coordinator Robert Cram
Plymouth Regional High School Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist
NH Dept. of Education


Ed Farrington Public Relations Committee Chair
President Ty Gagne
PreSeps, Inc. Director of Community Relations
Speare Memorial Hospital

James George Peter Gulick
Assistant Principal Instructional Coordinator
Campton Elementary School Plymouth Regional High School

Mark Halloran Ann Kent
Assistant Superintendent Board of Directors
SAU #48 Quincy Bog Natural Area

Lindley Kirkpatrick Rick Knowles
Community Planner Assistant Principal
Town of Plymouth Plymouth Regional High School


John LaCrosse Susan Legere
Guidance Counselor Assistant Manager
Plymouth Elementary School Shop 'n Save

Donna Marsden
Career Development Curriculum
Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum
Committee (CDCC) Chair
SAU #48

Kathleen Norris
Director of Guidance
Plymouth Regional High School

Bruce Parsons R. Steven Rand
Principal President & CEO
Plymouth Regional High School A.M. Rand Company

Mary Ruell Bill Steel
Teacher Emeritus Principal
Ashland, NH Campton Elementary

John W. True, Jr. Dr. Eldwin Wixson
Superintendent Professor
SAU #48 Plymouth State College

Sue Wood Bill York
Wakewood Farm Media Partner
Plymouth, NH Plymouth, NH

Support Staff and Consultants

Media Consultants Public Relations Consultant
Peter Adams Joel Bourassa
Don Hyde
Event Video Productions

Administrative Assistant Career Guidance Consultant
Susan M. Daigneault Nancy J. Gerzon
SAU #48

STW Manager STW Web Site Consultant
Alice V. King Wayne D. King
Moosewood Comm. & Mkting. Moosewood Communications & Mkting.

Work Based Learning Coordinator Work Based Learning Coordinator
Hope K. Kokas Laurie A. Vachon
Greater Laconia Community Services Greater Laconia Community Services

Pemi-Baker

School To Work Partnership

Application Based Learning Experiences

Pemi-Baker School To Work (STW) Partnership

School to Work

Back to the Future in Education

Pemi-Baker School To Work (STW) Partnership

Highlights Year One

Pemi-Baker School To Work Partnership

Year Two Plan

Revised Goals & Objectives

Current Business Partners

School to Work Partnership Committees

Other School to Work Links