Better Together
Partnerships Are Essential to School Success
For the past two years,
CCSD’s message of “better
together” and “stronger together”
has helped guide
the community through the
challenges of the pandemic
and its impact. CCSD’s outstanding
business and community
partners and their
enduring support has been
critical to this success.
Despite the obstacles,
business and organizations
continued to find ways to
support CCSD students,
teachers and schools
through financial and inkind
donations, volunteer
hours and sharing their
professional experience and
industry knowledge.
“We greatly appreciate
all of our partners, and it’s
been so impressive and inspiring
to see them rise to
the challenges of the past
two years to support us,”
Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Brian V. Hightower
said. “We’ve seen longtime
partners do more than ever
before, and we’ve welcomed
many new partners at the
school level and at the District
level, like Revolution
Church, which this year will
begin running the important
Give A Kid A Chance
back-to-school charitable
program for our community.
Thank you to all our
partners, and we hope to
see more businesses and organizations
join us in our efforts
this school year.”
Partner engagement is
an important initiative for
the School District, and is a
focus of the Blueprint fiveyear
28 CLASS ACT | 2022-2023
strategic plan and critical
to the success of numerous
programs, especially
the Career, Technical and
Agricultural Education
classes and extra-curriculars
in all CCSD high
schools.
The long-standing Partners
in Education program
established by the Cherokee
Chamber of Commerce has
been complemented by additional
efforts by CCSD to
encourage more partner involvement.
The School District now
annually surveys all schools
to determine specific ways
partners can support students
and staff through donations
of “time, talent and
treasure.” This information
has been incorporated into
the School Partnerships
page on CCSD’s website at
http://bit.ly/PartnerUp-
CCSD, which also highlights
all current school partners
and easy steps on how to
become a partner. In addition
to the Partners in Education
program, which is
only open to Chamber of
Commerce members, CCSD
offers Companies That
Care, a similar program for
non-Chamber members.
Partnership agreement
forms for both are simple to
complete and outline how
the business or organization
will support the school,
and how the school will facilitate
that involvement
and thank the partner.
The School District four
years ago launched Partner
Up! with CCSD, an annual
Outstanding school partners are recognized at an annual event.
event at which businesses
and community organizations
meet with Principals
and learn how to partner.
The date for the year’s
event, which is free and
open to all businesses and
organizations, at the CCSD
auditorium at 1205 Bluffs
Parkway, Canton, is Thursday,
Oct. 13.
In addition to opportunities
for recognition on
school campuses and school
and the CCSD website, the
School District annually
presents a Partner of the
Year and Volunteer of the
Year awards program every
year. Through this recognition
program, sponsored by
the Cherokee County Educational
Foundation, each
school selects its own Partner
of the Year and Volunteer
of the Year, all of which
are celebrated at the CCSD
event … that concludes with
the surprise presentation of
the CCSD Partner of the
Year and Volunteer of the
Year.
One of the most significant
partnerships that supports
CCSD’s career education
programs is the
Cherokee County Workforce
Collaborative, which
continues to strengthen
each year. Overseen by the
county’s Office of Economic
Development, the Collaborative
brings together leaders
from CCSD, higher education,
government and
businesses to improve local
career opportunities.
“We’re here to help every
student prepare for their
future, and for many students,
that next step is pursuing
a skilled professional
career,” Dr. Hightower said.
“We’re grateful for our partnership
with the Cherokee
Office of Economic Development,
as it has led to
more career focused oppor-
CCSD PARTNER UP! EVENT
THURSDAY OCTOBER 13
/PartnerUp-ccsd
/PartnerUp-ccsd