Teachers Tour Local Businesses and Industries to Connect Classrooms to Careers

On Friday, March 15, thirty-two Stephens County teachers and administrators exchanged their Teacher Workday for a chance to participate in a Discovery Tour of area businesses and industries to “Connect Classrooms to Careers.”

Sponsored by Georgia Power and through a partnership between the Stephens County Development Authority, Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce, Stephens County School System, and Stephens County High School’s Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) program, participants toured ASI Southeast, GEM Plastics, Osborne Wood Products, and Patterson Pump.

In addition to the walk-through tours, the daylong event began with a presentation from Stephens County Hospital and included a bus ride through the county’s industrial parks directed by Brittany Ivey, President and CEO of the Stephens County Development Authority, and Julie Paysen, President of the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Connie Franklin, Superintendent of the Stephens County School System said, “The day was about connecting education with local businesses. Teachers need to know what jobs are available in our community and the skills needed to do these jobs to teach students the importance of what they are learning in class and how it applies to future careers.”

Ivey added, “While the teachers need to know what skills are needed for the workforce, local industries need to know what our educators are teaching in the classrooms to better prepare students for the workforce as well. This whole day was about connections.”

One of the recurring themes throughout the day was that local industries are hiring, and offering Stephens County High School graduates good-paying jobs and the required training right out of high school with hopes that they will stay and work here.

According to Paysen, “It was a great opportunity to educate our teachers. You feed high school baseball teams by coaching them in t-ball. Same here. You feed the local workforce by exposing students to possible careers while in school. We understand the tremendous influence our teachers have on our students, and we want to help make sure our educators have the tools they need to encourage their students to consider career choices  in our community. Our local industries are always happy to share their stories and the career pathways they have available.”

Ivey added, “On behalf of the Stephens County Development Authority, we are so grateful for our partnerships that made the Discovery Tour possible this year.  The funding that Georgia Power so graciously provided allowed us to orchestrate an incredible event for members of our local school system.  The Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce and the Stephens County School System were instrumental in helping our office plan the logistics of the day.  We are so grateful for a school system that sees the importance of ensuring that our educators know the opportunities available in our community to our future workforce, and our local students, and for their willingness to let us utilize a teacher workday.  To our local businesses, industries, and the hospital, we thank you for allowing us to come into your workplace with 32 local educators to ensure that when they return to their classrooms, they are prepared to connect students to careers right here in Toccoa-Stephens County. We also appreciate Osborne Wood Products, Inc. for providing lunch for our participants.”