The Wachovia Foundation Backs Teachers as the Constant in the Educational Equation

Kevin Dow, Community Affairs Manager for the Wachovia Foundation is a highly visible person in the region’s non-profit and educational communities. He also represents one of Wachovia’s points of pride – The Wachovia Foundation’s Teachers and Teaching Initiative. In a recent conversation, Pat Beneš, Director of the 3E Institute, asked Kevin questions about his perspective on education and the workplace in this region.

Dow emphasized that new workers should have broad skills that transfer from function to function within an industry as well as across different industries:

“The key is easy transition and adaptability to changing circumstances and new technologies. It is critical for employees to have fundamental math literacy and other strong basic skills, as well as a solid comfort level with computers and office applications such as word processing and PowerPoint.”

He explained that today both federal and state governments are providing incentives to life science and other high tech companies to help stimulate the economy:

“It’s important for higher education to coordinate programs and curricula with workforce needs vital to a region or the country as a whole. Truthfully, it seems sometimes academia can’t adapt quickly enough for 21st Century requirements. It loses tremendous opportunities to better support a creative, innovative economy. Businesses, on the other hand, must commit to pursuing strategic discussions with their partners in education to help adapt what is taught, how it is taught, and when it is taught to what people will really need to know and do for a successful career in the 21st Century. This needs to be a proactive approach from both business and education.”

Dow pointed out some educational issues of the Greater Philadelphia Region, such as

• High school graduates may arrive at colleges or universities needing remedial work in math, reading or writing before they can begin actual college level work
• More graduates need to be prepared for the businesses and industries that support our regional economy
• We must keep high school and college graduates in this region once they are trained with valuable skills. Our “Brain Drain” needs to be countered by engaging more youth in the community so they become integrated and will not move elsewhere.

To address the improvement of education and career preparation for American youth, the Wachovia Foundation developed corporate initiatives with a very strategic focus – teachers. According to Kevin Dow:

“The Foundation wants a way of impacting education to yield better outcomes that are sustainable over time. We reason that in this whole equation, the child is the variable and the teacher is the constant, in the sense that any change in the teacher’s approach will be in the picture for 10-40 years. Rather than implement a program for 120 students in 2007, why not support a program for 40 teachers so students can benefit from the outcomes year after year?"

"Systemic improvement in education will not happen overnight, so the Wachovia Foundation’s Teachers and Teaching Initiative focuses on a stable population over time – teachers. We provide resources to teachers to become better stewards of the classroom. We work with administrators, superintendents and others to develop their skills, too. The initiative has spread across the country, enabling better outcomes for thousands of students.”

When the conversation turned to the Wachovia Foundation’s sponsorship of the 2007 3E Institute Educator 500 recognition program, Dow was enthusiastic:

“That’s one reason why we like 3E Institute! The foundation wants to reward creativity. For some there is a stumbling block - an inability to think beyond the norm. But not for these 3E educators! It’s wonderful to recognize teachers who are entrepreneurial and creative in their work while achieving better and consistent results. They take the same old problems given to them and pose different questions to produce different outcomes. This results in an improved environment where students can learn.”

To learn more about Wachovia Foundation’s partnerships with community and education go to the Wachovia Foundation. For more about the 3E Institute and its innovative agenda for education, visit the rest of our website or call the 3E Institute at 610.738.0582.