More than 100 Socorro Independent School District principals, parent liaisons and Communities In Schools (CIS) coordinators connected with local businesses and organizations during the 12th annual SISD Partners in Education Orientation and Expo on Sept. 3 at the Student Activities Complex II.
This year’s theme, “The Case for Collaboration,” focused on uncovering new connections, exploring opportunities and building partnerships that supported school communities.
The event aimed to strengthen relationships between school representatives and community partners and highlighted the resources that can support students, teachers and families throughout the school year. Businesses showcased their services and partnership opportunities to enhance student achievement and campus engagement.
Jaclyn Moreno, the CIS coordinator at Sierra Vista STEAM Academy, enjoyed attending the expo every year, saying that it allowed her to connect with community partners who could provide incentives for students and the teachers she works with.
“They're extremely important because I think as a district and as a campus, sometimes we're limited with funding,” Moreno said. She credited community partners like Little Caesars for offering rewards, such as coupons, for students who achieve perfect attendance or make the A Honor Roll. They also provide incentives for teachers, especially during Teacher Appreciation Month in May.
“So, we want to keep our students engaged, our teachers engaged. It's important to kind of bring in those partners at no cost. It just kind of helps boost morale and things like that. The partners are really important to our campuses,” Moreno said.
Mercedes Wells, the General Manager of Bahama Buck’s, promoted the company’s new product line, Bahama Sodas, during the event. She said the company distributes thousands of coupons annually to SISD campuses and maintains close relationships with parent liaisons and counselors.
“So it's good to have that relationship with them because those little coupons make a really big impact on the students and the promises that they make to the school and the promises that the teachers can make to them as well,” Wells said.
One of the highlights of the expo was a donation from MAC.BID, an online auction company that recently opened in El Paso. The company donated pallets of school supplies and backpacks that were distributed through a friendly competition among attendees.
Jose Rodriguez, general manager of MAC.BID, said community involvement is a priority for the company.
“One of the owners, the CFO, is big into donating to schools, churches, et cetera. (He) wanted to donate some items for the schools,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said MAC.BID purchases returned and overstock items from major retailers.
“So, we get an influx of items from A-Z. Pretty much anything Amazon sells we kind of get. So, these items are just put aside for schools, things that we think they would use,” Rodriguez added.
The company’s donations included backpacks, folders, binders, paper, pencils and other classroom supplies.
During the MAC.BID supply challenge, Krystal Ramirez, a Partners in Education liaison with KEYS Academy, collected approximately a dozen backpacks in just 30 seconds.
“I'm going to be giving them to some of my at-risk youth in the CIS program,” Ramirez said. "They do need these, as well as some school supplies, so it's going to work great for them.”