JOIN THE WeLEARN NETWORK!

We’ve heard from business professionals and owners that they would like to become more involved in our schools, but they don’t know where to begin. Furthermore, they want their involvement to be as flexible as possible. The solution to these challenges has finally arrived!

“WeLEARN” (Westerville Linking Educators And Resources Network) has been created by the Chamber’s Education Committee in partnership with the Westerville City Schools. WeLEARN is intended to foster ongoing, reciprocal, & flexible networking opportunities between our business community & our schools.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING

A teacher planning a lesson on personal finance would like someone from the financial industry to speak to her elementary students about bank accounts and basic money management. She doesn’t know anyone in banking, but she has signed up for WeLEARN. She sends a message through WeLEARN explaining the need, providing her contact information, and suggesting several dates and times to speak to her class. Later that day, a bank manager reads the request in her e-mail and decides that she can help. She can even arrange a visit to the vault if the teacher is interested in a field trip! The bank manager contacts the teacher, discusses what she can provide, and confirms the details.

Businesses can also send requests through WeLEARN for such things as a student musical group to perform at a special event or an art student who could help paint a storefront window display. While we realize that not every request can or will be fulfilled, WeLEARN is a great place to start the search and make those connections!

WeLEARN is powered by Yahoo! Groups. It’s easy to use and offers customizable e-mail and web-based components to members. How (and how often) you receive postings is up to you. You can choose to receive an individual e-mail each time something is posted, or you can choose to receive a condensed “daily digest” of the day’s postings. If you don’t want to receive e-mails at all, you can choose “web only,” which means you will have to visit the WeLEARN web site to see any postings or send requests through the network (though we do not recommend this option!).

GETTING STARTED

1. Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WACC_WeLEARN/ and click the button that says “Join This Group!”

2. If you already have a Yahoo! account you can sign in and continue to the next step in joining WeLEARN. If you do not have a Yahoo account, you will need to create one (near the bottom of the right-hand column of this Yahoo! sign-in page). Follow the appropriate link and complete the required steps.

3. Confirm your information on the WeLEARN membership request page and choose the e-mail account to which you would like your notices sent (you do not need to use the yahoo e-mail associated with your account)!

4. Briefly explain why you want to join WeLEARN and choose how often to receive e-mails from the group. We recommend choosing either “Individual Email” or “Daily Digest” to get the full benefit of the WeLEARN Network.

5. Once you are confirmed as a member of WeLEARN you can begin receiving and sending postings to the group.

As with any new venture, it will take time to grow this network. If you know someone who might be interested in participating, be sure to invite them to join! We also encourage you to bookmark and explore the web page associated with the WeLEARN Network. Here members will be able to access other resources pertinent to the group’s purpose.

If you have questions about the WeLEARN Network, please call or e-mail any of the following Committee Co-Chairs:

We hope you take the time to join us in this exciting new venture. Help link our schools and businesses together for the greater good of our community!