Building Bridges to Our Future

The Education/Business Coalition (NEBC) was founded in 1990 as a non-profit organization of educators and business leaders committed to establishing connections between Newburyport Schools and the workplace. One of the first organizations of its kind in New England, the NEBC has since become a recognized leader in providing educators and students alike with opportunities for meaningful, curriculum-based connections between our schools and our business community.

In 2010, the NEBC joined with the NEF to consolidate our efforts, and provide our business partners with a single vehicle for making a difference in the Newburyport Public Schools. The Education Business Coalition (EBC) will continue to support and strengthen its programs, where business partners may volunteer their time and expertise in highly rewarding collaborations with local educators and students.

The EBC's focus on applied learning has continued to result in clearer and stronger connections between our schools and the world around us. The organization supports more than a dozen programs to benefit the students of the Newburyport Public Schools. Programs include:

Partnership Grants

A year-long grant program; educators partner with a local business person and provide experiences outside the classroom.

Internships

Students receive hands-on learning experience and classroom credit for working in local businesses.

Book Bag

The goal of the annual Book Bag Program is to encourage elementary school children to read at home. This is achieved by providing bags filled with books to elementary school children who then take them home and read with their families. The EBC donated funds to enable teachers to fill a bag with “just right” books aligned to the students’ independent reading levels. Children were allowed to take the bags home for one-week periods. This program is one of the longest running EBC programs and r, ains very popular with both teachers and elementary school children.
Co-Chairs: Angela Bik, Director of Curriculum, Newburyport Public Schools and Kristina Davis, Principal, F.T. Bresnahan Elementary School

Technology Club

"Tech Club" engages students in learning more about real-world computer issues. Students research and order parts for computers they assemble themselves. Finished computers are then deployed for use in the schools.

In 2010-2011, Tech Club met twice a week throughout the school year, with either School Technology Operations Manager Don Skane or club adviser Mike Morse. On Tuesdays, the club met in the classroom environment to discuss technology – its past, present, and future. These meetings also included the assembling of computers. Students participated in choosing the components for the new computers. During the Tuesday meetings the students learned: all the components of the computers and their operations; how to install various operating systems such as Windows XP, Windows 7, FreeBSD, and different distributions of Linux; how to setup a network with Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, FreeBSD, and different distributions of Linux; basic repair and maintenance of computers.

This year, Tech Club used the EBC financing for the last two years to assemble 27 new high end computers to replace the machines in the computer lab (Room 245) at the High School. These computers will be used for C.A.D. classes as well as web design and animation classes. The computers that have been replaced will be moved to the graphics arts lab to provide those classes with an upgrade. Fridays of each week were dedicated to LAN gaming using computers to develop a team atmosphere and collaborative skills

CO-CHAIRS: Nick deKanter Vision 21 Education Group and Dr. Marc Kerble, Superintendent
Newburyport Public Schools. COMMITTEE: Don Skane, Newburyport Public Schools and Mike Morse,
Newburyport Public Schools

Career Speaker Series

Newburyport High School (NHS) students take part in a career development curriculum.
This begins as freshman, when students complete career interest inventories. In the past,
sophomores at NHS have attended a regional one-day speaker series at Northern Essex
Community College. In order to connect the career exploration process more clearly to
the curriculum and the community, this year we replaced the Northern Essex program
with a Speaker Series. Sophomores had an opportunity to hear community members from
various professions speak about their careers. Speakers were chosen based on the interests
students identified in their career interest inventories (as freshman), as well as a questionnaire
distributed during PE class.

More than 200 students participated in this program in 2010-2011. Common comments from
participants included: “The presenter really helped me understand the career field better” and
“I learned a lot from the presenter and have decided not to go into this field”.
During the sophomore year students also begin to consider their educational and career
choices for after high school and determine what path they’d like to pursue.

Co-CHAIRS
Craig Childs MacDonald & Pangione Insurance Agency
Michael Parent, Principal, Newburyport High School
Cheryl Zaino, School to Work Guidance Counselor, Newburyport High School

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to sincerely thank the individuals and businesses who came and spoke with
students about their careers. Without your help and support this program would not be
possible:

Phillip Comeau, Architect & Professor
Fountaine Dubus, Performing Arts
Kelly Corrigan, Emergency Physican
Kathleen Horn, Optometrist
Geoff Ness, Information Technology
T.J. Callahan, Lawyer
Alison Ellwood, Film Editor
Erin O’ Toole, Photographer
Elizabeth Jacobs, Sports Journalist
Katie Habib, In Home Cooking Personal Chef
Brenda Ireland-Painchaud, Nurse
Daniel Carlat, Associate Clinical
Professor of Psychiatry
Charles Vorderis, Police Officer

Externships Teachers

Teachers have the opportunity to spend time in a business or industry during the summer and design lesson plans based on the experience.

Job Shadow Day

High school freshmen spend the day with a local business person and report back to the class about the experience.

Port Day

Elementary school students learn about a variety of careers through presentations and demonstrations made by community and business leaders.

Jazz Festival

Organized by the NHS Entrepreneurial Class, this annual community crowd-pleaser showcases musical presentations by five area high school groups.

Business Coalition Committee 2010-2011

Michael Arndt, TD Bank
Angela Bik, Newburyport Public Schools
Daniel Carlat, Clearview Publishing
Frank Cavallaro
Craig Childs, MacDonald & Pangione Insurance Agency
Art Currier, Currier & Associates, Inc.
Kristina Davis, Newburyport Public Schools
Nick deKanter, Vision 21 Education Group
Shelley DeSimone, Anna Jaques Hospital
Scott Eaton, Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank
Tracey Glynn, Newburyport Public Schools
John Halloran, Gulf of Maine Institute
William Heenehan, Change Strategies, Inc.
Barry Hopping, Newburyport Public Schools
Cindy Johnson, Publishing Services
Marc Kerble, Newburyport Public Schools
Zack Longley, Family Shield Financial Services
Robert McLellan, Bixby International Corporation (retired)
Robert Miller, The Financial Advisors
Kellie Nieves, Newburyport Public Schools
Robert O’Brien, AdviCoach Massachusetts
Ann Ormond, Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Michael Parent, Newburyport Public Schools
Kim Rock, Institution for Savings
Stephen Salvo, Anna Jaques Hospital
Michael Strem, Strem Chemicals, Inc.
Jeff Tomlinson, Tomlinson & Hatch, LLC
Joanna Tsiantas, Strem Chemicals, Inc.
Cheryl Zaino, Newburyport Public Schools