Southern California Edison: stepping up to support education.

Fred Francia is not a school-teacher, yet the Southern California Edison manager volunteers two days each school semester to visit local schools. His message: Stay in school!

Francia, a project manager in the company's business retention division, is a participant in Edison's Step Up program. Step Up is the company's effort to strengthen the connection between business and education while enhancing its reputation as a responsible corporate citizen. The program is designed to be a long-term partnership between the company and the region's schools, providing teaching and educational resources, as well as volunteer and financial support.

Step Up is an acronym for Student, Teacher, Employee, Parent and Upgrade Projects, and the name hints at the wide range of projects available through the program. The program has five areas of focus: After-School Clubs, Volunteers in Education, a Mini-Grant Program for teachers, Parenting and Upgrade Projects.

At first glance, it may seem incongruous that a utility would bother with education, particularly with school children identified as "at risk" youth between kindergarten and high school. Yet Edison has very good reasons, indeed, for making their staff and resources available to potentially troubled schoolchildren. The company believes that economically healthy communities need well-educated, productive citizens.

Francia agrees. "If youth is not kept busy in school and in reaching higher achievements, the dropout rate continues to rise and you have less of a skilled labor force. In the end, companies may not be as competitive," he said.

Francia adds that he enjoys visiting schools in East Los Angeles, "because that's where I grew up," Francia says. "Most of those youngsters come from moderate- or low-income households. I want to reach out to the at-risk students who are not looking forward or setting goals to complete their education."

Step Up was created to address some of the recent challenges facing the educational system, such as budget cuts, increasing dropout rates and growing diverse student population. The program is also Edison's way of supporting "Goals 2000: Educate America Act." Among the goals of the law are dramatic improvements in school readiness for preschool youngsters, reduction of the dropout rate, and increased parental participation.

Funding, as well as volunteerism, is another way Step Up can help schools. A component of Step Up, Step Up to Support Education, the Mini-Grant program, channels funding into deserving school projects. In 1994, Edison has contributed $100,000 to support 74 school-based programs, and that money has been used to leverage another $66,000 from other businesses to support an additional 113 school projects.

One recipient of the Mini-Grant program is Fremont Elementary School in Long Beach, which received $2,500 for its "Thank Goodness It's Thursday" after-school program. The grant pays for such wide-ranging activities as instruction in the arts and sciences, with such partners as the Cabrillo Marine Museum and the Long Beach Museum of Art.

Marketing is an important component of the Step Up to Support Education program. All schools in Edison's vast service territory -- an area which covers much of Southern and Central California -- receive grant applications to participate in the program.

To publicize the projects of all schools that have applied, Edison publishes a catalog, with an overview of each of those projects. The catalog lists and describes the school projects, so businesses and community can choose those projects which match their own community-service goals.

Mak Nakayama, president and chief executive officer of the San Gabriel Valley Medical Center says he used the catalog to connect with McKinley Elementary School. "We chose McKinley because it was in our very own community," he says.

Nakayama notes that many of the students are of Hispanic and Asian backgrounds, and for many English is a second language. To sharpen their English skills, the medical center provided McKinley students with an interactive computer program. "The technology and the software applications available in this program will help them improve their language skills and make them more productive as they become citizens," he says.

One person who is excited by the connection of business to community is Wendy Isaacs, a parent volunteer in Fremont Elementary's "Thank Goodness It's Thursday" program. What is important, she says, is to "look at your community as a resource. There's a whole world out there full of people who would love to work with you and partner with you, if they knew what you were up to."

For Francia and other Edison volunteers who choose to work and partner with schools in the community, there are personal rewards, as well.

"I've gotten letters from students saying. 'Thank you for your presentation. There's been a lot of pressure in my family for me to leave school and go to work, but I am going to try and stay in school.' If I hadn't taken time out of my busy schedule and made this effort, where would these students be going?"

Volunteers like Francia, however, are only one component of the total Step Up program. Parents, teachers, students, and the business community, are all working together to reach a common goal. Successful students equal successful communities.

EDISON'S PARENTING EDUCATION PROGRAM

The lack of parental involvement in the educational process has been identified by educators as a major problem in the nation's educational system, particularly in our region's schools.

Edison has recognized this need to involve parents in the educational process through the STEP UP program, which includes a Parents for Student Success component.

"Parenting for Education" classes are available to all Edison employees and their spouses.

This past year, about 850 employees, spouses, and their school-age children attended nine College Information Nights, designed to help students and their parents make decisions about college and financial aid. More seminars are planned this fall.

"One of our highest priorities in our outreach to the community is educational support," Edison Chairman John Bryson says. "We want to help our employees to develop skills to support their children in school. Our company and our employees provide a high level of stability, continuity, and community involvement. If our 17,000 employees can provide leadership in parenting, we can be a powerful force," Bryson adds.

In the larger community, Edison supports established and new parenting programs that focus on student success in school and parents' involvement in their children's schools.

Edison hopes to effect dramatic changes throughout the communities that it serves with the Parents for Student Success program.

Tani Welsh is manager of educational services for Southern California Edison.