The history between Cheektowaga Central and the University at Buffalo illustrates the benefits of forming long-term collaborative relationships between teacher education programs and local schools. In 1998, the author was approached by Suzanne Miller regarding the possibility of Meg Callahan, then a doctoral student at the University at Buffalo, conducting her dissertation research in Cultural and Media Studies, a new media literacy class she was teaching to 11th- and 12th-grade students. Working with Meg influenced the author's decision to begin doctoral work and helped him become a better teacher. He became interested in other ways Cheektowaga could collaborate with students and faculty at the University at Buffalo to improve all levels of English instruction at the school. As the former 9-12 English department chairperson at Cheektowaga Central, the author worked to establish his high school as one of several liaison sites for the Teacher Education Institute (TEI) at the University at Buffalo. The liaison model situated a teacher education course within schools during the fall semester of each academic year. Preservice teachers spent this semester observing classes, working alongside cooperating teachers, and attending a teacher education course held onsite. They subsequently began their first student teaching placement in these schools the following spring semester. The long-term placements have provided Cheektowaga Central with an opportunity to recruit talented teachers for employment in the district. The relationship between Cheektowaga Central and the University at Buffalo has culminated in the formation of a First-Ring Suburban Initiative. The initiative, now in its pilot phase, seeks to improve instruction within the diverse first-ring suburban schools of western New York and at the same time support research on meaningful teaching and learning.