The Baton Rouge Area Chamber today announced the launch of its Virtual Schoolhouse, an online platform designed to help business leaders shape the future workforce by digitally connecting to classrooms.
Virtual Schoolhouse matches members of the business community to participating classrooms via keywords, skillset and geographic location, BRAC says in a news release. Business leaders can use the tool to volunteer as guest speakers, project panelists and mentors, and offer virtual internships for public school students in the Capital Region. The online platform also helps facilitate in-classroom volunteering.
“There is no better way to ensure a qualified pipeline of local talent than for businesses to actively engage in education,” Adam Knapp, president and CEO of BRAC, says in a statement. “The Virtual Schoolhouse offers tremendous potential to enhance both quality workforce and relevant student learning.”
Liz Smith, BRAC’s director of policy and research, will oversee the program.
“Students are able to authentically investigate any occupation or industry they can imagine, while business people are able to directly inform the next generation of workers, and neither the student nor the professional needs to leave their desks to do it,” says Smith in a statement.
BRAC says it partnered with Nepris, a leader in virtual business engagement, to develop Virtual Schoolhouse.
The Nepris platform also helps with BRAC’s Micro-Enterprise Credential, developed with the Louisiana Department of Education to prepare students to become small business owners and employees. To qualify for the credential, students must present a self-assessment to a business mentor, either in person or virtually.
Business leaders and educators interested in signing up for Virtual Schoolhouse can register online. Anyone interested in the Micro-Enterprise Credential should visit the chamber’s website.
