Partners in Education Now Total 181
September 6, 2013
Please note: This article was originally published on 9/6/2013. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year.
Friday was a day to celebrate and thank the 181 business and community organizations which partner with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System. This year’s recipient of the Sarah Ditmore Cooper Partner in Education Award was First Advantage Bank, partner to Barksdale Elementary.
Kara Allison of First Advantage Bank accepts the Sarah Ditmore Cooper Award, the highest Partners in Education award bestowed at the annual Partners in Education breakfast, held at Civic Hall. The business receiving this prestigious award has been a very long-time supporter of CMCSS. Just two years ago they received the Corporate Partner Award for their support to public schools. This business not only invests in their partner school but has also invested in the local Education Foundation, participated with STEM externships and is always willing to help where there is a need. On a monthly basis they send employees to read with students in their Reading Corner, send volunteers to work at the annual Fall Festival, consistently supply honor roll and attendance certificates, paw print car tags for car riders, breakfast for faculty and staff on professional development days, auction basket, communication planners for all students in the school and t-shirts to support the schools’ no bullying program. These are just some of the things that this deserving partner engages in to support their partner school. For the past two years they have also been an underwriter for the Education Foundation Annual Gala levering all funds raised to go directly back into programs supporting teachers and students. This support equates to nearly $17,000 and countless volunteer efforts within the school and district.
Other awards and the recipients include:
Rising New Partner Award
The first award is presented to a new partner who started off early on embodying what a true partnership should be. This partner sought their school out to build a strong relationship with them because they wanted to support student achievement. Within a few months after reaching out their school they donated $250 to Rossview Elementary School’s library for the purchase of new books. They continued their support during the entire week of TCAP testing sending 5 volunteers daily, volunteers also came monthly to work with struggling readers, and lastly this partner gave VIP tickets to the school last year for Rivers and Spires. Agero has truly been a rising star this year! There schools say, “Agero is a wonderful partner and always willing to help where there is a need.”
Innovative Partner Award
This award is given to a partner who has provided creative and non-traditional support for a program at a school. The school nominating this partner expressed these sentiments:
Our School wishes to express sincere gratitude to an amazing partner that looks at the total school. This partner has worked tirelessly to help Moore Magnet move forward in becoming an environmentally friendly campus. This all started when their company owner and one of our teachers attended a workshop in Murfreesboro on gardening in schools. Today, they have become instrumental in the phasing process for our outdoor classroom. Not to mention, their advocacy for student achievement has promoted our students to excellence in education. This partner has not only worked on our innovative project, but also sponsored end of year teacher luncheons, ran our cookie dough fundraiser saving our school staff countless hours and so much more. The innovative partner award goes to Mrs. Lori Smith of Clarksville Fencing, who is also a recent Leadership School System graduate expanding her knowledge on how to support education throughout the entire district.
Innovative Partner Award
This next Innovative Partner Award is being given to a partner who created a vision for equipping high school seniors for the real world through organizing the first ever Career Day at Northeast High School. This organization responded with an overwhelming, “We can make it happen” and actually met with the school monthly to see this vision into fruition. Whenever the school asked, what about speakers, what about signage, labels, etc. their response was…” we’ll take care of that!” At the last minute the school learned of a logistical issue with ACT taking place on the same day the partner came to the rescue and opened their doors to over 150 seniors. This career day not only benefitted the students, but impacted the faculty and staff as well. We are already gearing up for our next Career Day. This innovative partner is no other than, Grace Church of the Nazarene.
Boots on the Ground Award
We named this award in honor of our military battalion partners for taking their boots on the ground to support local education. While they fight for the protection of our country each day they still take the initiative not only support the schools on base, but also Clarksville Montgomery County Schools. We have several military units from Ft. Campbell that support our schools each year. The school shared this about their partner;
Our partner often asks of the needs in our school and works diligently to ensure that our students can be successful. For example, right before our holiday break soldiers came to kindergarten classrooms to read to them. After the break, soldiers worked weekly with first graders that were struggling in reading to help them improve literacy skills. During the week of TCAP many of the soldiers volunteered to be proctors for testing. Their continued support for our school should not go unnoticed, but be recognized for all their hard work.
This award goes to CDR 7-17TH CAV for continued support with Rossview Elementary School.
Partner Service Award
This award is given to partners who continuously look for ways to serve the immediate needs of the school they partner with. The first award is being given to a business partner who not only serves the school but also supports other district needs.
The school shared this about their partner, “Our partner always has such a positive attitude and seem extremely honored by being able to support our students. Late in the year they stepped in to help our Robotics league travel to compete in California at Lego Land by contributing $500. In addition, they supported our teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week with lunch. When asked if they can provide volunteers for something they are always ready. Their eagerness to support our students with their endeavors is phenomenal.
Partner Service Award
The next service award goes to a partner that in just two years has made a significant impact in the lives of students and teachers. They have opened up their doors to host staff development to their partner school, providing lunch for teachers, gift cards for teacher incentives which are a huge morale booster amongst the faculty. They have always made teachers feel special recognizing the hard work and number of hours they give to the profession.
In addition, they have also donated many items to families in need such as school supplies, clothes, gift cards, and household goods. They sent 10 volunteers each day during T-CAP week and even donated t-shirts to all students as an incentive to encourage them to do their best. Their biggest contribution was starting the “First Friends” program. This program allows volunteers from the church to come weekly and read to our kindergarteners. They make it a point to communicate with our school on a regular basis and seek to identify ways that they can support our school. This award goes to First Baptist Church, partners with Norman Smith Elementary School.
Commitment Award
This next award is being given to a partner who is truly committed to seeing students succeed. As a new business several years ago they reached out to our district seeking to help a school with little to no partners. They not only signed on to support a school, but also joined the 100% Graduation committee, sponsored the Get Motivated event for all freshmen, donated to the Foundation annual fundraiser and much more. The partner school shared the following about their partner: “We can always count on them. They are literally a phone call away and if they can help, they do. To date they have never said “no.” What makes our partnership so great is that they approach us with ideas. They implemented an iPad giveaway at our basketball games to help us bring back school spirit, they helped us become better with our recycling by purchasing our bin to make it happen and in addition, they support our teachers by providing faculty lunches during in-service and end of year days. They truly deserve this honor.
Commitment Award
The next commitment award is being given to a partner whose school shared the following:
Our partner has provided tons of support through in-kind donations, volunteer hours and more. In support of our athletes, they donated $150 to the basketball team for uniforms. Gift cards were sent for each student as an incentive for high academic achievements. They also volunteered every day for the TCAP testing. Not to mention, they offered a delicious breakfast to our staff members as an appreciation. They not only do great things for Richview Middle School, but also partner with Rossview Middle providing similar support.
Corporate Partner Award
Words cannot express the appreciation Moore Magnet Elementary School wishes to express to our partner. They support our total school program and always cognizant of the impact it will have on student achievement. This partner supports all events held at Moore Magnet, and made a special effort to attend our first STEM Expo and provided man power to set-up tables, and chairs. Using their own supplies and decorations they have also transformed our school into Hawaii for Fall Festival and AR day, which made it extra special. For Christmas, they CEO dressed up as Santa Claus and handed out books to each of our students. During TCAP testing week, they provide incentives for our students which included; snow cones, popcorn, and inflatables to reward them for their hard work. Many times throughout the year, they help maintain our school grounds. This included cutting shrubs, planting flowers, and spreading pine needles around the campus. They never forget the teachers either… by providing end of year gifts for each staff member. There is so much more that can be said but, Mr. Albertia defines the true meaning of being a partner in education for our school system and this is why his organization Progressive Directions Inc. deserves this award.
District-Wide Partner Award
As a district-wide partner the focus is on helping the district with large events, projects and in addition still supporting local schools. When we were trying to determine the support provided from this partner his response was….“To be honest, we are not keeping tabs on how much we support, we just want to help in any way we can.” This is the spirit of this local business owner each time you work with his company. They have taken an interest in supporting our entire mission of CMCSS. On a district level they have sponsored the Pass and go event providing between 120-160 pizzas for the event as well as making special visits to all 7 high schools with a pizza party for AP students at no cost. They have pledged $15,000 to the CMI campaign, donate meals for teacher luncheons and much more. One interesting things was that this partner learned about the high turnover with bus drivers in one of his Leadership School System, classes and decided to recruit 3 drivers to work for him during and after bus routes to help them with lost income. On a school level they provide food for any school event at cost. Provided car tags for Carmel Elementary School car rider line and supports Clarksville High School with their needs. Therefore, this award is most deserving for our district-wide Partner, Dominos Pizza, owned by Antonio Murgas.