Round Rock Chamber Hosts an Educator for the 2024 RRISD Teacher Externship Program

Each year, the Round Rock Chamber, Round Rock ISD (RRISD) and Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area (WSRCA) team up to provide externship experiences for RRISD teachers to work directly with local businesses for some time in the summer. The program’s goal is to match educators with employers in the teacher’s subject matter and/or a subject matter of interest and includes a 3-5 day onsite job-shadow experience. Educators receive a set number of 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. This summer, the program worked with roughly 70 RRISD educators and close to 50 local Round Rock and Austin-area businesses.

This summer, the Round Rock Chamber was able to host one of the educators, Relda Freesemann, during the week of July 15^th – 19^th to learn more about the Chamber’s functions to be the economic generator for the Round Rock community and how the organization is dedicated to improving quality of life and creating new opportunities for businesses, individuals and families. In addition to spending time with the Chamber, Relda was able to meet with one of the City of Round Rock’s Assistant City Managers, Brooks Bennett, to learn more about the different operations within the City of Round Rock. Relda also met with the Texas State University Small Business Development Center’s Executive Director to learn about their efforts to assist scaling businesses and entrepreneurs looking to grow their business. Lastly, Relda was able to participate in other local organizations such as the Rotary Club of Round Rock to learn about other organizations that work to continue to make Round Rock a great place to live and work.

The Chamber is proud to host a teacher this year along with a number of other local businesses to engage with RRISD and contribute to the next generation of workers.