Transcending the Traditional Educational Partnership
History/Background
Over the last eighty-six years Idaho Power Company, headquartered in the capital city of Boise, Idaho, has grown from a small agricultural electricity co-op to a publicly owned corporation serving over 400,000 residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers within a 20,000 square mile service territory in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Touted as one of the most efficiently operated utilities in the Pacific Northwest by consumer advocate organizations such as JD Power & Associates, Idaho Power Company maintains a long-standing reputation for providing some of the lowest cost and most environmentally safe electricity in the United States. In addition to its operational excellence, however, Idaho Power Company is also recognized as a local and regional leader and model of excellence for its many corporate citizenship strategies.
For decades, Idaho Power Company has provided a "presence" in its communities through employee volunteer programs, scholarship and foundation contributions, event sponsorships and so on. But it is the company's commitment to education, most notably at the elementary level, that is the cornerstone of its social investment. For these Community Education efforts to be successful, the company's five representatives must proactively establish and nurture lasting relationships with the curriculum directors, superintendents, principals, teachers, staff and students from each school district within the service area. They must also stay abreast of the latest developments in curriculum and instructional theory, as well as the most up-to-date energy industry news and information. And so it has been, for over twenty years, the formal community education programs presented in nearly 2,500 classrooms that, not only enhance, but also truly transcend the traditional educational partnership.
Philosophy
Embracing a philosophy that today's children will be tomorrow's decision makers and opinion leaders, Idaho Power has inherent within its mission a promise to provide those children a better understanding of the world in which they live. Perhaps subscribing to the contemporary "No Child Left Behind" philosophy for at least the last two decades, Idaho Power's community education outreach is deliberate in its attempt to reach every child in every classroom within the company's service territory. The company's goal in regard to its Community Education Program is to work in concert with educators in reinforcing curriculum objectives of critical thinking, specifically in the areas that match the company's business objectives. The programs and classroom presentations offered by the Community Education Team are designed to be informative and educational -- and are intended to incorporate methodologies that will reinforce statewide curriculum guidelines.
And as an integral part of how the state of Idaho has evolved and progressed over the last 112 years, Idaho Power Company has continually sought to educate these future consumers on why it is more than just the company that "keeps the lights on." More specifically, students learn that Idaho Power provides each of them, their families, their friends and others with efficient, reliable, low-cost electricity while keeping safety and environmental stewardship at the forefront.
Vision Statement
Acting as a liaison between Idaho Power Company and the communities in which it serves, the Community Education Team seeks to inform and teach current and future generations by offering multi-dimensional educational programs to a variety of diverse customer groups. In a credible, professional and forward-thinking manner, the Community Education Team strives to provide a foundation of energy-related knowledge to current stakeholders, as well as to tomorrow's consumers, opinion leaders and decision makers.
Mission Statement
The Community Education Team's mission is to educate a variety of customer groups on issues related to the energy industry and to design, develop, implement and evaluate a number of community programs. These efforts are geared to enhance Idaho Power Company's reputation for outstanding corporate citizenship and social responsibility.
Program Theme(s)
Certainly from a broad-stroke perspective, Idaho Power Company's Community Education Program can be perceived as a curriculum partnership -- most directly involved in the enhancement of the state's guidelines regarding the sciences. Specifically, the information provided by Idaho Power Company in relation to topics such as electromagnetism, sources of energy, the use of various natural resources in the production of electricity, environmental impacts of generation facilities, and general electrical safety is in direct correlation with the state's academic policies. Further, company representatives, primarily the Community Education team, periodically meet or speak with curriculum directors, superintendents, principals and teachers in an effort to refine and tailor the formal programs presented at the elementary, middle school and high school levels.
Yet another component of the company's Community Education efforts lies in the offering of experiential learning. Specifically, folded into the various classroom presentations are opportunities for students to obtain first hand knowledge of the many elements of the electricity industry through the observations of electrical safety equipment, salmon, steelhead and raptor displays (threatened species impacted by electrical facilities), turbine operations, and high voltage demonstrations. Additionally, experimentation with electric meter usage, hand-crank miniature electric generators, and electromagnets further advances the students' experiential learning -- leading to a better understanding of biology, geology, mathematics and Idaho history.
Investment in Social Capital
Although possessing a conservative political philosophy through its eighty-six years of existence, Idaho Power Company nonetheless is very progressive in its vision for the future -- namely in the area of investment in social capital. Fully understanding that this type of investment is truly an investment in success for itself and for stakeholders, Idaho Power Company strives to leverage the enormous network of available resources in a world that is getting ever smaller and more interconnected. Within this spirit of mutual trust, the company and the communities it serves continually develop and nurture relationships with one another in an effort to establish forums for information sharing and to engage in dialogue centered on the building of strong communities. This effort is cooperative and collaborative, where open reciprocity often leads to creative problem solving, increased efficiency in identifying and resolving stakeholder concerns and value creation.
A significant portion of the reciprocity process can be found in the company's Community Education Program. Undoubtedly, the collaborative relationships between company representatives and educators builds an environment conducive to developing in children the knowledge and skills they will need to make good life decisions, to think critically and creatively, and to shape a safe and just world for their own future. Ultimately, this act of corporate social responsibility is a small, but powerful, tool in Idaho Power Company's ongoing commitment to operate in an ethical fashion. It is also tantamount to improving the quality of life for employees and their families as well as the local communities and society at large.
Sustainability
In an industry fraught with restructuring, deregulation and financial instability, many utilities have scaled down or even discontinued their community education and outreach programs over the last five to ten years. Unfortunately, best practices studies and customer satisfaction surveys have provided evidence that diminishing this type of social responsibility has had a definitively negative impact on market share, corporate earnings and consumer confidence. Sadder still is the fact that, while many of those same utilities have attempted to re-establish the relationships and partnerships that fell prey to an industry still in a state of disarray, very few have been able to do so. Instead, they are now dedicating an enormous amount of time and effort over the last couple of years lobbying school districts educational partners.
Thus, Idaho Power feels extremely fortunate that it had the foresight to maintain its social investment through difficult times. The company also feels strongly that, through witnessing the demise of other community education partnerships, constant nurturing and renewing of these relationships is tantamount to the success of this type of corporate strategy.
Although there is little quantitative evidence indicating its level of success, Idaho Power Company's Community Education program, in existence for over twenty years, has achieved success in a number of ways. To begin, just the fact that these partnerships have been a mainstay in hundreds of schools across a vast service territory since the late 1970's is a strong testament of the program's durability and exhaustive compliance with state education curriculum. On a more interpersonal level, however, the thousands of "thank-you" cards and letters Community Education Representatives receive every year from students, teachers and principals further validates Idaho Power Company's social investment in the schools and communities in which it operates.
Summary
Undoubtedly, Idaho Power Company has a long and rich tradition of being a standard of excellence in the area of corporate citizenship. The company continues to stand as a testament, and takes enormous pride in actually carrying out its vision of playing a large part in creating a better world in which to live. This vision is realized through the company's ethical business practices, environmental stewardship, and an investment in social capital that includes -- among many other components -- community education programs.
Author
Russ Weedon, Community Education Representative
Contributors
Claudia Tremelling, Community Education Representative
Linda Garcia, Community Education Representative
Pam Compton, Community Education Representative
Chris Bell, Community Education Representative