South Lane School District, working with the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce, has been very successful in connecting with business partners.

South Lane, which educates kids in Cottage Grove, a town of about 7,400 about 20 miles south of Eugene, has more business partners than it can use, says Assistant Superintendent Krista Parent.

Since 1991 South Lane has been a pilot district for testing Oregon school transformation ideas, including CIM standards and CAM endorsements, which students can pursue at their option.

The district consists of one 830-student high school, one middle school, and six elementaries, with 2,900 students total.

Consider the numbers:

In 1991 only 25 students participated in work-release programs with 20 local businesses.

But in 1997 there were 300 business partners and:

• 150 two- to three-hour job shadow experiences, mostly among 10th graders
• 50 CAM internships among 11th and 12th graders
• 3 career days
• 60 classroom speakers from businesses
• 10 off-campus business tours

CAM internships are for a minimum of 30 hours and range up to 100 hours a school year, Parent says. Internships are completed after school, on weekends, and on Wednesday afternoons, when students are released early.

Almost 70 percent of the district's 225 10th graders opt to participate in job shadowing, as preparation for CAM internships, Parent says.

Nearly a third of students who graduate with a diploma -- about 50 -- also receive a CAM endorsement, Parent says, noting that Cottage Grove was the first high school in the state to issue CAMs.

Because South Lane was a pilot district, it had to create CIM and CAM requirements on its own, because none existed in 1991.

All six CAM endorsement areas that are now part of the statewide transformation plan are available to Cottage Grove students:

• Arts and communication
• Human Resources
• Industrial and Engineering Systems
• Business and Management
• Natural Resources
• Health Services

How South Lane Did It

In 1991, when South Lane became a pilot district for Oregon school transformation, the Cottage Grove chamber began to recruit local businesses to become active partners, Parent says.

The number of business partners grew from 20 back then to more than 300 today, Parent says.

"It's one thing when teachers ask (businesses) for support," Parent says. "But we needed the chamber as a business-to-business advocate, which they do best," Parent says.

Business people recruiting business people was one key. A second key was the formation of a two-person team dedicated to school to work transitions, Parent says.

The team is housed in Cottage Grove High School. Three-quarters of its funding comes from federal grants, and one-quarter from the district's general fund.

The school-to-work team coordinates the various job shadow and CAM experiences for the district. It also works to place special needs students in business settings.

Parent says that other districts similar to South Lane "just have to be creative" in carrying out the requirements of the Oregon school transformation act.

In fact, Parent says, the 300 business partners are about as many as the district can currently use.

"We go to conferences and hear other districts talk about how they can't implement reforms, but we just laugh and tell them it can be done," Parent says.

How South Lane Benefits

"Relevance," she says.

And it's relevance that CAM endorsements provide, Parent believes.

"The CAMs accommodate a style of learning for kids who can't stand lectures," Parent says.

"And some CAMs lead to jobs, or otherwise show kids what fields they do or don't want to pursue," she says.

One example was the student who wanted to become a writer. She spent time with author Ken Kesey, "and came back really excited to write," Parent says.

Teachers, too, get an opportunity to get outside the classroom.

Parent says a Cottage Grove biology teacher worked a summer at a local forestry company, where he spent four days in the field and the fifth day writing lesson plans for fall classes.

"Knowledge gets old unless you can see what the latest developments are in your field of expertise," Parent says.