The partnership between Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and the Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education (MCBRE) is one of four educational partnerships that has received a TEC Champion Partnership Award from the Congressional Black Caucus this year.

The awards presentation took place on September 26 during the 33rd annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference held in Washington, D.C. The award was accepted on behalf of the partnership by Dr. Jerry D. Weast, superintendent of schools, and Dr. Robert Anastasi, executive director of MCBRE.

The MCPS /MCBRE partnership was honored for the collaboration between educators and the business community in developing the school system’s strategic plan for technology. Of particular note is a Web site that will soon be unveiled that provides information about internship opportunities for students.

The TEC awards began in 1999 and are given each year to recognize innovative public-private partnerships that use technology. The awardees “demonstrate the ability of diverse organizations to collaborate in new and visionary ways to empower students and communities alike,” according to Congressman Major R. Owens, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Education Braintrust.

The Education Braintrust sessions at the Legislative Conference provided an opportunity for the winning partnerships to showcase their strategies to other community and technology leaders attending the conference. The winning partnerships were featured at a special Issue Forum entitled Technology for Tutorial and Program Enhancement.

Other winners of the TEC Champion Partnership Award for 2003 were:

o The AT&T Foundation in collaboration with CTCNet, the Education Development Center, the NAACP, the National Urban League and the United Negro College Fund.
o The NASA-SEMAA Program.
o Pioneers in Education collaboration of the NASA Glenn Research Center, National Museum of the U.S. Army, DuPont, and the SECME Alliance.