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Partners in Education
updated: Jul 30, 2011, 8:30 AM
Partners in Education is a local nonprofit that connects businesses and individuals with schools to help improve public education. The goal is to support a more vibrant economy, the health of our community, and the well-being of students and their families. Specific programs are delivered in partnership with 45 schools and more than a dozen leading nonprofits and agencies. Partners and its programs are administered by the Santa Barbara County Education Office, allowing a unique level of access into the public education system and, therefore, the ability to engage the broader community in local improvement efforts by means of collaboration and volunteerism.
Partners administers three core programs:
The award-winning model program, Computers for Families, serves more than 600 low-income students with a comprehensive approach to bridging the digital divide. Throughout the program's existence 8,568 computers have been placed in the homes of low-income families along with access to subsidized internet service provided by Cox.
Our Paid Job Training & Student Internship program provides six weeks of job readiness classes and eight weeks of paid work experience to 60 high school students per year. Internships are coordinated with local businesses and nonprofits in the community.
The Volunteer Recruitment & Coordination program places businesses and volunteers into activities and initiatives which directly address teacher requests and school needs. This program was created in response to a 2007 survey of schools in South Santa Barbara County, which revealed a diverse set of needs that could be met by the coordination of volunteers in the classroom, including tutors, mentors, guest speakers, and many more. Since the program's launch in 2008, over 2,800 volunteers have been placed into service sharing their time, energy, and passions with our students for a total of almost 30,000 hours.
Partners in Education was recently chosen to be the beneficiary of all of the charitable funds raised by the upcoming 2011 Santa Barbara Triathlon, sponsored by Montecito Bank & Trust, that takes place Aug. 26-28. Nearly 2,000 athletes will compete in the triathlon, raising money and creating even greater awareness about how everyone in Santa Barbara can make a big impact on schools and on the lives of our youth. The funds raised will go directly towards increasing staff support in the Volunteer Recruitment & Coordination program, which offers over 30 different types of volunteer opportunities for individuals and businesses to share their time and knowledge with young people. Volunteer opportunities vary from guest speaking during one of our local school's Career Days to helping eager high school students practice their interview skills through interactive mock job interviews.
Partners has set a goal to raise at least $50,000 through the Triathlon, which is intended to help the organization meet another goal: to raise the total number of hours the community has served so far from 30,000 to 50,000 by the end of the next school year. Partners is always happy to recruit enthusiastic volunteers. Find out more at www.santabarbarapartners.org or contact Michelle Magnusson at mmagnusson@sbceo.org.
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