August 18, 2009
| |
|
|
Register Your Partnership
for the AAS Spotlights
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Corporate Sponsor
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
“Touching Tomorrow Today” was the theme for the 2009 Adopt-A-School Breakfast Seminar and will be the theme for the 2009-2010 Adopt-A-School Year. “Love this format” “Really enjoyed the tour”  “Information very helpful and enlightening” …were just a few of the comments from participants in the breakfast seminar held on July 30th at Shelton State Community College. Change is often a challenge and the change in the format and location of this year’s seminar was designed to be engaging, enlightening and informative. The event relocated at Shelton in an effort to educate the educators and business leaders about the many educational opportunities, particularly in the area of career technical training, offered at Shelton. A breakfast buffet was prepared by Classic Fare Catering and participants were encouraged to network and visit exhibits during breakfast.
Celebrating the completion of twenty-four years of supporting area schools, the annual breakfast seminar officially kicked off the 2009-2010 Adopt-A-School Year. Representatives from all fifty-six area schools, central office administrators and over 90 businesses and community organizations gathered for the annual event. 
The opening session was held in the Bean Brown Theatre. Following a performance by the Taylorville Primary Choir and comments from Mr. Johnnie Aycock, President of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and Dr. Mark Heinrich, President of Shelton State Community College, the participants toured some of the career technical training programs offered at Shelton State to learn about the constantly changing technical training needed for our future workforce.
After the opening session and tour, coordinators and committee members representing the Adopt-A-School Partnerships attended several different breakout sessions designed to provide opportunities for networking, developing new strategies for the new school year and focusing  on preparing our students for the future. Breakout session topics included information on illiteracy problems in our community; information about the graduation rates and programs designed to help students graduate from high school; ideas for job shadow and career awareness activities; ideas for connecting businesses and schools through partnership activities; information about Junior Achievement programs and help in organizing partnership committees.
|
|
|
Top
|
| |
|
|
| |
During the Adopt-A-School Breakfast Seminar, several new adopters were welcomed to the program and recognized at the opening session of the breakfast. Todd Murphy Agency adopted Northside High School in March, 2009 and the partnership enjoyed several activities during the spring term.
Two new schools welcomed students this year and two new schools moved into  new facilities in August. University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa; NorthRidge Fitness and Capstone Village will all partner with the new Tuscaloosa Magnet Elementary School and Tuscaloosa Magnet Middle School. Additionally, Southview Elementary School and Southview Middle School students began the school year in a new building located on Southview Drive. The Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa will continue to partner with Southview Elementary and Geological Survey of Alabama is a new partner for Southview Middle School.
Additionally, new adopters for existing schools were recognized. The new adopters and their partners are:
o Capital Real Estate/Northside Middle School
o Quality Counts/Brookwood Elementary School
o Jones Heating& Cooling/Brookwood Elementary School
Several partnerships were recognized for their long standing participation in the Adopt-A-School Program. Forty-three partnerships have now celebrated 10 years or more of participation in the program and of those 43 – 23 partnerships or businesses have celebrated 20 years or more of participation in the program. Four partnerships received the “Twenty Years of Excellence Awards” at the 2009 breakfast. Bryce Hospital/Central High School; Tuscaloosa Music Club/Buhl Elementary School; Tuscaloosa County Medical Society & Alliance/Alberta Elementary School and Black Warrior Methane/Brookwood Elementary School have all been partners since 1989. In recognition of the ten year milestone, the “Decade of Excellence Award” was given to Geological Survey of Alabama & Westlawn Middle School. ZF Lemforder was recognized for 10 years of participation in the program.
In addition to the 10 and 20 year recognitions, 35 partnerships received acknowledgement as Very Involved Partnerships. The purpose of the VIP program is to recognize partnerships that develop full well-rounded partnerships and interaction with the Chamber program, as well as within their individual partnerships. This does not mean they are the only successful partnerships, but the VIP recognized partnerships that fulfilled all the criteria established by the Adopt-A-School Steering Committee for generating well-rounded partnerships.
|
|
|
Top
|
| |
|
|
| |
Have you ever wondered about involving your business as a partner with a public school? Well, this is the perfect time to find out more about that possibility! Most schools have at least one Adopt-A-School partner. Several schools that have only one partner are in need of another partner.
Also, additional partners are needed for Tuscaloosa Center for Technology. TCT is a unique because students from area high schools attend the school for one or two periods each day. We're looking for business partners to adopt specific career clusters within the school like these: Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Career Cluster (includes Automotive Technology); Agriconstruction Career Cluster (includes carpentry and landscape); Cosmetology Career Cluster; Architecture and Construction Career Cluster (includes drafting design and architecture); Electrical Technology Career Cluster; Arts, Audio, Video Technology and Communications Career Cluster (includes TV production and digital design); Masonry; Welding; Health Science Career Cluster.
We need you! Why not consider taking an active role as an Adopt-A-School partner? The program is flexible. Each partnership develops its own goals and activities based on the resources of the adopter and the needs of the schools. The possibilities are unlimited!
Whether you prefer an elementary, middle or high school, there is a place for you. Call Loo Whitfield today at 391-0563 or email loo@tuscaloosachamber.com for more information. There’s no obligation, nothing to lose, and it could be the beginning of a very rewarding experience for you and your business as well as providing much-needed assistance for a public school in Tuscaloosa!
|
|
|
Top
|
| |
|
|
| |
Mark your calendars for September 8 & 9 as The Literacy Council of West Alabama celebrates International Literacy Day with a series of literacy programs including the Second Annual International Literacy Day Luncheon & Awards on Wednesday, September 9 at Hotel Capstone from 11:30-1:30 p.m. for $20 per person; a "strategic thinking" forum on the afternoon of September 8 from 2-4 p.m. at Hilton Garden Inn for literacy service providers, educational agencies and employers to learn how to strategically infuse literacy into planning and programs; and a literacy grant workshop on the morning of September 9 at Hotel Capstone from 9-11 a.m. to assist in identifying and securing grant dollars for literacy programs. Guest facilitator and keynote speaker will be Dr. Margaret Doughty, President and CEO of Literacy Powerline, one of the nation's foremost authorities on literacy. Register by calling 391.0559 or visit our online calendar at www.tuscaloosachamber.com, where details and registration info will be available soon. |
|
|
Top
|
| |
|
|
| |
Junior Achievement (JA) of Greater Birmingham, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Carla Harris as District Program Manager of Junior Achievement of Tuscaloosa County.
“Carla will play a major role in elevating Junior Achievement of Tuscaloosa County to the next level,” declares Robert Kuhn, Chairman of the Board for Junior Achievement of Tuscaloosa County. “The ability to reach a greater number of students will be enhanced with her presence. We are thrilled to have her on board.”
Established in 2003, JA of Tuscaloosa County has reached nearly 22,000 students in over 1,000 classrooms. The new District Program Manager will bring a solid presence for JA in Tuscaloosa County and will work to expand services to over 5,000 area students in her first year. “I am so excited to work with the Board of Directors in delivering JA’s mission,” says Mrs. Harris.
Through a dedicated network of volunteers from the world of business, Junior Achievement works with teachers to educate students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs offered in school and after school. The programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action, and learn the value of contributing to their communities. Programs, materials, teacher and volunteer training are provided at no cost to schools or after school venues.
For information concerning volunteer opportunities, please contact Carla Harris, 759-3576 or email caharris@tusc.k12.al.us. |
|
|
Top
|
| |
|
|
| |
For the nineteenth consecutive year, golfers will rally in September in support of the Adopt- A-School Program. Mark your calendars and plan to participate in the Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Adopt-A-School Golf Tournament on Thursday, September 24th. The four man scramble golf tournament will be held at Tuscaloosa Country Club. Both 8:00AM and 1:00 PM shotgun starts are available and registration fees include green fees, cart and lunch.
The tournament is the annual fundraising event to benefit the coordination and administration of the Adopt-A-School program. Proceeds from the tournament benefit every public school in our community and the golf tournament provides critical funding for the coordination and administration of the Adopt-A-School program for the Tuscaloosa City and Tuscaloosa County School Systems. Morrow Thomley of Morgan Keegan is serving as this year's tournament chairman.
A variety of sponsorships are available. To become an Eagle Sponsor go to www.tuscaloosachamber.com/PDF/AAS/eaglesponsor. For additional sponsorship opportunities go to www.tuscaloosachamber.com/PDF/AAS/golfsponsorform. Registration forms are available www.tuscaloosachamber.com/PDF/AAS/golfregistration.
For more information, contact Loo Whitfield, loo@tuscaloosachamber.com or 391-0563.
|
|
|
Top
|
| |
|
|
| |
The first Adopt-A-School Tennis Tournament took place in the fall of 1994 and was part of the annual golf tournament. As the tennis community has grown and developed in the Tuscaloosa area, the interest and participation in the Adopt-A-School Tournament has grown as well. Over the past sixteen years, the Adopt-A- School Tennis Tournament has outgrown its original venue at Tuscaloosa Country Club and is currently held at Indian Hills Country Club.
As a result of the increased participation and the change in venue, this fall the Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Adopt-A-School Tennis Tournament will on a date different from the Golf Tournament date. On October 6th area tennis players will compete in a doubles tournament and proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Adopt-A-School Program. The ladies doubles tournament participants will compete in 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0+ divisions. The cost is $45 per player and all schools with players representing them are eligible to win cash prizes.
Court and prize sponsorships are available at www.tuscaloosachamber.com/aas. Registration forms are available at Indian Hills Country Club or www.tuscaloosachamber.com/aas.
For more information call 391-0563 or email loo@tuscaloosachamber.com
|
|
|
Top
|
| |
|
|
| |
We Have the Best Community Calendar Around
Please do check out our online calendar at www.tuscaloosachamber.com to see what’s going on in the area and remember to utilize the interactive feature to add your own listing.
Hit Your “Forward” Button to Share Chamber News
All employees and associates of Chamber-member firms are members, too. So, please simply hit your forward button to share this issue with all team members in your business/organization. Thanks a lot! |
|
|
Top
|
|
