Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Laura Whitley was featured in an article in Texas Lawbook on the firm's new partnership with United to Learn (U2L), allowing the firm to expand its education volunteer efforts to the elementary school level.
This week, the firm announced a new partnership with nonprofit United to Learn that will support one of Pinkston’s feeder schools, C.F. Carr Elementary School — closing a gap in the pipeline loop, in a sense.
The new volunteer effort is a partnership of mutual benefit. On one level, it will better equip a segment of the Dallas Independent School District with the tools needed to provide its students the best education possible and set them up for future academic success. On another level, it will connect Haynes Boone with underprivileged students at the start of their educational journey, providing an opportunity to add more diverse lawyers to the legal industry should any students take an interest in the law as a result of exposure to corporate lawyers at an earlier age.
Whitley said the Carr Elementary partnership was particularly attractive to Haynes Boone for three reasons: the firm’s longstanding dedication to education initiatives, the desire to expand that work to the elementary level and the partnership’s compatibility with its existing program with Pinkston. Working with Carr Elementary students means Haynes Boone will reach future Pinkston High students.
“If we’re really serious about [creating] a pipeline into the legal field, we need to start thinking about the early pre-K and elementary years,” Whitley said. “In order to have those successful high school students in the pipeline, they need to have strong reading and math fundamentals in the pre-K and elementary years.”
“[The school’s] big need was supporting the teachers because so much is being asked of [them] on a daily basis,” Whitley said. “They’re putting so much into the students so [Principal Hooks] wants to make sure they’re getting the support they need.”
To read the full article from Texas Lawbook, click here.
This week, the firm announced a new partnership with nonprofit United to Learn that will support one of Pinkston’s feeder schools, C.F. Carr Elementary School — closing a gap in the pipeline loop, in a sense.
The new volunteer effort is a partnership of mutual benefit. On one level, it will better equip a segment of the Dallas Independent School District with the tools needed to provide its students the best education possible and set them up for future academic success. On another level, it will connect Haynes Boone with underprivileged students at the start of their educational journey, providing an opportunity to add more diverse lawyers to the legal industry should any students take an interest in the law as a result of exposure to corporate lawyers at an earlier age.
Whitley said the Carr Elementary partnership was particularly attractive to Haynes Boone for three reasons: the firm’s longstanding dedication to education initiatives, the desire to expand that work to the elementary level and the partnership’s compatibility with its existing program with Pinkston. Working with Carr Elementary students means Haynes Boone will reach future Pinkston High students.
“If we’re really serious about [creating] a pipeline into the legal field, we need to start thinking about the early pre-K and elementary years,” Whitley said. “In order to have those successful high school students in the pipeline, they need to have strong reading and math fundamentals in the pre-K and elementary years.”
“[The school’s] big need was supporting the teachers because so much is being asked of [them] on a daily basis,” Whitley said. “They’re putting so much into the students so [Principal Hooks] wants to make sure they’re getting the support they need.”
To read the full article from Texas Lawbook, click here.