Over 100 teachers, administrators, counselors, and staff members from Emanuel County Schools recently gathered at the Swainsboro High School cafeteria to kick off another series of industry tours. Prior to this event, educators collaborated with instructional coaches, counselors, graduation coaches, and teacher leaders to understand the importance of these tours for our students and community. The tours help educators define the industry skills needed to prepare students for success. Teachers use this knowledge to integrate these skills into their classroom instruction. By doing so, they aim to prepare students for future careers and help them understand the potential career opportunities available in the community.
The morning began with a Chick-fil-A breakfast sponsored by the Emanuel County Development Authority. Dr. Shannon Lawrence, CTAE Director of ECS, welcomed the group, while Britt McDade, Owner and Operator of Chick-fil-A of Vidalia, delivered an inspirational talk on servant leadership. Ken Warnock, CEO of the Emanuel County Chamber of Commerce and the Emanuel County Development Authority, gave an overview of the initiative and its importance in our community.
Each group toured two industries or businesses. The following business and industry partners participated in this round of tours: Advanced Metal Components, AirStar, American Knits, American Steel, Daniels Chevrolet, East Georgia Healthcare, East Georgia State College, Emanuel Medical Center, Faircloth Forest Products, Nordson, Southeastern Technical College, Stitch-N-Print, and WinCore.
After completing the tours, the participants were asked to respond to a survey. Below are some of the responses when asked how they plan to utilize this experience to benefit their students:
“I think that this gives me more knowledge that I can share with my students about career opportunities in Emanuel County.”
“This Friday I will play a version of "Headbands" in which the students go to the chamber of commerce website and select a job for a friend at the table, write it on a sticky note and post it on their friend’s forehead. Then the friend asks questions and guesses what job they have been given.”
“We have a lot of dual enrollment and Accelerated Career Diploma kids. I know what they are talking about now.”
“I will share this information with others, including students. I will work and show appreciation to our partners. “
“I would like to organize industrial tours for my ESOL students, juniors and seniors.”
“I plan to discuss the programs and opportunities available through STC and EGSC. I would like to see us take the 10th grade class on industry tours, especially to STC and EGSC, to expose them to the programs available. These are the students who would be enrolling in DE the next year, and it could give them some guidance on choosing courses.”
“I can identify more diploma and certificate programs at Southeastern Tech and how long the programs take to complete. This can help me inform students who are interested. After visiting Emanuel Medical Center, I am aware of many more jobs and career opportunities that our students can find at Emanuel Medical Center. I can also share the excellent ratings and evaluation criteria for our local hospital.”
I plan to share what I learned with students and the community about the opportunities available to our students in our own community. Hopefully, they will not feel the need to leave our community to have a successful career.
Additional comments about the day:
“Today was outstanding. All counties need to be doing this! It was great to go into the businesses and see for myself what our students would be doing.”
“The tours seemed much more organized this time. I was happy to have printed information to bring back to my students. Our guides were better prepared to provide information about what our students need to do to take advantage of the opportunities available.”
“The industry tours were great. Southeastern Tech has a lot of great programs for the kids. I was impressed on their facilities and hands on opportunities offered. Wincore was eye-opening. I did not know all the components to this business and I was very interested in learning about this business and everything behind the scenes.”
“Having the representatives from STC travel with us to each site. I enjoyed hearing them explain what programs they offered and how they would help students gain employment at each location.”
“I love that you incorporated the college tours to help teachers connect the dots and see the programs that are offered right here in their community.”
Dr. Shannon Lawrence, CTAE Director, said, “We are hopeful that our Industry tours are giving our teachers new experiences to help shape conversations for our students to be able to better plan their futures. We hope to start incorporating industry tours with students so that teachers and students will be fully knowledgeable about the opportunities in our area. We are so grateful to our industry and business for always being willing to host and share their story.”
