Teachers Get Schooled

More than 70 members of the faculty and staff of West Ashley High School recently took the opportunity recently on one of the district’s Professional Development days to participate in externships, which are learning opportunities that give short practical experiences in a particular field of study, with local businesses. The goal was to give educators world class skills, world class knowledge, and life and career characteristics as outlined in the “Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.”
For example, the drama teachers visited Live 5 News where they learned what goes into putting on a broadcast, some of the challenges that news stations now face, and what they are looking for in potential hires.
The opportunity for WAHS faculty and staff to participate in this great learning experience was conceived by West Ashley High Principal Lee Runyon who said the program was designed with two purposes: 1. For the faculty and staff of West Ashley High to find rigorous, real-world application opportunities of content area skills that can be brought back into our classrooms. 2. For educators and community partners to reflect on the SC Profile of the High School Graduate relative to our students’ development of World Class Skills that will help make them ready for college, career, and citizenship.
Chad Vail, CCSD’s Work-Based Learning Partnerships Coordinator, was also a big part of putting the program together. He was instrumental in convincing many local businesses to take part in this great learning opportunity.
The remainder of West Ashley High’s faculty and staff will visit different businesses later this year during another one of their Professional Development days so that everyone has the opportunity to develop the desired skills based on the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. Some of the skills it strives for students to develop are integrity, self-direction, and interpersonal skills. Runyon also said that participating in the externships will help “in answering the question we hear from students often, ‘How is what you’re teaching me going to matter in the real world?’”
The following businesses participated in the WAHS Externship Opportunity:  Verizon Wireless Customer Support Center, Steinway Piano Gallery, Limehouse Produce, Charleston RiverDogs, LS3PArchitecture, Mary Joseph State Farm Insurance, RickHendrick BMW Charleston/Rick Hendrick Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Funeral Homes, Venture Aerobearings, WCSCLive5News, Liollio Architecture, Charleston Regional Development Alliance, Advantage Media Group, and High-PurityStandards,Inc.