The students aren’t the only ones learning new things from their Business and Education partners.

For more than 10 years, businesses in the community have been teaming up with area schools to provide financial and motivational support such as writing students good luck notes on the first day of school or paying entry fees for a community project.

But during a reception Tuesday honoring the partnerships and their many endeavors, Amy Cohron, SCA Personal Care assistant to the plant manager, said many of the company’s workers have learned something from the students at their partner, Warren East High School.

“We had an event where the students opened up the lab and taught our employees computer classes,” Cohron said. “It’s been great for us because they’ve let us use their gym or podiums for a meeting ... I think with students coming in, it gives us a fresh new insight each year.”

Cohron said the business helped the students decorate for Christmas and prepare for Toys for Tots. SCA also has a co-op student from Warren East who goes to the business after attending class half the day to learn new business skills.

Senior Misty Forbes said the opportunity to learn from people like Cohron has opened her eyes to the career world.

“I’ve definitely learned about communication and how important that is,” Forbes said.

The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce has organized the partnership that links at least one business to every city and county school.

Jennifer Breiwa, program director for the chamber, said the reception served as an opportunity to thank the many businesses while also giving them a chance to exchange project ideas and interact with students.

Breiwa said the most rewarding story she can recall from the program was a girl at T.C. Cherry Elementary School last year who received more than just a letter when she wrote a Christmas card to a soldier overseas with the assistance of Bowling Green Municipal Utilities.

“He sent her back a card and a necklace with her name written in English on the front and Arabic on the back,” Breiwa said. “He even sent her a patch from his military branch and a picture of him in Iraq with some of the kids he’d been working with ... she had been going through a hard time in life and the teachers said that really made her feel good.”

During the reception, officials recalled the support some non-profit groups have provided the students.

Anne Grubbs, who is involved in the chamber’s community education, said the Warren County Health Department’s involvement with its school provided a lot of mentoring to students.

Leslie Peek, public relations coordinator for Bowling Green Independent Schools, said the students in the district benefit from getting to see professionals outside the educators they see each day in addition to feeling the support.

“They learn about the students and want to see them succeed,” Peek said. “The students can feel that.”