Today, I had the honor of speaking to employees from School Outfitters as a part of their Listen, Learn and Lead series. As a testament to their motto, “furnishing great places to learn,” they wanted to get a better understanding for the clients in which they serve- schools- and how they could better meet their needs. They asked me to participate in one of the “listen” sessions, so their employees could gain a better understanding about educational technology needs in schools today.
I really enjoyed talking with the company today, and not just because they were offering free pizza! People in many different departments (from IT, to human resources, to marketing, to the President) attended the session and seemed genuinely interested to learn about what our environments are like in a school setting. They were very engaging and asked a lot of great questions-an educators dream!
I commend School Outfitters’ efforts to learn more about their customers! Now I realize a large part of their client base is the education industry, but I think businesses should reach out to schools in this way to see how they can better serve our campuses. After all, we are always trying to figure out how our students and our schools can help serve our communities.
It’s easy to feel like the education world is the last to get on board with something that the rest of the world has caught on to for quite some time. It was nice to finally feel like we (education) could be leading the way, or at the very least providing the insight and feedback to others to help lead the way!
So if you haven’t already (I know many companies do a tremendous amount for and to get involved with local schools-thank you!), now is your chance to get your company community involved with a local school’s campus. Could you help fund something or offer sponsorship for the school? Could you create an internship or work study opportunity? Could you team up with a teacher/discipline to create a PBL opportunity for students? There are so many ways to get involved with local schools; when you do, everyone benefits!
So thank you again, School Outfitters, for inviting me into your home today!
Schools, how do you get involved with your community? Community leaders, how do you get involved with your local campuses?
Tech To You Later!
Katie