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About the Education Committee

About the Education Committee

The Education Committee is made up of community leaders from both the educational and corporate spheres. The committee is inclusive in its approach. The purpose of the Chamber's Education Committee is to support all branches of learning from public, private, and vocational schooling to continuing education and the value of life-long learning. It is not the interest of the Chamber to change or critique the operation of the local schools. Instead, the intent is to promote and advocate for educational attainment initiatives in the wider community. It is for this reason that the Committee's initiatives and programs are fashioned to work toward influencing the local culture in a way that makes education a top-of-mind issue.

Recognizing the role of education in a changing economy, the Education Committee of the One SouthCoast Chamber was formed in an effort to promote education attainment and encourage the wider community to recognize its importance. Education affects all aspects of the community and is an issue with which all area residents should be concerned. To better equip the citizens and businesses of the Fall River area to compete in the changing market, the Education Committee seeks to raise community expectations regarding education and academic achievement. The ultimate goal of the Committee is to elevate the quality of life in Greater Fall River.

The Committee believes that embracing the importance of education is the first step toward raising expectations, which in turn will raise educational attainment and promote workforce and job readiness. A multi-pronged approach is necessary to be effective, which is why the Committee is leveraging community groups and organizations to achieve common goals.

The Committee's current long term initiative is to produce the "EdUp Campaign." EdUp is a long-term marketing campaign meant to promote educational appreciation by raising local expectations to aspire for higher educational attainment. As part of the EdUp Campaign, the Committee's initiatives have included:

  • Sustaining a monthly opinion article series in the Herald News' Community Voices section. These editorials are also printed in the Chamber Voice, which is the Chamber's monthly newsletter.
  • Promote discussions about Education on the Chamber's "Voice of Business" radio program on WSAR 1480 AM and the "The Bristol Business Connection" broadcast on local access cable television.
  • Advocacy and support at town and city council and school committee hearings for education and level services or better funding of our schools.
  • Production of Public Service Announcements for supporting local education.
  • Assisting organizations such as Teach for America and uAspire Boston to be established in our local schools to the benefit of area students and their families.