From hosting site visits of their water treatment plants to giving classroom presentations, the involvement of employees in public education has long been the culture of expectation at West Virginia American Water Company. 

Through The Education Alliance, West Virginia American Water partners with eight schools in five counties to share their expertise, help students understand how the water company works and supply their partner schools with much-needed equipment to keep students’ technology skills up-to-date. 

"West Virginia American Water believes it is important to give back to the communities we serve, and to help educate our children," Wayne Morgan, president of WVAW, said. "After all, they are our future.”

The sentiment of West Virginia American Water is exactly the message promoted by the Education Alliance and its Partnerships in Education program. Since 1984, the Education Alliance has been pairing local businesses with public schools and helping them realize how the skills students develop today will be used to enhance West Virginia businesses in the years to come.

The Education Alliance promotes purposeful school-business partnerships that:

• Encourage students to take more rigorous classes and pursue postsecondary education;
• Create awareness of careers available to high school graduates, especially in West Virginia; and
• Help students overcome academic and social challenges.

The Education Alliance recently teamed up with Junior Achievement and Roads to Success to bring a more structured direction to the Partnerships Program and training opportunities for its business partners beginning this fall.

“Many businesses want to help their local schools but need help identifying how they fit into what’s being taught in the classroom,” Dr. Patricia Kusimo, president/CEO of the Education Alliance, said. “With the help of Junior Achievement and Roads to Success, Partnerships in Education will not only recruit businesses to partner with local schools but properly train them so that their partnerships produce real relationships and real results.”

The Junior Achievement curriculum will be used to help kindergarten through sixth-grade students understand how business works. Roads to Success will be used to help students in grades 7-12 discover the careers that inspire them and the steps needed to reach their goals.

Junior Achievement recruits volunteers to teach grade-appropriate lessons in 21st Century Skills, work readiness and personal finance. Volunteers make five to six 45-minute visits to each class. Program materials and volunteer trainings are provided by Junior Achievement at no cost to the student.

From study strategies to SAT prep to acing an interview, Roads to Success coaches students in the skills they’ll need to become productive adults. Volunteers come to the school 45 minutes a week during the regular school day for one school year.

A fall kickoff celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sept. 15, in the Capitol Room of the Columbia Gas Transmission Building. More opportunities will be available this fall at www.EducationAlliance.org. For questions, please contact Natalie Proctor at 304.342.7849 or natalieproctor@educationalliance.org.