On Tuesday, the Habersham Central High School Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) department and Economics teachers combined with North Georgia Technical College and local industries to host an Industry Summit.
The Industry Summit allowed senior students to see how four different areas of industry (Electrical/ Mechanical, Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Department of Natural Resources/Law Enforcement) are represented in local businesses throughout Habersham County.
The day began with an informational presentation from the Economic Development Committee/Partnership Habersham represented by Executive Director, Charlie Fiveash and Workforce Development chair, Patrick Ledford, along with the Habersham Chamber of Commerce, represented by their president, Mary Beth Horton. During the presentation, the seniors were quizzed over their knowledge of business and industry in Habersham County.
At the conclusion of the initial presentation, students followed a rotation through the four industry pathways. Each student attended a session led by industry leaders in which they provided information about their career choices and the current skill sets/credentials needed for those particular professions.
The Healthcare rotation had representation from Habersham Medical Center, Tim’s Pharmacy, and local EMS/Firefighters. The Electrical/Mechanical rotation was represented by Georgia Power, Habersham Electric Management Corporation, HEMC’s Trailwave, Windstream, and Kinetic. The Manufacturing rotation was represented by Steel Cell, Magnolia Windows and Doors, Foundation Geotextiles, and Fieldale Farms. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources was present, as well as, Habersham Sheriff’s department and local School Resource Officers.
After students heard these presentations from local industries, they moved to the AgriScience Center on campus to visit with over 25 personnel/instructors from North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) that represented programs of study based on the industry skills from the mornings rotations. Students had the opportunity to interact with NGTC instructors and apply to their college for free during this portion of the summit. All students were also given a t-shirt provided by NGTC that represents their participation in the summit.
The summit concluded with lunch, prepared by Stew-N-Que and provided by Partnership Habersham, in which students continued to network with NGTC and industry personnel.
The Habersham County CTAE director, Alice Brewer, is a member of the Workforce Development Committee through Partnership Habersham. This relationship allowed for partnering of local industries and local educational institutions in the formation of this Industry/Educational summit.
“The Industry/Educational Summit was a huge success and students were able to gain knowledge about our local economic development and hear about careers available for them upon graduation and get an understanding of what credentials are needed to pursue these jobs,” Brewer said.
This event was supported and attended by Habersham County Schools Superintendent Matthew Cooper, Secondary Curriculum Director Patrick Franklin, Habersham Central High Principal Dr. Jonathan Stribling, CTAE director Alice Brewer, HCHS administrators, Work-Based Learning Coordinator, Morris Brooks, Economics teachers, Student Services members, and over 100 students.