Bulloch County Schools' College and Career Academy program bolstered by Gulfstream event

Local educators attend 'Discover the Difference'

The following Bulloch County educators who attended the Gulfstream event are pictured above. Not in order: Teresa Phillips, Bethany Gilliam, Breanna Calamas, Kristen Rogers, Renee Rogers, Brent Osborne and Katherine Wellman.

Bulloch County Schools' College and Career Academy program is being bolstered by Gulfstream after local educators attended the aerospace manufacturer's Discover the Difference event on October 4.

A group of seven guidance counselors, work-based learning coordinators, and administrators from the school district took part in an experience organized just for area teachers which was hosted at Gulfstream's facility in Pooler, Georgia. They were given a tour of manufacturing areas and learned more about career opportunities with the company for current students and graduates.

The Bulloch County Schools group who attended the Gulfstream event included the following educators: Teresa Phillips, assistant superintendent of school improvement; Bethany Gilliam, Career Technical, & Agricultural Education director; Breanna Calamas, the district's college and career specialist; Kristen Rogers, a work-based learning coordinator at Statesboro High School; Renee Rogers and Brent Osborne, work-based learning coordinators for Southeast Bulloch High School, and Katherine Wellman, a counselor from Southeast Bulloch High School.

The school district's College & Career Academy Program comprises work-based learning, dual enrollment, 43 Career Technical & Agricultural Education career pathways, student technical organizations, career discovery events for fifth through twelfth grades, and career assessment resources and guidance for students.

During the tour, Gulfstream also donated $2,250 in equipment to Bulloch County Schools' science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related classes. The district plans to use the equipment, which it was able to pick out themselves from a provided list, at its middle schools.

Partnerships with local and area business and industry benefit the school district's College & Career Academy program. Currently 285 partners serve as work sites for 340 work-based learning students from Portal, Southeast Bulloch, and Statesboro High Schools.

In the last school year, work-based learning students worked more than 166,301 hours and earned $1,711,263 in wages. Business and industry partners also serve as advisors to the district's 43 career pathways and offer many career exploration experiences to students in pathway courses.