Best Practices, Volume IX, 2007

An open letter to the Anchorage Community

Table of contents

The Anchorage School Business Partnership program continues to grow and prosper. In our continuing effort to provide recognition, support and encouragement for both the businesses, organizations and schools involved in this program, we present the IX edition of Best Practices.

To build and maintain a successful partnership, a commitment of time, effort, organization and planning is required. Relationship building skills and an understanding of the two different “worlds” of business and education are needed. The schools, businesses and organizations represented in this publication have met these requirements and needs. They have stretched themselves, stepped out of their zones of comfort and found ways to positively build their partnerships.

We have come a long way since 1991 when this program began. With the support of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, we ended that first year with 28 partnerships. This school year, with the support of many, we end with more than 540 active partnerships representing diverse and unique opportunities for students and staff district-wide. The business community has responded to the needs of the schools and continues to search for new ways to support education and provide opportunities for students that would other–wise not be available. The economic value is in excess of 2 million dollars annually! Our partnerships are both small and large. They range from the one-person business involved with a school to the large corporations involved with many schools. Non-profit organizations and government agencies also have partnerships. Since each partnership is unique, there is no cookie cutter model. Partnerships that shift the paradigm of what normally happens in school are those that provide the greatest learning opportunity for BOTH parties. There are no parameters other than positive educational involvement.

Thanks for all that you do for the students in the Anchorage School District! We know that through your efforts, we are working together to build bridges of understanding between the business and education community, establishing positive working relationships, and creating educational enhancement opportunities for our students.

NEXT: Summary of School Business Partnerships »

Please note: The information on this page is from the 2007 edition of Best Practices. The people, programs and contact information included were current at the time of publication, but may have since changed.