Craig Hockenberry: The Ultimate Partnership, Adopt-A-Class
Craig
Hockenberry: The Ultimate Partnership, Adopt-A-Class
A call from Bill Burwinkel to discuss a holiday
partnership with his company ended up impacting the lives of thousands of
children in Cincinnati.
It was a fall afternoon and the school day had just
ended at Oyler. I got a call from Bill
Burwinkel who was a longtime supporter of Oyler and a good friend. He was interested in starting a program that
included adopting a class for the holidays, however it was much different than
your ordinary Christmas party.
His idea included reading, writing, building
relationships, mentors, expanding parterships with schools and companies, and
yes a huge Christmas party at school during the last week before winter break. I remember the official first class back in
2004 was a sixth grade class on the third floor at Oyler School. When I walked
into the room to say thank you to National Marketshare I was completely
overwhelmed by the incredible giving spirit.
The volunteers were opening gifts with kids, eating
pizza, and having conversations with some happy children. It looked like a
Christmas morning in an affluent home somewhere in the suburbs. For many of the
kids this was their only Christmas and one of their only chances to see
professionals and build relationships with people outside of their
community.
Following the first Adopt-A-Class Bill and I met
several times to talk about expansion.
He got more people to buy into the philosophy of a yearlong partnership
that included a timeline of events, programs, letter writing, field trips and
much more. He then spoke to companies close
to Oyler or companies who already had a partnerships such as Kemba Credit, the
Consult Inc., Consolidated Metal, Postal Employees Credit Union, Paycor,
Jackson & Lewis, and many more. Then
the following Christmas we added several new classrooms and eventually the
entire school Preschool thru eighth grade were adopted. These partnerships turned into much
more. They included Reds games, field
trips, spring letter writing, tours of their companies, job shadowing, and of
course they culminated with Christmas party in December.
Although Oyler School is the iconic ground zero for
Adopt-A-Class after those early days Mr. Burwinkel expanded the program into
more than 30 schools and over 300 business throughout the region severing over
6,000 kids. This program has left an
amazing impact on these children.
By Craig
Hockenberry
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