Round Rock Chamber Partners with RRISD to Connect Educators and the Business Community

Earlier this month, the Round Rock Chamber and Round Rock ISD (RRISD) celebrated the conclusion of the 2023 Educator Externship program on August 2 to honor the 70 participating educators and 44 businesses partners that participated in this year’s program. The program is a partnership between Round Rock Chamber, RRISD and Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area (WSRCA) and is designed to bolster the area’s talent development.

The goal of the program is to match educators with employers in the teacher’s subject matter and/or a subject matter of interest and includes a three-day onsite job-shadow experience. Educators receive twenty-four hours of professional development and gain current, real-world experience. Educators must share their experience and knowledge gained with students and other educators via lesson plans.

Business partners get the opportunity to engage with RRISD, learn about current educational trends, and contribute to the next generation of workers.

The program began in 2015 with only six educators participating. While there was a pause in the program due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, we were able to restart the program last year and are extremely excited to continue the program again this year with another strong participation of educators and businesses. It is estimated that over 300 externships have occurred since the program’s inception and roughly 42,000 students have benefited since the program’s inception.

Thank you to Dr. Hafedh Azaiez, RRSID Superintendent of Schools and Jordan Robinson, the Chamber’s President and CEO, and the numerous business partners that were able to attend the event. We would also like to thank Sheri Bonds, Director of Career & Technical Education and Peggy Mica, Assistant Director of Career & Technical Education with RRISD for their work in implementing the program and for coordinating the celebration. This program would not be possible without the funding made available by WSRCA, so a big thank you is due to Paul Fletcher, Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Moreno, Chief Solutions Officer, and the team at WSRCA.

Lastly, thank you to the following business organizations that were able to host externs this year:

• A+ Federal Credit Union
• Aloft Austin Round Rock and Element Austin Round Rock
• Ascension Seton Williamson
• Austin Community College
• Austin Wildlife Rescue
• Baylor Scott & White Health
• Blackerby Violin Shop
• Bluebonnet Trails
• Bullock Texas State History Museum
• Central Texas Community Foundation
• City of Round Rock
• Communication by Hand
• Community Action of Central Texas
• Down Home Ranch
• East/West Manufacturing Enterprises
• Emerson Automation Solutions
• Garver
• Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Halff Associates
• Hot Dog Marketing
• Infinitum
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
• LBJ Presidential Library & Museum
• Major Darling
• Mexic-Arte Museum
• Minuteman Press in Georgetown
• MOD: Architecture
• O’Connell Robertson
• Penfold Theatre
• Perkins & Will
• Round Rock Area Serving Center
• Round Rock Express
• Shop LC
• St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center
• St. Edward’s University
• Texas Historical Commission
• Texas State Technical College
• Texas State University
• The Goodkind Co.
• The Williamson Museum
• Trellis Company
• Universal Technical Institute
• Univision
• Williamson County Sheriff’s Office