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...revisit our events

Pillar hosts events throughout the year to stimulate and encourage business and education collaboration. Recent events include:

•Principal for a Day, February 2011: On-Air personality, Carlos Alvarez joined hundreds of business leaders who visited public schools across Los Angeles during the 12th annual Principal for a Day event, which connects businesses with local school administrators for an exchange of ideas, resources and to build lasting partnerships that benefit students. Principal for a Day is a critical first step in building collaborative, long-term relationships between the business and education communities. Through Principal for a Day, Pillar matches business leaders with LAUSD schools in order to engage the business community in public education and enhance student learning by bringing relevant industry expertise and guidance into the classroom.
[see Event and Culmination galleries]

•Pillar Partnership Spotlight Award Reception, December 2010: LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines joined Chamber President & CEO Gary Toebben in recognizing three outstanding partnerships between businesses and schools for their outstanding efforts to strengthen education and develop the future workforce. The groups were selected by Pillar as part of the Partnership Spotlight contest. Tenth Street Elementary School and the STAPLES Center Foundation were applauded for their 10-year partnership that offers a reading program to help students develop literacy skills, and provides financial and in-kind support to the school to recognize students and reward school stakeholders for academic gains. LEMA High School, and partners, the Constitutional Rights Foundation and Tucker Ellis & West, were recognized for partnering to incorporate law-related lessons into the curriculum, and for connecting high school students to members. West Adams Preparatory High School and Amgen were acknowledged for their partnership which has introduced West Adams to a rich set of science-related resources and is focused on teacher and student development. This partnership has also provided significant financial and human resources to West Adams Prep. Superintendent Cortines congratulated the educators who have developed these rich partnerships that are augmenting what hardworking teachers are doing in the classroom every day.
•Arts, Media & Entertainment Symposium, October 2010: Hosted by Pillar at the GRAMMY Museum at LA Live, the event provided an opportunity for Pillar and event partners Center Theater Group, the Entertainment Economy Institute, and the GRAMMY Museum to connect educators from LAUSD’s Media and Arts themed high school Small Learning Communities to potential Business Partners. The event was attended by representatives from ABC/Walt Disney, The Music Center, The Los Angeles Philharmonic and others in the entertainment industry. Participants were able to tour the GRAMMY Museum, learn about Business-Education Partnerships, attend workshops on curriculum integration and attend a networking lunch at ESPN Zone at LA Live. The event culminated with a “Speed networking activity, where participants were able to practice their networking skills. As a result of the event, six industry professionals identified specific high schools with which they were interested in partnering. For information about opportunities in the Arts, Media & Entertainment fields visit www.AMECareers.org
•World Trade Week Educator Event, May 2010: “The Path to Economic Recovery”: Planned in partnership with the LA Chamber’s World Trade Week Education Committee, this event for high school counselors and educators in International Trade Small Schools/Small Learning communities familiarized participants with the wide variety of career opportunities that are available in the world of International Trade, and the pathways for students to enter those careers. Also included in the event was information on local post-secondary educational programs that have relevant programs as well as a wealth of information about International Trade Career Resources, Employment Opportunities in the region, and websites that can help explore various careers int he field of International Trade. Download event resources: Career Counselor Speaker Contact Sheet; Careers in Ports, Shipping, Trade & Transportation; International Certificate Programs; International Trade Career Resources; Introduction to Careers in International Trade; Lifelong Learning to Survive in the New Economy

•Health Symposium, January 2010: On Thursday, January 21st, teams of educators from 15 health themed high school Small Learning Communities attended a daylong Health Symposium for Educators and Industry professionals to learn about integrating the health theme into their core classes. Professionals from ConnectEd, the California Center for College and Career, presented four mini-lessons integrating health information into Science, English, Math and Social Studies classes, and demonstrated how teaching teams can develop projects that can be woven across multiple subject areas. The curriculum presentation was followed by partnership training for educators as well as health industry professionals. Capping off the day was an opportunity for attendees to practice their partnership skills by networking with the industry professionals.
Download ”Developing Multidisciplinary Integrated Curriculum”
and “Partnering to Build and Integrated Biomedical and Health Science Curriculum”
[see gallery]

•Business Symposium, December 2009: On December 3, 2009, school and business representatives gathered to learn more about forming partnerships to strengthen education and develop the future workforce at Pillar’s second annual Partnership Symposium for business and finance themed small learning communities. Junior Achievement’s “Finance Park” provided the perfect setting for these groups to meet one-on-one to discuss potential partnership opportunities.

•“Showcase of the Stars™”, May 2009: Facilitated in collaboration with the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality industry panel and celebrity chef presenting career pathways information to approximately 900 students from 11 high school Culinary Arts/Tourism/Hospitality SLCs. In the evening, educators and industry professionals came together for a networking reception catered by Santee Learning Complex Culinary Arts students. [see gallery]