Dec. 12, 2017

A team of CMS staff members gathered Tuesday at the Forum to make a pitch for partnerships with individuals, business and faith groups. The goal: Help give public school students what they need to thrive in the world.

The pitch was for people with time, and for funding. For those adults educated in other states where schools are better-funded, the whole message might have prompted an ill-defined, hazy uncertainty: What are we paying taxes for?

Staff members declared many needs: Students need mentors already pursuing the occupations they are thinking about. Many students can’t do extracurriculars because they’re working after school to help their families financially. Testing and other mandates keep CMS focused on academics, leaving some students in dire need of help learning nonacademic skills things like politeness and punctuality.

Below the video of the meeting are the slides projected on the wall behind the speakers. The slides may downloaded in a single 58MB file here.

Below that are four pages of handouts: a sheet listing the types of partnerships that CMS is seeking; a partnership interest form; a list of CMS schools organized by “learning community;” and the current CMS calendar. The handouts are in a PDF downloadable here.

Dr. Holmes’ presentation begins at minute 10:50. The Q&A begins at minute 35:35.