Solutions for Business Through Partnerships

What's good for schools ... is good for business!

The Faculty Externship Program of the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District is a nationally recognized leader in the placement of highly qualified educators in the work environment. Created in 1989, this partnership program was the first of its kind in Massachusetts and has been selected as the winner of the Massachusetts Department of Education Exemplary Partnership Award.

What's in it for business?

• At The Learning Company/Surf Control, Susan Melander was hired to help prepare a new software product for grades 3-8 that helps classroom teachers use the Internet as an effective, easy and safe teaching tool. 
• At MIT Lincoln Laboratories, Dick Gunzelmann helped write a computer program to download information from Air Force AWACS Aircraft to ground technician; 
• At The Haartz Corporation, Art Goodall helped to develop a workplace education program for Haartz employees which focused on basic skills development. He used the Acton Public School and the Acton-Boxborough regional School District as the "learning provider." After he left the Haartz Corporation, Mr. Goodall went on to become the coordinator of the Acton-Boxborough Externship Program and was asked by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to help replicate our model for other communities. 
• At Parametric Technology Corporation, Eric Kristoff worked as a web developer and wrote web applications to automate Internet related tasks. He created and updated both the internal and external web sites for the company. 
• At Educators Publishing Services, Inc., Melany Appelle and Vanessa Banyas, special education teachers, edited and rewrote a teaching manual as part of the Orton Gillingham Multi-Sensory Approach to Teaching and Reading. Dorothy Johnson, an English teacher and now head of the Acton-Boxborough English Department, wrote Teaching and Learning at Home, a curriculum resource book for home schoolers.

A fresh perspective and return on investment

As a business, you will benefit from the experience and expertise of our skillful and motivated educators who will bring a fresh perspective to your company. As a member of the community, you will promote the professional development of our educators who then bring the benefits of this experience back to the classroom and the school.

The bottom line

• We place an educator with your business for one year - you pay salary and benefits. 
• We work with you to develop specific goals and objectives for the extern. 
• You provide training - we provide support. 
• You give teachers a new perspective - we provide a business solution for you. 
• We all benefit.

Claudia Abramson, art teacher and 3Com website specialist

Claudia Abramson, an art teacher at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, was hired through the Externship Program as a website specialist for 3Com. She became the primary contact for in-house web development, graphic design, and digital photography. 3Com manager Paul Hartung shared his perspective on her time there. "I needed a strong learner and teacher to leverage the expertise of others in the company and create a new vehicle for communicating among the employees. I hired Claudia Abramson who has been a significant resource for us, filing a need we couldn't fill with our existing resources."

Claudia shared these thoughts about her externship. "My externship has been a period of enormous personal growth. Not only have I had the opportunity to learn about subjects that intensely interest me, but I have experienced first hand the amazing rapid increase in the use of technology by people in my own community and beyond it. Each day I witness how technology increasingly governs all our daily activities. It compels us to practice flexibility, collaboration, and the independent pursuit of information. Then as a reward we discover new worlds and new friends. There is no question in my mind that my externship has changed and enhanced the course of my life. I have been fortunate to share what I learned with my students as well as staff at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School."

After her externship, Claudia created several interactive web-based art courses for high school students.

Representative Partners

As an Externship Program partner, your company will be in good company.

• 3COM CORPORATION 
• D.C. HEATH 
• EDUCATORS PUBLISHING SERVICE, INC 
• THE LEARNING COMPANY/SURF CONTROL 
• MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 
• PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

Join a Recognized Program

• Winner of the Massachusetts Department of Education Partnership Award 
• Selected by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education for statewide dissemination 
• Supported by the National and Massachusetts Associations of Partners in Education (NAPE/MAPE) 
• Supported by the School Business partnership committee of the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce 
• Recognized by the National Education Association and the Massachusetts Teachers Association as a leader in Externship Programs