Interested in serving on a Career Academy Advisory Board? Please fill out the application and check out the information below. 

Advisory Board Application

The Advisory Board promotes collaboration between businesses and OKCPS, and partners with the Principal and Academy Coordinator in providing the following functions (partial list):

• Provides professional expertise to support each school’s Academy curriculum with periodic reviews and updates, review and contribution of collateral material, sponsoring field trips, creating and participating in student conferences and classroom participation.
• Assists in student recruitment by meeting with and addressing student candidates and parents, providing promotional material at school events and advocating on behalf of the Academy in business and social activities throughout the community.
• Assists in the recruitment of additional Advisory Board members by sponsoring and presenting at a variety of venues and events (Chamber meetings, professional association meetings, school site meetings (recruitment breakfasts, luncheons, etc.)
• Secures paid internships for at least 50% of eligible OKCPS students, and encourages other community businesses to provide paid internships for all other eligible Academy students (with a goal of 100% of eligible students placed in paid internship positions after the completion of their junior year in high school.)
• Provides access to professional development and technical assistance for teachers.
• Provides industry familiarization tours for OKCPS teachers and career exploration tours for OKCPS students.
• Provides mentoring and shadowing opportunities for students and professional training opportunities and externships for teachers.
• Assists in budget development for the Academy by participating in an annual Strategic Planning meeting, typically held in August or early September.
• Provides at least 50% of fundraising needs to support the school’s Academy activities and scholarships, and encourages other community businesses to provide funding for all other Academy activities and scholarships (100% of fundraising efforts not otherwise provided by the district, state or Federal funding.
• Assists in promotional and public relations activities for the Academy.
• Serves as an advocate for the Academy to educational, political, civic and business communities.
• Encourages employers to support the school’s Academy efforts company-wide and facilitates the relationship between the Academy and its partner-employers.
• Assists schools in developing ongoing measurement processes that provide data to support fundraising and business recruitment efforts and track student progress

                     - Student alumni tracking
                     - Student participation in Academy activities
                     - Class graduation rates
                     - List of Advisory Board members and their contributions to the program

The Benefits of Academy Involvement And Advisory Board Membership

The benefits of getting involved with the local Academy, including Advisory Board membership, can be broken into two main areas:

The Financial Factors

• Higher employee recruiting opportunities (ability to)
  • Identify and groom future entry-level workers
  • Reduce recruiting costs
  • Retain local talent from the geographic area
• Lower training costs
• Lower employee turnover
• Higher morale in current workers
• Greater ability to work in teams
• Greater work ethic
• Greater employee productivity
• Increased networking
• Increased positive public relations news
• Greater exposure in the market(s) served by the company

The Altruistic Factors

• Giving back to the community
  • Mentoring
  • Job shadowing
  • Providing paid internships
• Being an agent of change in education
  • Speaking with Boards of Education or Superintendents
• Getting involved in schools in a focused, direct way
  • Speaking in the classroom
• Changing the lives of students through meaningful interaction
  • Mentoring, shadowing, internships, classroom speaking, mock interviews, resume writing, student conferences
• Providing professional development and technical assistance for educators
  • Summer externships
• Reviewing and updating curriculum
  • Providing expertise and collateral material