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Planning your K-12 Business Connection event

Once your local decides to conduct a K-12 Business Connection event, you’ll need to begin the planning process.

Start small
You may initially include only one or two schools as you get the program started. You might also choose to conduct the program in just one school of each category in your district – elementary, secondary, etc.

The important thing is to just get the program up and running. You can judge in your local how quickly it will grow. Often, a program like the K-12 Business Connection will gain its own momentum and you’ll be surprised at how quickly it catches on, as both educators and business people get excited about the program’s promise.

Setting up the plan
Your Education Minnesota field staff, in conjunction with our Public Affairs staff, can help you set up a specific plan for your local. Whether you find just a few committed members or you form a K-12 Business Connection local committee, the key is to get something down on paper so everyone understands how the program will work in your local.

Once your plan is in place, the next step is to contact your superintendent or local administrator and get their buy-in to the program. Important: Be sure you retain control of the event if it is done in cooperation with your school administration. They may be invited to the party, but you are the hosts.

Definitions
For the purposes of planning in this toolkit, there are two categories of participants in the K-12 Business Connection:

• The Cooperating Educator, the person who works in the school and hosts the guest for the event.
• The Guest Educator, the business or community person who serves as the “educator for a day.”

Launching the project
After you have a final plan, you can begin to launch the project. Specific objectives should include:

• Developing a time frame for the project. A good rule of thumb is to choose an event date and then work backwards when setting plan goals.

• Using a calendar and a checklist to help you stay on schedule.

• Deciding how many Guest Educators you need to invite to make the program a success.

• Deciding how many Cooperating Educators you will need to accommodate the business people.

• Setting guidelines for Guest and Cooperating Educators, and communicating them to both.

• Letting all school principals know about the program once you have determined a day and guest list.

• Establishing the media/public relations side of the program, and making sure that duties are specifically assigned. This includes designating a PR person or committee, which should be separate for this project.

• Building time into your schedule for adequate evaluation/follow-up for the program, possibly including an end of the school day reception, certificates of appreciation, thank-you letters, etc.

Again, remember it is OK to start small. And, depending on how your local plan looks, you may not have to do everything outlined in the list above.

When should it be held?
One question you need to consider concerns the timing and scheduling of a K-12 Business Connection program. If your local is in the midst of a bargaining crisis, hosting the program after the bargaining process may be a beneficial time for you.

An overarching goal of the program is to make the K-12 Business Connection an ongoing event. As your local adapts the concept to your community, there may be a good reason to hold events often. You will want to give ever-increasing numbers of people the chance to see the inside of today’s schools while building community alliances.

May 17, 2010