Business & Industry Partners

Jackhammers & heavy machinery: Students get hands on for Construction Career Days from Spokane Public Schools on Vimeo.

Help wanted! SPS Career and Technical Education is always looking for ways to bring business and industry collaboratively into our classrooms. Here are some ways to get involved:

Connect with Students for a Short Time

• Host a field trip or virtual tour of your business, explaining how the work is done and letting some of your employees talk about their part in the company. Answering student questions would fill out the visit.
  ⇒ Time commitment: 40 minutes (virtual) to three hours (on site)
• Be a guest speaker, virtual or in the classroom. Expect to answer many questions from interested students!
  ⇒ Time commitment: ~40 minutes

Offer Your Expertise to One Student

• Offer a job shadow to a student. Job shadows offer sophomores or juniors a day-in-the-life experience at a worksite, giving them an overview of a career that interests them.
  ⇒ Time commitment: 4-8 hours
• Host a student for an internship, paid or unpaid. This would be an extended opportunity for a junior or senior to be immersed in the company like an employee. Note: Unpaid apprenticeships have more state restrictions on what the student can and cannot do than a paid internship.
  ⇒ Time commitment: 3 to 9 weeks
• Be a mentor, meeting occasionally with one or two junior or senior students, in-person or online, to give them advice on post-secondary educational programs and good career moves as they prepare for a career in your industry. 
  ⇒ Time commitment: Variable
  

Inform & Inspire CTE Teachers

• Join an industry area advisory, where your expertise would help guide CTE programs and inform them of changes and innovations in the industry. Your help would be vital in advising improvements in school facilities and equipment and overviewing the requirements of curriculum.
  ⇒ Time commitment: Advisories meet at least three times a year.
• Offer an externship to a CTE teacher. Help a teacher learn how the work is done and how your business fits into the local economy. Teachers then take the information back to their class, their student organization and their advisory.
  ⇒ Time commitment: Four days or 32 hours over several days