Field Notes
School-to-Work Initiative
The following article highlights the School-To-Work Initiative - a national program sponsored by both the Department of Education and the Department of Labor. YBEN members may find this of interest because it seems to support the hands-on educational approach of many Earn-A-Bike efforts. There is funding available for development of collaborative projects in many states.
Building Bridges Between Worlds
The worlds of school and work are largely alien to each other. Any school-to-work effort must understand the different cultures, norms, and methods of educators and employers. Many employers want to find solutions, complete projects, and satisfy customers. Many teachers want students to learn how to find answers and master the “basics.” Successful school-to-work programs reconcile the needs of schools and employers and overcome the barriers to their collaboration in ways that do not put students in the middle.
Successful school-to-work partnerships require strong bridges that connect schools and workplaces. These “connecting activities” include:
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Coordinating classroom instruction and workplace experience so that the instructional program in school reinforces student work experiences and vice-versa.
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Providing regular communication, planning, and consultation between the students employer and school.
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Forming permanent two-way links with the business and the school, communicating their expectations of what students should learn and be able to do, and then working as partners to help students achieve.
- Creating links to the full range of post-secondary options including college, since most jobs today and in the future will require postsecondary education.
For additional information, please contact: The National School-to-Work Learning & Information Center 400 Virginia Avenue, Suite 210 Washington, DC 20024 Phone: 1-800-251-7236 Fax: 1-202-401-6211 Website is: www.stw.ed.gov/general/general.htm
St. Louis Helmet Project: By Roy Bohn
Just because we know the benefits of wearing helmets doesn’t guarantee that we are going to shield our brains when biking. Many kids, and adults, still do not wear a helmet. Young cyclists are particularly prone to ridicule from peers for wearing a helmet. Unfortunately, helmets do not carry the status of a pair of Nike sneakers or a Tommy Hilfiger shirt. The Paint Your Lid project hopes to make bike helmets more of a status item that youth are proud and eager to wear.
Our group began decorating helmets two years ago using adhesive mylar. Children cut out designs they worked on, then applied them to their helmets. Two children, Leah Bourne, age 10, and Joe Herberg, age 11 were recognized for their practical artistry by the Brain Injury Prevention Association last year. These youngsters not only wear their helmets faithfully, they also like to show off their own art work by advertising it on their head. Dave Willauer of the Kids and Transportation program in Portland, Maine started a similar project with school children with equally good results. Dave’s groups visited a Picasso exhibit at the local art museum, then decorated helmets in a workshop set up in the atrium of the museum.
This summer we enlisted the talent of a local artist, Dexter Silvers to help guide our creative efforts. Dexter began painting at age fourteen, and now has a number of art awards to his name. In addition to murals around St. Louis, Dexter produces landscape paintings, including paintings of some St. Louis landmarks. Dexter’s son, J.R., has been showing talent as one of the apprentice artists this summer in the Paint Your Lid project.
We just purchased our first air brush and are beginning to explore the designs possible for decorating a hemisphere of Styrofoam. Our efforts to combine the arts with injury prevention are being partially supported by the Injury Prevention Group at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital under the dedicated work of Diana Fendya. This group is providing helmets at a low cost to help prevent head injuries.
Some of these wearable works of art will be on exhibit around St. Louis in the fall of 1998. We look forward to an upcoming recognition awards at a Cardinals baseball game in the near future. A booklet will be available in November with more details about this project.
