Linked Learning integrates real-life work-experience with the student education experience. The purpose of Linked Learning is to inspire students to find their passion in life and get an early start on the technical and soft skills of that industry. By prepping students for the real-world, schools and industry have come together to help shorten the gap between school and working or post-secondary education.
Santa Ana has an incredible array of organizations, institutions and community members dedicated to ensuring our youth succeed but there is more work to be done in illustrating what these programs are and how they work together. This project is oriented towards mapping the Linked Learning opportunites in our community and making sure the pathways are operational and widely available.
From the Linked Learning website, "Linked Learning is not a program or a curriculum, but rather an integrated, systemic approach involving collaboration between high school and postsecondary educators, employers and community leaders. Linked Learning is a strategy for transforming education and regional economic development. Implementing Linked Learning successfully can require systemic change at the classroom, school, district and regional levels."
PROJECT GOALS
Collaborate
Work with educators, industry, non-profits and the City to ensure and illustrate Linked Learning pathways and which organizations do what in the process.
Connect
Utilize SantaAnaArts.org, a project created to help illustrate Arts & Creative pathways as a test-case
Develop additional pathway illustrations for other sectors including entrepreneurship, government, education, healthcare, etc.
Develop Startup Santa Ana (this website) into a participant of the technology pathway in our city to ensure future-based education, jobs and business opportunities
Co-locate
Create shared spaces and cohort in addition to current internship models
Bring work-training and college classes to the schools to create on-site engagement projects
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Contact us to help connect education, passion and work.
We need help:
Continue convening educators and industry to articulate the pathways and our responsbilities, inputs and outputs
Work on and promote projects like SantaAnaArts.org that organize and connect a sector
Bring all groups together to work on light-weight startup and community projects using the Startup Santa Ana platform
