Classroom Conversations

Episode 807: Teach in the Peach Update: Building Future Teachers Through Apprenticeship

Tune in for an update from Teach in the Peach, the State's teacher recruitment engine. With the support of a $3.9 million U.S. Department of Labor grant, an exciting new pathway to the teaching profession is gaining speed. The Georgia Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program provides a unique approach to certification, wherein teachers-to-be who are enrolled in college classes can work in the classroom right away as paid paraprofessionals. From rural district Crisp County Schools, Teaching as a Profession Teacher Amber Ward and Paraprofessional Jerardy Castro share the ins and outs of the para-to-teacher pathway.

Episode 806: Straight to the Source: A Student's Story of Chronic Absenteeism

Preventing chronic absenteeism requires that we understand the inner workings of habitual student absence. In this episode, we go straight to the source with Osborne High School senior Oscar Segoviano. Oscar details his attendance journey in his own words, vis-à-vis his teacher advocate, Osborne High's Work-Based Learning Coordinator Katy Hunt. Katy's refusal to accept excuses and her commitment to grasp Oscar's pattern lit the fire that ultimately brought him back to school.

Episode 805: Georgia Goes to School: State Leaders Speak From the 2025 GaDOE Attendance Summit (Part 2)

Part 2 of Georgia DOE’s December 2025 Attendance Summit “Georgia Goes to School” continues with state leaders on a mission to help cut Georgia's chronic absenteeism by 50% in 5 years. Attendance Works, a national partner in reducing poor attendance, joins GaDOE’s Deputy Superintendent Justin Hill, and the Director of Children in Need of Services (CHINS) for Georgia’s juvenile court judges to explore the problem, the progress, and potential future solutions.

Episode 804: Georgia Goes to School: State Leaders Speak From the 2025 GaDOE Attendance Summit (Part 1)

Chronic absenteeism: what is it, how do we fix it, and who can help? In a two-part special field recording from the 2nd annual Georgia DOE Attendance Summit "Georgia Goes to School," we examine contributing factors to the attendance struggle from various agencies' vantage points. Representatives from UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, DBHDD, and GaDOE School Nutrition illuminate their organization's role in supporting student attendance in Part 1.

Episode 803: Educator Wellness: How Care and Connection Transform Culture

Scanning the horizon for a way to help educators work hard, and work well? Look no further than College Park Elementary, where care, connection among colleagues, and coordinated initiatives uplift educator wellness. Principal Maisha Otway and Wellness Ambassador Jetanne Dugger share the positive impacts of Georgia DOE and local RESA "Wellness in Action" sessions, noting that prioritized educator wellness keeps teachers and staff fit for the challenge of educating students across the 180-day school year.