The Community and School as an Economic Development Team

From Positive Directions for Schools and Communities, by Lisa Hinz

Rural communities and their schools often overlook the resources and opportunities they can offer each other. In Minnesota and across the country, school/community economic development is proving a viable way to serve the school's primary purpose of student education while strengthening the local economy.

Rural communities and their schools often overlook the resources and opportunities they can offer each other. As a large employer and purchaser, the school may control a substantial amount of the community's money. The school's classes and facilities are valuable resources for community education and training needs. Teachers and administrators are highly educated people. Students are a resource and opportunity, and often, a significant segment of the community population. Many community members have experience and skills as local entrepreneurs and service-providers. Local businesses may have modern equipment available to teach students new skills. Development professionals may want to train local students in the day-to-day of local business.

In Minnesota and across the country, school/community economic development is proving a viable way to serve the school's primary purpose of student education while strengthening the local economy. From school-business partnerships to entrepreneurial curricula, growing numbers of schools and communities are making the connection between economic development and education.

This publication outlines the major aspects of school/community economic development. Ideas tested in communities will be profiled, including two schools featured in the video, Seeds of Change: Positive Directions for Schools and Communities. A resource list is also included.

Background

The main purpose of schools has always been to help students learn. Since the 1960s, a growing recognition of the connection between education and economic development has emerged. Traditionally tied to vocational skills training, the idea of education as an economic development tool has expanded to include school-business partnerships and entrepreneurship. In the 1980s, some schools started adopting these ideas in the classroom and community with encouraging results. Through partnerships with business, coursework, and experiences in which students establish businesses, school/community economic development efforts resulted in meaningful learning experiences and economic benefit to students and community members.

The main reason schools and communities pursue economic development programs together is to improve the quality and meaning of education for students. Existing school/community economic development programs have shown these benefits:

• Strengthen curricula by linking coursework with experience. This learning strategy has growing support in education research.
  
  
• Increase courses available to students as the community becomes the focus of study.
  
  
• Reduce dropout rates as previously unmotivated students see links between schoolwork and the world outside of school.
  
  
• Give students the know-how to create their own jobs in their own communities.
  
  
• Improve students' critical thinking skills, independence, and responsibility as they learn about and face real challenges using local resources and technologies.
  
  
• Enhance school-community relations as local professionals provide their expertise to students and students provide needed goods and services to the community.
  
  

School/community economic development can also contribute directly to the revitalization and diversification of the community's economy. The school and students create new services and businesses, sometimes in partnership with local businesses. Business owners, farm and town, can play a bigger role in youth education by sharing their knowledge and experience. The community can retains more of its intellectual and tax-based wealth as graduates stay in the community.

Program Ideas

Communities and schools can work together on economic development in a number of ways. These program ideas have been implemented successfully.

• a resource center with computers and a library open after school hours for community use
  
  
• in-school child care centers
  
  
• an annually updated community demographic and economic profile used by local planners
  
  
• an accounting service for shut-ins
  
  
• a graphics business using modern computer software
  
  
• a video inventory business
  
  
• students working as reporters for the local paper
  
  
• a bakery that leases the school kitchen and supplies nearby markets with specialty breads
  
  
• a house-building project
  
  
• a global studies curriculum that draws students and teachers from around the world
  
  
• a telecommunications business in cooperation with a local technical college
  
  
• a hand-painted clothing and crafts business that markets through a store, craft shows, and mail-order
  
  

Research shows that most efforts are multi-disciplinary and exist primarily in high schools, although there are successful examples from elementary grades. All programs give classroom credit and operate during the school day, although some also offer wages, primarily for student work done after school hours. Business-creation programs include for-profit and not-for-profit organizations offering goods or services locally or outside the local area through computer networking and mail-order. Many programs operate as school-controlled efforts. Some recent programs emphasize student development of businesses that students take with them when they graduate. All programs reflect local context and options.

Program Organization

Organization of a program depends on resources and the kind of development projects upon which the school and community agree. Although each type of program has distinct features, many schools and communities use combinations of several to take full advantage of their local resources. The common programs are as follows:

• school-business partnerships
  
  
• school-based businesses
  
  
• school-incubated businesses
  
  
• entrepreneurial curricula
  
  

School-Business Partnership

A School-Business Partnership is an agreement between a school and business to define and work together to improve educational opportunities, benefit business, and support broader community goals.

School-business partnerships can help schools develop new courses taught by professional business people on business management and planning. Such partnerships can provide modern equipment through donation or purchase at reduced price. They create or improve opportunities for students to see classroom principles applied. Businesses receive public recognition and a chance to use their skills and knowledge to educate youth. Some businesses donate equipment and share space with the school for employee training or to give students experience with new technologies. Students acquire work skills and insights about the local economy that may encourage them to remain in the community after their formal education is completed.

Examples: School-Business Partnership

Delavan, Minnesota's elementary school is taking advantage of the local community and business resources to form an agri-science school, a national first. Study focuses on the local agricultural economy for Kindergarten through sixth grade students. Family farms, local banks, and local and multi-national agri-businesses contribute products and knowledge which help students understand their community. Activities include visiting local farms and businesses with lessons in local and global agri-business; class farms with business-donated seeds and instruction; and student businesses with start-up loans from a local bank. Students gain insights and skills from community examples and local businesses provide meaningful support to this innovative school.

A Cook County elementary school leases space to a clinic, an insurance agency, a youth hostel, and a foundation.

In Henderson, a local technology firm donates computers, televisions and staff to teach students and teachers.

School-Based Business

A School-Based Business is a school-controlled and -owned enterprise in which students gain experience as workers and managers, and profits go to the school.

School-based businesses add to the stock of local enterprises whether they serve the school population or the broader community. They improve the skills of the youth who will take a more active part in community life as adults. Such businesses provide an ongoing, supervised business and learning environment. Research suggests that students' understanding improves as they apply coursework to authentic challenges with guidance from teachers and advisors. They provide a real-world focus to the school curriculum. The school-based business is not a fund-raising group nor a vocational program. At best, it is an interdisciplinary program which matches the talents and creativity of students with opportunities in the community.

Examples: School-Based Business

Several high schools in Minnesota run in-school child care programs during the school day. In addition to learning first-hand about child development, students sometimes manage the business aspects of the program, directly applying their math skills and communication skills. The community gets a needed service, often conveniently located to homes and workplaces.

At some schools, students design a house, get building materials, and then build and sell the house. Profits are used for other school programs.

In other states, students help low-income people apply for affordable housing that meets federal government guidelines. Interviewing, writing, math, and reading skills are used to serve community needs.

School-Incubated Business

A School-Incubated Business teaches students the skills to research, plan, establish, operate, and own economically-viable businesses that they continue on their own after graduation.

School-incubated businesses foster community economic development by helping students become entrepreneurs in their own communities. The school provides classes, teachers, and occasionally, facilities to realize students' business ideas. Through coursework and practice, students learn to analyze the community's business needs using interviews, surveys, and focus groups. Business ideas are then researched by students with advice and support from business and development professionals. The most viable ideas are fleshed out in business plans, and financing is acquired. Local or regional development funds, companies, and investors are potential sources of financing. Under guidance from teachers and local professionals, students start the business while still in school. This early support is often crucial to the business's success. After graduation, the business becomes a permanent part of the community's economic base.

Example: School-Incubated Business

High school students in Rothsay, MN formed a corporation in order to own and operate local businesses. When the town grocery store went out of business in 1991, the corporation bought it. Students deal firsthand with the challenges of business operation by managing and staffing the store while taking classes to learn needed skills in accounting, marketing, meat cutting, and management. Teachers and community professionals, including retirees, provide on-the-job training and classroom discussion for which students receive course credits.

Entrepreneurial Curriculum

An Entrepreneurial Curriculum fosters the entrepreneurial qualities of critical thinking, innovation, and independence as desired educational outcomes for all students throughout the school's curriculum.

Partnerships, school-based businesses, and school-incubated businesses can all contribute to the entrepreneurial approach. Integrated coursework and hands-on experience form the basis of students' learning at school. An entrepreneurial curriculum is the broadest approach to school/community economic development. The school and the community work as partners for the educational benefit and economic development of both. In some cases, two or more schools have collaborated to share community and school resources and to enlarge the market area for student businesses.

Example: Entrepreneurial Curriculum

At Belle Fourche, South Dakota's high school, the entire curriculum emphasizes student entrepreneurship through coursework, creation of businesses, and a school environment that supports student initiative. As a result, a number of businesses have been started. Old World Foods makes and sells ethnic breads to local stores. The Breakfast Club restaurant is operated in the high school with earnings returned to the student owners. Students also learn about business and the community by working as reporters for the local paper, and by writing articles reviewed by teachers and newspaper editors. Home economics, art, social studies, journalism, and business coursework teaches students the skills they need to run their businesses.

Starting a School/Community Economic Development Program

Should we do it?

People in the school and community need to decide whether to include economic development as a part of the school's mission. The decision should account for local interest and attitudes toward making a stronger connection between school and community. Since resources are often limited, a program will probably require the school to prioritize its resources to support a school/community economic development program.

How do we do it?

As with the decision to develop a program, both school and community people should be involved in defining, planning, and implementing the program. Although conflict may arise, broad involvement fosters stronger support over time. The resource list has more detailed information for design and training needs.

Who needs to be involved?

The checklist below covers a broad range of interests and talents to include in the planning and ongoing support of a program. Teachers and community people who work closely to develop the program and work with students are especially important.

• Teachers, administrators, school boards
  
  
• Government, church, arts, and civic leaders
  
  
• Business people from businesses of all sizes, rural and town
  
  
• Students
  
  
• Community and economic development professionals at the local, county, and regional levels
  Development should include business and economic planners as well as professionals in housing, social services, historic preservation, agricultural and natural resources
  
  
• Nearby schools
  A cluster of schools with such programs can create more opportunities for students and local communities and broaden the market for businesses.
  
  

What about money?

Research suggests that reallocation of existing resources, not additional funding, is a successful strategy. Indeed, where additional money is needed, education and development expert Paul Nachtigal has found local funding arrangements more sustainable than those involving large amounts of money from donors outside the community.

What are the legal concerns?

Legal issues to address are: the safety and supervision of students; compliance with state and federal laws on labor conditions and wages; and assessment and fulfillment of insurance requirements. Clear guidelines spelling out the relationship between the school and private business are very useful. The school attorney should be consulted on all contracts.

What are common problems and solutions?

• Primary emphasis should be on education as the goal, not business operation. Projects that are repetitive or use kids as cheap labor are not appropriate.
  
  
• Existing businesses may perceive competition. School-based and school-incubated businesses should strive to complement or fill niches not filled by other businesses. Negotiation and subcontracting with existing businesses can eliminate competition and enhance both businesses.
  
  
• Teachers need to change their roles from experts to coaches with fewer lectures and more conversations.
  
  

Summary

While education is still the primary goal of the school, development becomes the means to reaching the goal. Subject areas such as math, science, English, and the arts are integrated to support this education-through-development orientation. School-business partnerships, school-based businesses, and school-incubated businesses may form all or part of the curriculum. The entrepreneurial curriculum can be the focus of an entire school or a specialized program in a school. These approaches can help schools and communities work together for mutual benefits.

Resources

Building Communities from Within: Schools and Economic Development, Communicating for Agriculture, P.O. Box 667, Fergus Falls, MN 56538, 1-800-432-3276

Business Retention and Expansion Follow-up (Video and Print Package), George Morse, Minnesota Extension Service, University of Minnesota, Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics, 1994 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, (612) 625-9769

Noteworthy: Rural Schools and Community Development, Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory, Publications Department, 4709 Belleview Avenue, Kansas, MO 64112, (816) 756-2401.

Students as Entrepreneurs: Building Academic Skills and Strengthening Local Economies, Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612) 626-1834.

Youth Entrepreneurship Seminar (Y.E.S.), (curriculum on business skills for youth ages 11-16), Minnesota Extension Service, University of Minnesota, Extension Store, 20 Coffey Hall, 1420 Eckles Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55108, (612) 625-8173.

Bibliography

Clarke, Jessica and Joe Nathan, Sharing Facilities: Schools and Communities Working Together, Center for School Change, Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1992.

DeLargy, Paul, Keigh Hubel, Vicki Luther, and Milan Wall, Ed. Building Communities from Within: Schools and Economic Development, Communicating for Agriculture, Inc., Fergus Falls, Minnesota, 1992.

Hinz, Lisa, Students as Entrepreneurs: Building Academic Skills and Strengthening Local Economies, Center for School Change, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1992.

Mid-Continent Regional Education Laboratory, Noteworthy Rural Schools and Community Development, Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory, Kansas City, Missouri, 1989.

Mid-Continent Regional Education Laboratory,Redesigning Rural Education, Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory, Kansas City, Missouri, 1989.

Nachtigal, Paul, Rural Education: In Search of A Better Way , Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1982.

Warden, Judy. Establishing Partnerships Between the Business Community and Rural Schools, ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, P. 3-4, Las Cruces, New Mexico, 1986.

Support for this publication was provided by the Minnesota Extension Service's Project Future in cooperation with the Center for School Change, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota, and the Blandin Foundation.

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