State Farm^® Learning and Teaching Exchange (S.L.A.T.E.)

State Farm® recognizes the benefit of ongoing, meaningful professional development for teachers. Unfortunately many schools are unable to honor some requests for developmental opportunities for their teachers because of a lack of available and qualified substitutes. In response, State Farm developed a program to address this concern. The State Farm Learning and Teaching Exchange program (S.L.A.T.E.) began as a pilot program at State Farm's corporate location and has been shared company wide to other State Farm locations for consideration. The program builds on an existing policy allowing State Farm employees a yearly paid Education Support (ES) day to volunteer in a local school. Choosing to use their Education Support Day benefit in this manner, State Farm employees volunteer as a substitute teacher in a school for a prearranged professional development opportunity for the partnering teacher.

The S.L.A.T.E. program provides a cost savings to the partnering school districts as well. By utilizing S.L.A.T.E. substitutes, districts are not challenged to use their funds to hire substitutes when teachers are involved in professional development. In times of tight budgets, schools can allocate their substitute teacher budget for those times when teachers are sick or have an immediate need to be out of the classroom. This program also allows State Farm employees, as community citizens and taxpayers, the opportunity to truly understand the environment and challenges of today's schools.

All State Farm employees involved in this program must meet state substitute teaching certification requirements and attend a half-day workshop on school policy and strategy prior to their involvement. The workshop is provided during regular work hours and is considered a personal development opportunity for the employees participating. Each participating employee voluntarily chooses to use their ES day to substitute in a partnering public school for a teacher engaged in pre-arranged professional development. The S.L.A.T.E. program increases employee awareness of opportunities to use their ES day in a meaningful way. It also provides a structured process for State Farm employees to support their local schools and teachers. Most importantly, S.L.A.T.E. increases the likelihood that teachers can receive the professional development they want and quality schools require.

If you have further questions, please email: HOME PA-EDUEXCEL.