Arrow Electronics Funds Teacher Training in Colorado's Cherry Creek School District
Centennial, Colorado – Arrow Electronics is expanding its support of innovation in the Cherry Creek School District by helping to fund a new teacher-training initiative. In June, the district will begin partnering with the Buck Institute for Education to train 550 teachers across all grades and several disciplines on how to teach project-based learning.
Teachers involved in the program will implement what they learn in the upcoming academic year. If each teacher reaches 100 students per day, soon all 55,000 students in the district will learn how to be innovators, making it one of the largest demonstrations of teaching innovation. The district plans to evaluate its performance after the pilot year is complete.
“At Arrow, we believe the world shouldn’t wait for the next Da Vinci or Edison to appear. Innovation is a skill set that can be taught,” said Joe Verrengia, global corporate social responsibility director at Arrow. “Teachers will guide students through the innovation process, considering what is possible and turning it into something practical.”
Arrow is a longtime supporter of Cherry Creek Schools, announcing its support of the teacher training program at the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation’s annual gala this March, which it also supported. For the last five years, Arrow has served as presenting sponsor of the district’s Cardboard Challenge, which encourages students to test their engineering skills by using recycled materials to bring creative ideas to life. Arrow employees participate as judges and volunteers in the STEM education event.
For its continuous support, Arrow received the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation’s 2018 Champion of Education award at the recent gala.
“We consider ourselves lucky to have a company like Arrow, that holds innovation as a guiding principle, as a key supporter of our efforts to stay on the cutting edge of 21st Century learning,” said Jill Henden, executive director of the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation.
In November 2016, voters in the Cherry Creek School District approved two ballot issues that will provide the district with critical funds to offer students the innovative opportunities needed to be successful in college and their careers. The district is one of the highest achieving in Colorado and educates about 55,000 students.
About Arrow Electronics
Arrow Electronics is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than 150,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network. The company maintains over 300 sales facilities and 45 distribution and value-added centers, serving over 80 countries. Learn more at fiveyearsout.com.
