SOUTHEAST GEORGIA — Twenty educators from eight Southeast Georgia counties spent a week of their summer embedded inside regional manufacturers and logistics companies, and they are carrying what they learned into classrooms as the new school year begins.

The Regional Industry Support Enterprise (RISE) held its second annual Educator Externship Program in June, placing teachers, counselors and school support staff inside 10 companies — among them Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, Daniel Defense, Briggs & Stratton, Sewon America, JCB and Claxton Poultry. Participants shadowed employees, toured production floors and heard directly from employers about the skills they look for in new hires.

Among them was Chanelle Sheets, graphics and print shop teacher at Richmond Hill High School, who spent her week at Bryan County’s Daniel Defense and found more overlap with her curriculum than she had expected. Educators were nominated by school systems and development authorities in Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty and Screven counties, with Georgia Power funding the majority of participant stipends. The Development Authority of Bryan County sponsored two additional Bryan County spots.

RISE President and CEO Anna Chafin described the participating teachers as “a bridge” to regional careers, with the goal of keeping more graduates working close to home. In July, Bryan County Schools also earned the Georgia Department of Education’s Economic Development Partnership designation, a five-year, district-wide certification held by only a handful of systems in the state.

Read Lucille Lannigan’s full story at the Bryan County News.

Story by Lucille Lannigan, Morris Multimedia, originally published in the Bryan County News on Aug. 4, 2026. Photo courtesy of RISE.