"There is no lack of creativity and willingness to try new innovative approaches in our schools. Our goal is to help unlock that creativity and give schools, principals, teachers and children the resources to succeed." – Nike President & CEO Mark Parker
As the Nike School Innovation Fund’s inaugural year came to a close, the program had a big impact on the local educational community. The five-year, nine million dollar commitment is localized to Nike World Headquarter’s surrounding school districts: Beaverton, Hillsboro and Portland and it breaks into three tracks: Early Learner Academies, Leadership Development Programs and School Business Manager Support.
Year one results were inspiring. The Early Learner Academies held in all three districts, increased grade level competencies in early literacy skills and that level was sustained through school year. Furthermore, assessment scores jumped and feedback from parents was outstanding.
“This summer, my son Jacob had the opportunity to attend the (Early Learner Academy) through recommendation from Portland Public Schools. What a difference this made for him in terms of his reading abilities,” said a Portland Parent. “I think that the biggest gain Jacob received from attending the (program) was confidence in reading. Everyday I see Jacob reading and learning new words and I know that his school year will be highly successful for him because of the confidence in reading that he has now.”
Nike was also able to facilitate meaningful executive engagement. To give Nike a deeper understanding of the rolls and challenges schools face, executives served as a Principal for a Day and were then able to act as thought partners for principals. Eight executives were imbedded in the leadership program and assisted with team building and brainstorming sessions.
One of the advantages of having a five-year commitment is that it allows the program to grow and evolve where need be. “It’s not like you have one shot to get it right,” said Carole Smith, Portland Public School Superintendent. “Instead, we’re able to go deep, fine tune, get better, assess that we learned and where we are taking it, and how to better partner.”
After its inaugural year, the Nike School Innovation Fund created a platform for sharing best practices across the participating districts. With the funding of cross district grants, facilitating Board-to-Board conversations and hosting round tables, Nike is continuing to help local schools share their success stories and efficiencies. Nike has also assisted with recruiting a diverse talent pool – mentoring diverse, aspiring administrators so they are prepared when districts have assistant principle/principle positions open within one to two years.
More than 300 Nike employees volunteered, and executives committed their time to share expertise in strategic planning, leadership development, team building, coaching, communications, and out-of-the-box thinking. Further access to volunteer opportunities where Nike’s 7000 Oregon employees can participate individually or as a group can be found online via the “Hands on Portland” portal, which acts as an on-going resource-base for school-level needs. Hands on Greater Portland formed in 1996 and now has 13,000 volunteer connections a year.
To get involved, please visit handsonportland.org