Empower Schools

It's time to turn in our back-to-school essay. What did we do this summer? We Empowered! This summer, Empower Schools took both a national and global approach to driving positive change and creating lasting impact in the communities we serve. Swipe through our visual essay to see some of our summer highlights. How We Empowered: ✏️ We traveled to Zurich to attend the CES Chair of Education Systems Summer Institute 2024, where we learned from the best in youth apprenticeships, bringing back insights that will inspire and shape our work this year. ✏️ In Indiana, we backed community champions, helping them leverage School Innovation Grants to secure a collective $6 million for kids. ✏️ In Texas, we advanced rural innovation by launching four new rural collaboratives. ✏️ We partnered with the Fremont Multi District Initiative in Colorado to connect students to high-wage career learning opportunities, bridging the gap between education and the workforce. ✏️ We partnered with The Colorado Education Initiative , Colorado Succeeds , and Lyra to sponsor the Elevating Rural Colorado series at the The Attainment Network Conference 2024. We've planned an engaging series we can't wait for you to see! ✏️ The Empower Schools team stretched and grew through professional learning, including incoming and outgoing internships, externships, and team step-backs to plan for the year. 🎈 We also celebrated our 10th anniversary—a decade of empowering communities and shaping futures. 🎉 What did you accomplish this summer? Share your highlights in the comments below! Alyssa Morton (Schechter) Brett Alessi Matthew Matera Sarah Robb Veronica Fabian, M.A. Malik Stewart, M.Ed. Eliza Davis Carey Davis Alyssa Martinez Himanvi Kopuri Sara N. Butler Claire Albert Anastasia Magaña Chris Gabrieli #EmpowerSchools #EducationInnovation #CommunityImpact #YouthApprenticeships #RuralInnovation #ProfessionalGrowth #10YearsStrong #EducatorsAtWork

Meet us at The Attainment Network 2024 Career-Connected L/Earning Conference! On September 18, we can't wait to hear how Amanda Cornelius, Director of the Fremont Multidistrict Initiative (FMI), and Tamara Durbin, Executive Director of the Northeast Colorado BOCES, are creating partnerships and expanding opportunities for rural Colorado. They will be joined by Randolph Eastern School Corp Superintendent Neal Adams, Ed.S. and RANDOLPH CENTRAL SCHOOL CORP Superintendent of Schools Rolland Abraham who are leading innovation through Indiana's Rural Alliance Zone-32 (RAZ-32). Together, these champions for rural kids will discuss Rural Collaboratives, the cross-sector partnerships used to leverage a region’s resources to increase college and career opportunities for all students, regardless of their home district. It takes a village—and sometimes a cross-country network of like-minded educators sharing ideas—to design and launch a strong collaboration of this kind. This collaboration can be catalyzed in many different ways. Empower is honored to sponsor the Elevating Rural Colorado sessions, in deep partnership with The Colorado Education Initiative, Colorado Succeeds, and Lyra. We're excited to invite you to come hear from speakers in different positions, all making change for rural students. Meet us here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gVVKavx2

🛑 Stop right there. Don't miss a chance to join a movement bringing innovation to San Antonio schools. CAST is hiring an Expansion School Principal, and we just know someone in our network of champions for education equity might be right for this exciting position. Please help our friends at CAST Schools by applying or sharing with a qualified candidate today!

Quoting Lilian Katz, our 2024 SXSW EDU speaker Karen Cheser explained why we all have a vested interest in collaboration as a key strategy for broader academic, social, and economic success for our region and beyond. Now is your chance to hear from the kids that are going to make our future by voting for our PanelPicker proposal by Aug 18. Let's listen to students to discover how rual collaboration is addressing inequities present in rural schools, leading to improved outcomes for students and the community. Vote today https://lnkd.in/gj-xfBir

🚨 We Need Your Help Elevating the Voices of Rural Students! 🚨 At SXSW EDU 2025, we'd love to share how The Rural Schools Innovation Zone is creating high-quality career pathways that prepare students for success in high school, college, career, and beyond. 🗳️ Vote here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gj-xfBir 📅 Now through August 18th Vote for our session Student Perspective: Equitable Solutions in Rural Education, to hear from RSIZ Executive Director Michael Gonzalez, Texas A&M University-Kingsville President Dr. Robert Vela, recent RSIZ graduate Celeste Garcia, and current RSIZ student Ava Gutierrez. It's the easiest way you can elevate student voices this year! Just head over to our PanelPicker proposal to vote today. Be sure to share with your friends so we can bring student voices to SXSW! #sxsw #sxswedu2025 #sxsw2025 #ruralinnovation #ruralcollaboratives

For schools in rural, under-resourced communities, it can be challenging to provide a robust array of college and career options for students. That's why the Rural Collaborative model, by Empower Schools, empowers communities to forge sustainable partnerships that expand student access to: 👷♀️ Career exploration 👩🏭 Project-based learning 🧑💼 Work-based learning Through these community-driven partnerships, the Rural Collaborative model helps ensure students are future-ready, opportunity-informed, and able to choose their own life pathways. Learn more about the model - and see Texas' Rural Schools Innovation Zone in action - on the Innovative Models Exchange! https://lnkd.in/gka8hY94

As the best employers care about nurturing local talent, it's critical that education systems align with industry needs. Career-connected learning requires engagement with the entire workforce ecosystem to prepare students for successful careers in their communities. This summer, we learned about the world's best youth apprenticeship models from the CES Chair of Education Systems and we are putting our learnings into action right away by embedding our findings from the world's most innovative firms into strategic youth apprenticeships. Our partners in East Central Indiana are leading the way through the multi-district collaborative Rural Alliance Zone 32 (RAZ-32) and a game-changing team-up with Reid Health. Our Reid Health x RAZ-32 collaboration goals are clear: 💡 Addressing the healthcare worker shortage 💡 Building a bilingual workforce 💡 Providing high-value career opportunities We cannot wait to advance apprenticeships via the Rural Alliance Zone 32 (RAZ-32) in East Central Indiana. We will continue working with our incredible regional and statewide partners to ensure students and employers get what they need from our education system, enabling individuals and regional economies to thrive. We are immensely grateful for the unwavering support our RAZ-32 champions from Reid Health: Vice President Jason Troutwine Chief of Nursing Foust-Cofield Misti and Senior Director of Nursing Anna Osborn-Brown RN, MSN. #CEMETS2024 #Innovation #Healthcare #Education #Apprenticeships #YouthDevelopment #CommunityDevelopment #EconomicGrowth #WorkforceDevelopment #EducationInnovation #EducationReform #SchoolTransformation #HighSchoolRedesign

Last week, our dedicated Indiana-based staff teamed up with partners from Randolph County, Indiana—Reid Health, Randolph Eastern School Corp, and Ivy Tech Community College— for an incredible experience at the CEMETS Summer Institute by CES Chair of Education Systems in Zurich, Switzerland! During our week-long learning journey, we heard from experts at CYP, Holzbau Training Center, and Swisscom to explore Switzerland's efficient economy. We learned how employers play a critical role in educating and developing teens' skills and workforce readiness. Their model, integrating academic, vocational, and professional pursuits, expanded our thinking on what's possible here in US. Our amazing hosts 💎 Ursula Renold and 💎 Katie Caves graciously shared their leadership and welcomed us into the CEMETS community! Shoutout to our amazing partners for your collaboration and ingenuity: 🏔 Aaron Black 🏔 Neal Adams, Ed.S. 🏔 Justin Jones 🏔 Jason Troutwine 🏔 Anna Osborn-Brown RN, MSN 🏔 Chad Bolser 🏔 Matthew Connell, Ed.D. As we continue to reimagine how early college and career pathways can expand access to economic mobility for kids here in the US, we can't wait to apply these insights. Stay tuned, and keep in touch, CEMETS friends! #cemets2024 #professionallearning #fundprofessionaldevelopment #collegeandcareerpathways #pathways #international

🎉 We're celebrating with our friends and partners at San Joaquin A+ team! This is what it looks like to expand Early College and Career Pathways for California students. We're inspired by your commitment and excited to see what's to come for the 2024-2025 school year in the broader San Joaquin community.

Have you heard about this exciting initiative by Educators for Excellence? By bringing together key stakeholders and focusing on intentional, research-backed approaches, they are addressing the crisis in the teaching profession head-on. Let's celebrate this dedicated effort to reimagine teachers' contracts and drive transformative change in education! Check out their incredible work at  WhereWeAgree.org and join the movement towards a brighter future for our educators and students.