Extern program gives teachers buisness-world experience

by Dustin Shipman

SBJ Intern

sbj@sbj.net

Springfield Public Schools and the local business community are working together to allow teachers the opportunity to gain out-of-school work experiences and apply the knowledge to their classrooms.

The summertime Educators Extern Program, which was developed six years ago, puts teachers in work environments outside of the education field, giving them first-hand knowledge of the demands and expectations their students will be faced with upon entering the job market.

Marc Maness, director of community academic development for Springfield Public Schools, said the program focuses on giving teachers hands-on experience.

"Our teachers have found it very helpful to go out and experience nondistrict work in the business community," Maness said. "It gives them first-hand knowledge in different areas of work that they can come back and apply to their curriculum development."

Community businesses in the program have included Dickerson Park Zoo, Springfield Little Theater, Community Blood Center of the Ozarks and American National Property and Casualty Insurance.

Teachers put in four eight-hour days, three with the business and one developing lesson plans based on the first-hand experience. Teachers are typically paid $512 by the school system.

Maness said the program doesn't just benefit teachers of certain subjects or grade levels, but that it has been applied in many classrooms.

"Teachers involved in this are across the board, it can range from elementary to high school," Maness said. "We have a little higher concentration of high-school teachers taking part in it just because they can tie it directly back into the curriculum, and we try to hook them up with an area that would tie in."

Maness said there has been a positive response from the teachers who are eager to take part in the program.

"We have had teachers contacting us (in advance) trying to find out when we were going to announce the participating businesses," Maness said. "There is a high interest level in this program from the teachers. They enjoy it and they learn a lot, and they take a lot back to the students."

Mike Crocker, Dickerson Park Zoo superintendent, said the zoo has been involved in the program for about five years, usually taking six teachers from the program to teach about the inner workings of the zoo.

"We primarily have them work with the zoo keepers," Crocker said. "What we are trying to do is give them a real sense of what goes on at the zoo. We rotate them throughout the different animals at the zoo. We think that education is really important, so if we can teach teachers about the zoo, then they can help get our mission to the students."

David Montgomery, senior director of donor services at the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks, said he wants to help educate teachers and students as well as his organization.

"It has been outstanding. These teachers get a prospective on the blood inventory and the need for blood in the community, they then take that back into the classroom, which has resulted in blood drives and students encouraging their parents to come in and give blood," Montgomery said. "It does require a commitment of time and effort on the part of the organization but it really pays off in the long run."