Community Partners

BreakingT Founder, Alex Welsh gives a Trailblazer Talk (left). Artist Jo Edwards gives feedback on a mural project (right).

Learning at The Village School is an active experience that connects young people to the community in which they live and beyond. As our learners enter middle school, the experiences we create have an even broader purpose: to grow each learner’s individual social capital - or what we like to call, their “village.” The renewed focus on young people’s social-emotional health, the idea of a young person’s social capital has caught the attention of education researchers.

The Village School Community Partners program invites professionals in a wide range of disciplines to join our village through the following partnership opportunities:

  • TRAILBLAZER TALKS

    Community Partners are invited to our studios to share their professional journey with our learners. Trailblazer talks often coincide with the session’s Project. A signature learning experience at TVS, projects are designed to expose our learners to many different topics and experts so they can begin to hone in on areas of interest and passions.

    Estimated time commitment: 1 hour

  • COACHING SESSIONS

    Coaching or feedback sessions give learners the opportunity to interact with professionals directly, either one-on-one or in small groups. In these sessions, Community Partners give learners guidance on a work or project.

    Estimated time commitment: 2 hours

  • CAREER/SERVICE LEARNING HOST

    Apprenticeships are a cornerstone of the TVS learning design. This real-world experience, typically reserved for juniors in college, is something we are proud to offer learners as young as 11. Sending young people out into the world to learn about their strengths and passions is what we are all about. Community Partners support our Apprenticeship program by hosting a learner at their workplace, giving them exposure to a real-world professional setting through shadowing and hands-on work projects and assignments.

    Estimated time commitment: 5+ hours

Interested in becoming a TVS Community Partner? Please let us know.

COMMUNITY PARTNER TESTIMONIALS

“Our Village School apprentice brought a great level of maturity and enthusiasm, as well as a fresh perspective. Their being brand new to the industry was a great eye opener, and helped us check our assumptions about things we sometimes consider ‘common knowledge’ in our industry. Throughout the process they helped shape and create valuable insights and ideas to improve our process, and share our knowledge to make the process more accessible to both clients and employees new to the industry.”

“We were excited at the prospect of hosting an apprentice from The Village School. While we weren't sure exactly what to expect from such a young learner, we soon discovered that the apprentice we were working with was more mature than several college interns (and many adults) we've worked with in the past. We also found that it quickly became an overwhelmingly positive experience for our team.”