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The look in his eyes said it best as the obviously frustrated teacher flailed his arms and pointed at a disassembled fork and handlebars lying on the ground. A wheel spun uselessly on the floor at his feet.
"…If you would just put the thingy into the doodad, and screw the thing-a-ma-bobber into the whatcha-ma-call-it, we'd be done already..."
 Across the room, similar scenarios were unfolding as a room of highly-intelligent educators was reduced to an aggravated, irritated mess as they struggled to build a bicycle together - in silence. Now while it may seem like torture, it really was an exercise in communication, albeit in its most basic sense. The educators were training to become better communicators so they could teach their students valuable skills like teamwork and cooperation.
Welcome to the PASS© program.
The program, Partners Advancing Student Success© (PASS©) was developed by Motorola in partnership with APS. The Arizona K-12 Center joined in 2007. The program was created to bring business and education together and give students the skills they need to succeed in today's business world. It is a public, private, non-profit partnership aimed at teaching educators and students the business skills needed to contribute immediately in a workplace that changes daily.
"The bicycle building exercise is just one way we get educators to look at things differently," said APS Senior Consultant Louise Moskowitz. "The PASS© program is a 45-hour professional development opportunity designed to promote the 'Rigor/Relevance Framework' through the integration of the Arizona Academic Workplace Skills Standards. As teachers work with the concepts of problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, communications, resource management, computation/analysis, systems and technology, they help their students to be better prepared for tomorrow's workplace."
Basically, PASS© helps teachers help students understand the relevance of the subjects they are learning and how those skills are important in higher education, the business work and beyond," said Moskowitz, who also is involved with APS' other education-based programs.
APS became involved in the PASS© program ten years ago in order to help ensure that students develop the skills set forth by the Arizona Academic Workplace Skills Standards. According to Moskowitz, the PASS© program has been a success in connecting these standards and core subjects. The goal is to take PASS© statewide.
"Over the past seven years," says Moskowitz, "we have received rave reviews. Teachers are creating action plans based on their experience with the PASS© program and implementing new strategies in their classroom. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive."
Moskowitz gave the example of a kindergarten teacher who changed the names of her classroom centers to workstations. At each workstation, the students had to sign in and out, replicating a task that may be required in a workplace. It's never too early to teach our children responsibility. As a result, Moskowitz said the children were more attentive and accountable for their attitudes.
Another teacher who teaches physical education changed his grading system. In addition to grading his students on how well they did in a sport or exercise lesson, he graded them on attendance, their appearance, and how well they participated in group sports.
"We are trying to help build tomorrow's workforce and business leaders," said Moskowitz. "If we can reach students now, we can teach them the attributes they will need for tomorrow. We can help them to improve test scores, decrease absenteeism and encourage leadership, responsibility and a work ethic."
Moskowitz' counterpart at Motorola agrees.
"I always say; if we only have one nickel to spend in the community, let's spend it on teachers," said Barbara Clark of Motorola's Arizona Community Relations and Education department. "APS is a wonderful partner for us because we are two companies of a like heart when it comes to education and teachers. Our partnership with APS is even more powerful because APS is statewide and Motorola is not. APS can help take the program to places Motorola maybe can't."
So far, more than 615 K through 12 educators have participated in PASS©, impacting over 56,500 students.
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