2025 ISBE Career Connections Conference

Engaging businesses in work-based learning requires more than just offering internship opportunities—it demands a partnership that respects the realities of running a business. Schools often focus on educational outcomes, while businesses prioritize profitability and workflow. How can these two worlds align to create sustainable, meaningful partnerships?

Enter the Give Me TEN programs, a business-first approach to work-based learning. This innovative model flips the script, allowing businesses to dictate what they can realistically offer based on their job flow and profitability, while still providing students with valuable real-world experiences. By prioritizing business needs, the program ensures partnerships are practical, productive, and long-lasting.

Join us to explore how educators and administrators can simplify school-business relationships, engage local industries, and create work-based learning programs that truly work for everyone. Leave with actionable strategies to implement this forward-thinking approach in your own community.

There is a clear link between CTE and SEL.  The hands-on, active, and “authentic” nature of CTE coursework helps address the social emotional challenges our students face.  Research tells us we retain more learning, relieve stress, and transfer more knowledge over time when CTE incorporates selected SEL routines and activities in our courses.