Broward Business Executives to Mentor School Principals to Help Students Become Career-Ready

WESTON, Fla. - Jan. 31, 2017 - PRLog -- Broward County business executives know they can make a difference in the performance of K-12 public schools if they partner with school principals. On Feb. 2, CEOs and school principals will gather at Mirror Lake Elementary in Plantation to meet and create 'leader-to-leader' partnerships to improve the quality of education one school at a time.

Through this innovative mentorship program - created by the nonprofit Council for Educational Change - business executives mentor and coach school principals to develop programs that encourage students to graduate career-ready and equipped with skills and abilities to obtain well-paying jobs.

Selected business executives and principals will attend this orientation session, which will take place Thursday, February 2^nd from 8:30 to 11AM at Mirror Lake Elementary School located at 1200 NW 72^nd Ave, Plantation. During the orientation, business executives will meet the school principals they will mentor throughout the year to learn more about the challenges their schools face. Together, they will develop strategies to overcome them.

The partnership is a signature program of the Council for Educational Change, a statewide nonprofit organization based in Weston. Under the mentoring program, known as Executive PASS^©, business executives mentor principals on things such as strategic planning, problem solving, team building, innovative thinking and a myriad of other leadership skills required to improve education. Approximately, 150 schools throughout the state of Florida have implemented the Council's Executive PASS^© program.

"School principals throughout the state of Florida have benefited from the Executive PASS^©and we're excited to expand the CEO/principal mentorship program in Broward County," said Dr. Elaine Liftin, the Council's President and Executive Director.  "The key focus of the partnership is to further enhance the leadership skills that principals require in order to drive student academic performance and foster a culture of excellence."

The CEO/principal mentorship program has delivered several success stories. For example, Dillard High Principal Cassandra Robinson has developed and implemented curriculum toprepare students for successful college and career paths in partnership with numerous business executives, including Steve Wasserman, Executive Vice President of Colliers International South Florida and chair of the Council for Educational Change.

"The results of these public-private partnerships have been noticeable at the school," Mr. Wasserman said. "Despite being in a struggling community with over 85% of the student body economically disadvantaged, Dillard High School is currently an "A" school with a graduation rate of 92.7 percent.  Principal Robinson's vision and the business partners havecreated the framework for Dillard students to earn industry certifications to meet current job market demands. Some of the fields include emerging technology and digitalentrepreneurship."

The Council was the vision of the late Leonard Miller, co-founder of Lennar Corp. Mr. Miller believed that principal leadership is the catalyst to ignite school improvement. His leadership, vision and expertise inspired the Council's Principal Leadership programs, which have had a positive impact on hundreds of schools.

At the orientation, attendees will also learn about similar success stories that are the result of numerous Executive PASS partnerships created by the Council across the region and the State.

For more information contact: Paola Iuspa-Abbott, 305.726.5848 or paola@topofmind-pr.com

About the Council for Educational Change

The Council for Educational Change is a statewide, 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to focus on LEADERSHIP to improve student achievement and address critical issues in education.  Leonard Miller founded the Council for Educational Change in 2003, as the successor organization of the South Florida Annenberg Challenge. Based in Weston, the Council is led by a Board of Trustees. Some of its accomplishments include the creation of the Executive PASS^© program, which forms a partnership between a business leader and a school principal to share business strategies to bring positive changes to the school. The Council also has a three-year matching grant executive partnership program in which a CEO mentors a school principal and commits up to $100,000 to develop and fund strategic plans to create a culture of excellence and success. For more information visit: http://www.changeeducation.org