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MEBA News

MEBA's 2008 Teachers in the Workplace a Great Success

July 14, 2008

Midlands Educators Gain Hands-On Work Experience at Local Businesses
For one week in June, 13 Midlands educators returned to the classroom – not to a typical classroom constructed of four walls and housed in a school, but a classroom created from hands-on learning experiences within several local businesses and industries – a true classroom in the world of work.

The learning experience is part of Midlands Education and Business Alliance’s (MEBA) annual Teachers in the Workplace summer graduate course. The three-hour course exposes educators to the world of business, showing how work-based skills connect to school-based learning. Participating educators each spend 40 hours in a challenging position with a local business or industry to learn about the skills, both hard and soft, students need to be successful in a particular field. Educators share their experience and knowledge with their students, helping to provide a more seamless connection between school and work.

Local businesses serving as hosts for this year’s course participants include: CMC Steel of South Carolina; Lexington Medical Center; Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative; Palmetto Health; Sisters of Charity Providence Hospitals; Recruiting Solutions; SCANA; South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum; South Carolina Electric & Gas - Wateree Station; and Total Comfort.

Participating educators include: Dana Crowley, Lexington High School; Paul Dobyns, Spring Valley High School; Paula Dunn, Blythewood High School; Michelle Eargle, Midlands Technical College; Elizabeth Gale, Pelion Middle School; Scott Ganucheau and Shelia Gordon, White Knoll High School; Edith Jordan, Brookland-Cayce High School; Margaret Ramsey, Lexington Alternative Learning Center; Janet Reamy, Carolina Springs Middle School; Kathy Rivers, Dutch Fork High School; Sue Shumpert, St. Andrews Middle School; and Kenneth Vause, Airport High School.

“As always, this was a great year for MEBA’s Teachers in the Workplace course,” said Lisa Call, MEBA’s Chief Operating Officer. “In just one week, these educators have come away with valuable new experiences and contacts they can use to add meaning and relevance to their work as educators and help students successfully transition to the world of work.”

MEBA is a non-profit organization working to connect students, parents, educators and employers to education and career opportunities in Richland, Lexington and Fairfield Counties through programs and partnerships of business, school, college, faith and other community leaders. For more information, visit www.mebasc.com.
To view photos from the event, please visit www.mebasc.com/photos/