Impact Update: Third Quarter – 2025
- Guest
- Oct 27
- 5 min read
In this Issue
GCCA Named Georgia's College & Career Academy of the Year
Greene County School District And TEF Sign Data-Sharing Agreement
Our School Is Now Turbo-Charged
TEF Expands into College Coaching
University System of Georgia Supports New TEF College Coaching Program
Giving Tuesday
Alumni Spotlight
GCCA Named Georgia's College & Career Academy of the Year
Out of 62 College & Career Academies across Georgia, Greene College & Career Academy (GCCA) has been named the 2025 College & Career Academy of the Year.
On October 21, 2025, Governor Brian Kemp and the Technical College System of Georgia announced the winners of the 2025 Governor’s Workforce Summit Awards during a special ceremony at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The awards celebrate exceptional accomplishments in workforce development, strategic partnerships, and student success across the state.
The recognition acknowledged that GCCA stands apart from other academies through its innovative community partnerships. Most impactful is the collaboration with the Thillen Education Foundation (TEF) which provides every GCCA student the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with a volunteer career coach over the four years of high school who is vested in seeing them succeed in school and life.
For the past eight years, GCCA’s Career Coaching Program has exemplified collaboration with stakeholders to prepare the community’s future workforce.
Greene County School District and TEF Sign Data-sharing Agreement
In a groundbreaking agreement, Greene County School District Superintendent Dr. Aaryn Schmuhl and Thillen Education Foundation CEO Dave Thillen signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) granting TEF access to student data for all students participating in its education program.
Before any data is shared, each student and their parent or guardian sign a waiver authorizing the school district to release the information. In addition, every career coach signs a confidentiality agreement pledging to protect all student data.
This data sharing agreement is beneficial to both TEF and the school district. The career coaches have access to data to help guide their students and coaches can assist the district in gathering information it has difficulty obtaining.
Our School is Now Turbo-charged
The recently signed Memorandum of Understanding allows student data to be securely downloaded to TEF’s proprietary Salesforce CRM database and merged with existing data for students, career coaches, teachers, alumni, business partners, community partners, and parents.
This unprecedented data access in Salesforce enables career coaches to automate many key processes, including scheduling student meetings, recognizing students for achievement and attendance, and tracking engagement in real time.
Keeping parents involved in their students’ performance is a critical factor in their eventual success. Now parents are automatically notified about upcoming student/career coach meetings and are automatically invited to student recognition events, ensuring they remain connected and informed.
These initial benefits in managing our entire career coaching program are just the tip of the iceberg. As John Ellenberg, Principal of Greene County High School, put it after seeing Salesforce in action, “Our school has been Turbo-Charged!”
TEF Expands Into College Coaching
Liz Deakin, a career coach for the past five years, recognized the need to stay connected with high school graduates pursuing two-year or four-year college degrees. Her efforts have led to the creation of the TEF College Coaching Program, launching with the Class of 2025.
All students who participate in the TEF high school career coaching program and attend two-year or four-year colleges may opt-in to the program offering one-on-one coaching through college graduation. The goal is to maximize academic achievement, enhance their college experience and ensure post-graduate success.
Key areas of focus include transitioning away from home, financial literacy and management, time management and effective study habits, communication skills, navigating the social landscape and campus resources, engagement in extracurricular activities and career readiness.
University System of Georgia Supports New Tef College Coaching Program
Many of our recent high school graduates are navigating the challenges of living away from home for the first time, including managing the costs of college. To support these students, an active TEF business partner, Harold Reynolds—Chairman of BankSouth and member of the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia (USG) - became directly involved.
Mr. Reynold arranged a virtual meeting with key USG leaders, including COO Theresa MacCartney, her executive assistant Sheila Elder, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs, Tracey Ireland, and Associate Vice Chancellor, Scot Lingrell.
The meeting produced exciting outcomes:
Introduction to the brand-new “DREAMS” scholarship, a needs-based scholarship for university and technical college students that complements the academically based HOPE scholarship.
USG asked TEF for a list of 2025 graduates and the colleges they attend so the financial aid offices can connect directly and establish personal relationships with our students.
It’s inspiring to see top state education officials working directly with a rural high school to support students’ success. Thank you, USG!
Thillen Education Foundation participates in the annual Giving Tuesday event held in support of charitable organizations. This year it falls on December 2nd and it is the only time we ask for donations.
With your generous help, TEF aims to replenish the $237,000 awarded to its fourth graduating class that was celebrated in May, 2025. Here's how we will reach our goal:
Early Pledges: We will secure pledges for half the replacement amount ($120,000) before November 19th so that we can offer matching funds until Giving Tuesday. If you would like to make an early pledge, please click on ThillenEducationFoudation.com or contact Dave directly at (706) 347-0572.
Matching Funds: From November 19th until Giving Tuesday, December 2, we will match contributions up to $120,000. This effort will be widely promoted through emails, magazine ads, newspaper articles, and radio commentaries.
We appreciate your continued support, whether through an early pledge or by participating in our Matching Funds initiative until Giving Tuesday. Your contributions will help underprivileged students succeed through improved education, career guidance, and financial assistance.
Alumni Spotlight
Greene County High School’s 2023 Valedictorian, Sherlyn Camacho Bustamante, is now a second-year student at Georgia College in Milledgeville, She is double majoring in Accounting and Spanish and is a member of both the Beta Alpha Psi Honor Society and Eta Sigma Alpha Honors College.
Always driven, Sherlyn works at the Ritz-Carlton Lake Oconee and spent a month studying in Spain last summer. Next spring, she begins a tax internship at Aprio Business Advisory and Accounting Services, a national firm with 34 offices across 17 states.
Sherlyn shared that the Career Coaching Program played an important role in helping her identify her strengths and career direction, giving her the confidence to pursue new opportunities.
A truly impressive academic and professional path—congratulations, Sherlyn!
