Lee's Summit North Teacher Externship Program

The Lee’s Summit School District is piloting a Teacher Externship program this year. Teachers at Lee’s Summit North High School are getting the opportunity to connect and visit with local business partners. The Teacher Externship Experience is an opportunity for teachers to observe and interact with business partners and to have real-world working experience outside of education to return to the classroom. Through this program, teachers will be given the time and resources to connect with various industry professionals. The goal of this program for teachers is to increase rigor, relevance, relationships, and readiness. 

• Rigor:  We want to provide teachers the opportunity to experience a contemporary workplace environment for the development of classroom ideas that have the power to change students’ thinking and understanding dramatically. This experience should connect skills such as math, verbal and written communication, cultural awareness, and technology with the world beyond their classroom.  

• Relevance:  It will apply real-world career situations to the classroom curriculum to provide students with relevant information and skills connecting with local economic needs and opportunities.  

• Relationships:  The goal is to foster meaningful relationships between the participating teachers and local businesses so that both parties develop a deeper understanding of the partnership between business and education. Both educators and businesses can benefit from an ongoing alignment of the workforce and economic needs with the skills learned in the classroom.  

• Readiness:  We always want to continue to develop students who are prepared to proceed to post-secondary opportunities and provide a robust local workforce base that helps grow and support the local economy. 

The Teacher Externship is meant to support our amazing educators to feel equipped to continue serving our students. This experience will continue to help prepare our students for success in life.