A group of Glynn County teachers shared their experiences Tuesday about what they learned shadowing workers with some of the largest employers in the Golden Isles.
The Connect Glynn Educator Externship Program, in its second year, was created to help teachers better understand the employment needs in Glynn County. They take lessons learned to tailor specific curriculum to help businesses with their challenges of finding employees.
Five companies hosted groups of teachers during their externships: King & Prince Seafood, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Sea Island, Southeast Georgia Health System and Okefenokee REMC.
What teachers learned is there are lots of entry-level jobs that only require a high school diploma and the ability to show up to work every day. And the jobs can be the first step in a long career with plenty of chances to advance a career.
At Southeast Georgia Health System, for example, there are lots of clinical jobs, but there are plenty of others including finical, administration, food services, legal, information systems, risk management, and safety and security. Other non-clinical jobs include cook, transporter, security and supply chain services.
And, of course, there are lots of employment opportunities on the medical side, with lots of opportunities for nursing careers.
Teachers who spent several days at Sea Island learned there are more than 300 job openings, with more than half just requiring a high school diploma, where participants can build a careers.
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center supports 119 different federal agencies. Veterans and the disabled get priority for jobs, but recent graduates are also very desirable.
Teachers who went to Okefenokee REMC learned the rural electric company provides power to more than 38,000 customers in six counties in Southeast Georgia and two in North Florida. They also learned some of the jobs like lineman require physical ability to work in the power lines.
Ralph Staffins, president and CEO of the Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce, is credited for creating the program as a way to fill the gap between education and business and help train today’s students for the jobs of tomorrow.
“This program is incredible,” Staffins said. “We hope this is a long-term idea.”