21st Century Schools Initiative: Cisco Systems "21S" Fellows Help Rebuild Schools Post-Katrina

March 10, 2006

By Jenny Carless, News@Cisco

In an effort to help students, schools and communities recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, Cisco Systems created the 21st Century Schools ("21S") Initiative. The program, a blueprint for rebuilding and improving schools, will begin in the Gulf states and then can be replicated around the world.

A key component of the 21S Initiative is the work of dedicated Cisco employees who have signed on as "21S Fellows"; they have moved to the Gulf Coast region for a year to work directly with local school districts in implementing the 21S programs. Three teams - governance, technology and education - will work closely together and with local school leaders.

The governance team is tasked with overall facilitation and support of the 21S Initiative. This team - and the entire 21S program - is led by Bill Fowler, project executive, a Cisco leader with broad business and education experience.

A Catalyst for Change

The 21S Initiative's vision is to transform the approach to learning, creating a 21st century education model that improves the quality of education, prepares students with 21st century skills, and creates a foundation for economic opportunities and community success. "This is an opportunity to show how technology can improve education and help to make our students competitive on the worldwide stage," Fowler explains. "This isn't technology for technology's sake; it's being used to improve the lives of students and their communities. The ultimate goal of the 21S Initiative is to build a 21st century education model that is scalable and replicable, in the future, and in other communities."

The program is moving ahead well. "Right after the hurricane, we had an intensive period of learning - spending time in the affected areas to see which schools we should focus on and working with the state Louisiana and Mississippi Departments of Education to understand what programs made sense for them. We also had to sort through many applications for the Cisco 21S Fellows and pull together the most suitable teams," says Fowler. "Now we're beginning to execute on those plans so that at the end of this school year, new technologies and educational programs will be in place."

East Park Elementary School in Moss Point

An example of the current efforts - and of the success Cisco has achieved in engaging other companies to help, can be seen at East Park Elementary School in Moss Point, Mississippi. The school had been damaged badly during hurricane Katrina, but the district worked diligently to quickly reopen. Then, the school suffered another blow, from a fire that destroyed much of its buildings over the Thanksgiving 2005 holiday.

"This school wasn't on our original list of schools to target," Lori Bush explains. Lori is a Cisco 21S Fellow serving as the Strategic Partner and Relationship Manager for the program. "However, when we learned of the further devastation and that they were going to have to replace much of the school's intercom system, we stepped in to help. It was clearly a great chance to leverage the network and install a converged communications infrastructure to support their needs."

Cisco enlisted the help of Berbee, a Cisco global channel partner in the Internet Protocol (IP) telephony space. Berbee donated its InformaCast software that, along with IP phones and switching equipment donated from Cisco, created the foundation for an application that replaces the school's overhead paging system. The new system puts an IP phone in each classroom. It also facilitates Amber Alerts, which appear on each phone handset as well as the teacher's computer screen, and allows principals to call in and address one teacher or a set of teachers, as needed.

East Park Elementary now has safe communications back on campus," says Bush. "The new system, which is already up and running, enhances emergency as well as general communications"

A Committed Team

Five years of work in the Internet Business Solutions Group at Cisco and his earlier experience as an assistant superintendent for schools in South Central Los Angeles give Fowler the perfect background for this new position. As the project executive, he wears several hats - helping develop the vision for the 21S schools, acting as an education consultant to the teams and to the schools, and facilitating opportunities for Fellows to grow and develop as individuals and as Cisco employees.

Fowler emphasizes the important role the 21S Fellows play in the program's success. "We are making a significant contribution to schools in the region, but as important as the money and equipment is, it's the commitment of people - the Cisco Fellows and our extended team - that really makes the difference," he notes.

As the program moves ahead, Fowler is looking forward to seeing the students become more actively engaged in their schools. "Unfortunately, the tradition in this area has been that the really good students leave, and the rest are left to muddle through," he points out. "Our goal, however, is to help build a foundation for economic growth and community development that will provide young people who stay in the region real prospects."

"These schools are already doing incredible work simply in recovering from the hurricane - and yet they are committed and are embracing the effort necessary to make real sustained transformational change happen," Fowler says. "If we succeed, we will have proven a model that can be scaled, replicated and sustained in schools everywhere. What could be better?"

Jenny Carless is a freelance writer located in Santa Cruz, CA.