The Future Ready Institute training for teachers involved in institutes this fall will be June 11-15 at Unum. Monday, Tuesday and Friday will be dedicated to classwork at Unum, while Wednesday and Thursday of the week will be dedicated to teachers participating in externships at business locations in the community. The training will be held at Unum’s Chattanooga offices. The business locations will match with the theme of the institute to give teachers the experience of the business world they will be teaching to students to prepare graduates for the future.
The aviation externship was held early this week due to scheduling. The aviation experience at the Chattanooga Airport visited Wilson Air, the airport fire station, the commercial terminal, West Star, air traffic control, and the Crystal Air hanger. Brainerd High School’s Institute of Aviation participated in the externship at the airport.
The five-day training session will engage the school teams in two days of training on the use of the project-based learning method in their classroom instruction. The school groups will also spend two days embedded into a job site in the community getting practical experience in the program they will teach to high school students. The last day will be for group planning for the first year of the Future Ready Institutes.
Future Ready Institutes will challenge the traditional approach to education in high schools by developing career-themed small learning communities, officials said. Teachers of all content areas including English, math, science and social studies will work closely with the career and technical education teacher to provide classroom instruction through the lens of a career. The goal is for students to clearly understand why a lesson is important and how they will use the information in the future.
Unum Training
Monday, June 11
8:30 a.m. – Introductions
9:30 a.m. – Design Challenge (Michael Weiss)
11:30 a.m. – Project Based Learning Intro (Michael Stone)
12:30 p.m. – Lunch
1:30 – 4:30 p.m. – PBL continued
Tuesday, June 12
8:45 a.m. – Project Based Learning (Michael Stone)
12 p.m. – Lunch
1 – 4 p.m. – PBL continued
4 p.m. – Externship Overview
4:30 p.m. – Day ends
Wednesday and Thursday
Teacher Externships – Details to come on these days
Externships will include EPB, Erlanger, TVA, Chattanooga Police, Chattanooga Fire, District Attorney’s office, Unum, Chattanooga Aquarium, Komatsu, PEF and more.
Friday, June 15
8:45 a.m. – Design challenge (Michael Weiss)
12 p.m. – Lunch
1 – 4 p.m. – Design challenge continued
4-4:30 p.m. – School next steps
The small learning communities that will create a school within a school will give high school students an opportunity to combine academics with a career field that interests them. The goal of the new Future Ready Institutes in Hamilton County Schools is to ensure graduates are ready for success in their future careers.
Unum, a Chattanooga-based provider of employee benefits and income protection, is providing funding for teacher and instructor training for Future Ready Institutes district-wide. The company has committed $300,000 in funding for the program over the next three years.
“The vision that all Hamilton County School students should graduate from high school prepared for post-secondary opportunities is a cause that we can rally behind at Unum,” said Miles Huff, community relations specialist at Unum. “Supporting students, teachers, and schools in the communities where we live and work is our top priority.”
“Community partners like Unum are making the transition of our schools into future ready hubs of learning a possibility for our children,” stated Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools. “The training funded by Unum will allow our teachers to get a clearer picture of business and industry needs in our community and provide a closer connection between teaching in the classroom and career requirements.”