|
Boneparth
(R) rings bell at New York Stock Exchange as John Thain
(L), President of
the NYSE Foundation looks on |
Corporate Leaders In Education
An Interview with Peter Boneparth, CEO, Jones Apparel Group
By Nazneen Malik
Poised with gavel in
hand, Peter Boneparth, President and CEO of Jones Apparel
Group, Inc, stands in the balcony overlooking the floor of
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the commercial capital
of the world. At exactly four o’clock, he rings
the closing bell, signaling the market’s close with the
pounding of his gavel.
Earlier in the afternoon, Boneparth announced the launch of
Jones New York In The Classroom,
the first corporate-wide program dedicated to improving the
quality of education through teacher recruitment, retention,
and recognition. Education was an issue where we thought that
we could make a difference, says Boneparth, and our research
indicated that funneling resources towards teachers would be
most valuable. He also relates a few perturbing facts about
the challenges facing the educational system today, and more
specifically, the difficulties that teachers encounter. Research
indicates, he says, that over the next decade the nation will
need more than two million teachers; however, nearly fifty
percent of teachers leave their profession within the first
five years. In addition, teachers spend roughly 1,200 dollars,
on average, of their own money to equip their classrooms.
The Jones New York In
The Classroom program, offers both monetary support
and access to human resources to combat these problems.
Jones Apparel Group employees are allotted up to three
hours of paid time off each month to donate their time
to communities and schools. Employees in distribution centers
and retail stores have already begun taking initiative,
comments Boneparth. From bake sales to face painting, they
are starting to raise money in their local communities
to give to schools and other educational endeavors. In
addition, the Jones Apparel Group has partnered with four
non-profit organizations who share a similar vision—a
teacher-centered approach to improving education. These
organizations include: TeachersCount, Teachers College
New Teacher Academy, Fund for Teachers, and Adopt-A-Classroom.
“We believe that over time we will be able to elevate the stature
of teaching, and these organizations will be able to provide
tangible resources that will improve teachers’ experiences,” states
Boneparth. Teachers will have access to grant programs that
will enhance their professional development, and be given
the support and recognition they deserve so that they can
be effective educators. Through Adopt-A-Classroom, teachers
will receive a 500 dollar stipend for classroom supplies
and equipment.
|
Troy
Richards, Teacher, with students Tamasia Johnson & D’ashley
Moreira |
“I think that a company of our size has a responsibility to try to
do something,” says Boneparth, “we benefit greatly
from the workforce and the talent pool throughout the country,
so we have a vested interest in the educational system. We
need to give something back to that.”
Indeed, the Jones Apparel Group, has already begun. “We wanted to
adopt an entire school to make a statement locally,” explains
Boneparth. Perusing mission statements of various schools,
they selected The Global Enterprise Academy, housed in Christopher
Columbus High School in the Bronx, due to its heavy focus
on business related education. “The idea is to build
a lasting relationship,” he says, “and not only
will we continue working with students there, we are also
going to be bringing the students out of the school to visit
places like NYSE.” In addition, the Jones Apparel Group
will also offer internships. “We want students to have
that experience so they can apply what they are learning
in school to the real world,” he adds.
The response has been wonderful. Troy Richards, a Computer Arts teacher
at the Global Enterprise Academy, is among those who will
be receiving a 500 dollar stipend as part of the Adopt a
classroom program. “The people at Jones are really
interested,” he says, “and they are coming back
and showing us that they want to work with the students.”
Tamasia Johnson, a ninth grader at Global Enterprise Academy is excited
about the program, especially the internship opportunities. “I
want to be a fashion stylist,” she says with certainty, “and
an internship will help.” Ninth grader, D’ashley
Moreira, shares her enthusiasm and wants an internship to
learn more about business.
“We want to be leaders in this field and we want to have other corporations
join us,” says Boneparth. “For us the pride of
authorship is less than the pride of leadership. We spent
a lot of money up front to create an infrastructure that
could support a much bigger program because we want to grow
and we want long term visibility for teaching as a profession.”#
