The Educator Externship Program is a unique professional development opportunity that allows middle and high school educators to explore local businesses. Participants take business tours and learn about local workforce needs, trends, and required skills. As a result, educators are better able to connect the workplace with the classroom. This program helps bring relevance and enrichment to educational lessons and builds the bridge between skills-based and knowledge-based education.
Historically, the Educator Externship Program has taken place at the end of the school year on optional workdays. Wilkes County Schools’ partnership with the Wilkes Economic Development Corporation allows educators to receive a stipend for participating in the program. Educators are allowed to choose which participating businesses they want to visit at the times that are convenient for them.
Click HERE to see how successful the program was this year.
Seven businesses participated in the 2016 Educator Externship Program: