Facing the Future Together: Forming Successful School-Business Partnerships - Softcover

Jim Leatherwood

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0979624509 ISBN 13: 9780979624506

Publisher: The Brooke Press, 2007

Synopsis

This book is an easy-to-follow guide to building better schools and a stronger business community through structured, sustainable partnerships. You are given the tools to motivate students, educators and employees while developing valuable resources for schools and businesses. You will learn to: - Build a successful school-business partnership - Motivate and inspire students - Increase student performance in reading, math and science - Stengthen arts and career tech courses at every grade level - Provide up-to-date training in current technology - Recruit better trained employees We are all affected by the preparedness of students who exit our schools yet American educators are struggling to meet the demands of the 21st Century. It's time for us to intervene as partners. Successful partnerships, as outlined in this book, will make education a positive and productive experience for every child. This new model will bring all sectors of your community together like never before. Facing the Future Together tells the story of the positive power of community spirit or what the author refers to as people-to-people relationships (People from diverse backgrounds and experiences coming together to help kids learn and become productive citizens). Every educator, parent, chamber of commerce, business, union member, business and industry should have a copy of this book. Questions & Answers: Q. If we don't face the future together as partners, what will the world be like in 10 years? A. - Fewer graduates will be prepared for the high-skill demands of the 21st Century workplace. - The American worker will be displaced by skilled employees from other countries. - Finding and retaining good teachers will become increasingly difficult. - America will lose its competitive edge in the global marketplace. This prediction is dismal but true. The call for partnership has never been greater. As illustrated in this book, successful companies like Boeing, Disney, Microsoft and Toyota understand the connection between education, training and global competition. Q. How will school-business partnerships help administrators improve their schools? A. Administrators will attract and retain good teachers, work more efficiently, inspire and motivate their students, and increase test scores by following the precepts of this book. Q. Do school-business partnerships just add more to an educators plate? A. No. On the contrary, the teacher and administrator will experience less pressure and more productivity by following the guidelines set forth in Facing the Future Together. Q. If school-business partnerships are so great why isn't everyone doing it? A. Lack of awareness, fear of the unknown, the pressure to increase test scores and time constraints all play a role in answering this question. These barriers and others are addressed and mitigated throughout this book.

About this title

About the Author:

Jim Leatherwood has always been a champion of education, an advocate for student achievement, and a foe to the isolation of educators. To that end he successfully engineered more than 50 partnerships at the K-12 and community college levels. Jim holds an MA in education, a BA in history and credentials in educational administration, counseling and teaching. He served in each of these positions during a career lasting more than three decades. Several awards have been presented to Jim for his work in forming partnerships including Outstanding Vocational Education Administrator of the Year for the State of California, and the NISOD Award of Excellence for Community College Leadership from the University of Texas at Austin. Upon retirement as a community college Dean of Occupational Education, Jim was highly recruited to consult with K-12 and community college districts to help them build partnerships. Unable to find a "how-to" book which addressed both the educator and business person as future partners, he wrote Facing the Future Together. Jim met his wife Brenda in Sierra Leone, West Africa while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. They live in California where Jim continues to develop partnerships and help youth prepare for the rigorous demands of the present and future workplace.

Review:

This book captures the essence of school-business partnerships and Jim's wealth of experience in this area, distilling it so that others can benefit from his broad knowledge. It explains the who, what, why and how of school-business partnerships in a down-to-earth way that is clear, readable and often amusing. Given the value such partnerships can bring to countless students and employers, this is a real contribution to business and education. --Charles Dayton, Coordinator of Public Programs, UC Berkeley

In today's "flat world" the oceans no longer protect poorly educated workers from low cost labor in the third world. Places must provide workers with access to training that helps them acquire the behavior patterns and skills needed for upward income mobility or they will be condemned to lives of poverty. How should communities address these issues? Leatherwood's book, Facing the Future Together, provides an easy-to-follow roadmap to success through partnership. Every educator, parent, chamber of commerce, business and industry should have a copy of this book. --John Husing, Ph.D.; Economics & Politics, Inc.; Specialist in City-Based Economic Strategies

The idea of business partnering with education is timely and important. Jim makes a good point that everyone wins when students enter the workforce with strong skills. This should be the bottom line for both business and education and this book addresses it in detail. One of the things that continues to strike me about this project is Jim's personal voice as it comes through in the writting. That voice is friendly and uses language that's easy to follow and a pleasure to read. In that regard, this book is absolutely on a par with the very best commercial nonfiction. --Michael Foley, Editor, Writer's Review Magazine

About this edition

• Publisher: The Brooke Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0979624509
• ISBN 13: 9780979624506
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Michael Foley, Writer's Review Magazine, Katherine A. Wright, Ed.D., Susan Tideman, UC Berkeley
• Illustrator: Ernest Weckbaugh