SMART CHOICES: A Guide for Creating School-Business Partnerships for Healthy, Active and Successful Students
Founded by The Coca-Cola Company and chaired by former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, The Council for Corporate & School Partnerships has created this guide to help those in the education and business community build and strengthen relationships that enhance the implementation of school Health and Wellness Policies. Download the Smart Choices Guide.
 

HOW-TO GUIDE FOR SCHOOL-BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS
To learn how to create, implement, sustain or evaluate a school-business partnership, download the How-To Guide for School-Business Partnerships.

Helpful worksheets are at the end of this Guide and can be printed out separately here.
Stop/Start/Continue Worksheet
Matching Needs and Potential Resources Worksheet
Developing Goals and Objectives Worksheet
Self-Assessment Tool for Partnership Improvement Worksheet

If you have problems downloading these documents, please contact Melanie White at 404-676-6683 or at mewhite@na.ko.com.

The How-To Guide is designed for school officials and business leaders who are interested in engaging in school-business partnerships. Partnership programs can encompass a wide variety of activities. They may involve staff development, curriculum development, policy development, instructional development, guidance, mentoring, tutoring, incentives and awards, or they may provide material and financial resources. Though the types of partnership activities can vary, the common goal of virtually all school-business partnerships is to improve the academic, social or physical well-being of students.

This Guide is the result of extensive research and personal interviews with individuals who have experience creating, implementing and evaluating successful partnerships. Whether you are already engaged in partnerships, or are embarking on your first partnership, this Guide can provide valuable insight on effective strategies.

Please note that these guidelines are not intended to serve as an exact prescription, but rather to provide a framework within which to build a partnership that fits your unique needs. Since the vast majority of partnerships are initiated by schools, a number of the guidelines are written with the school perspective in mind.

More information about school and business partnerships can be obtained from the Guiding Principles for School-Business Partnerships report that was released in September 2002 by The Council for Corporate & School Partnerships.

Tips to find the right business partner
Establishing a business partnership that is mutually beneficial to a corporation or business and a school or school district can take more ingenuity and creativity than ever before.

Following are a few tips from our Resident Practitioner for Business & School Partnerships to get school personnel started on establishing the right business partnership:

• Get involved. Relationships go a long way toward mutual understanding. Get involved with business groups in your community. Take the opportunity to open their eyes about what's going on in your school and to learn about their concerns.



• Brag. Don't be afraid to blow your own horn. Work to share the good things. Brag about the accomplishments of students and teachers. Show your excitement. For example, students in many schools are involved in community service projects, sometimes school-sponsored, sometimes as an activity of a group such as the National Honor Society. Total the hours and let the businesses know the extent to which your school is involved in the community.



• Be creative. Think outside the box when it comes to identifying potential partners. Find the unusual. The "Matching Needs and Potential Resources" worksheet in A How-To Guide for School-Business Partnerships may prove helpful.



• Use proven strategies. A How-To Guide for School-Business Partnerships developed by the Council for Corporate & School Partnerships provides proven methods for implementing long-term, sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships that can enhance the educational experience for all students. The How-To Guide is used in schools and school districts throughout the United States and was recently selected by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Education Network (www.businesseducationnetwork.com), as "best practice" methodology for implementing and maintaining school/business partnerships.