Meeting Students Where They Are
How Workforce Development Is Evolving Alongside the Industry
Summer 2026
By T.A. DeFeo
More than 82,000 students are enrolled in agriculture education in Georgia, a sign that the next generation is poised to shape the future of forestry. But the surprise, if there is one, is in the approach to attracting that next generation. If the forestry industry today isn’t the forestry industry of yesteryear, why shouldn’t attracting new talent change with the times?
In Georgia, this evolution has manifested in programs such as ForestryWorks, which provides free End-of-Pathway Assessment exams to students. Approved by the Georgia Department of Education, the initiative, aligned with six forestry-related pathways, is designed to pro-vide students with career-ready skills for employment in forestry.
“When we create these opportunities, we are acknowledging that we want kids to have something beyond a high school education,” said Kaitlyn Marchant, program manager for agriculture education at the Georgia Department of Education. “But what that looks like needs to be very specific to that student.
“What the forest industry needed 10 years ago is different than what they need today,” Marchant said. “We might be getting a kid a drone certification because now we’re scouting forests that way instead ofbeing boots on the ground and trainingpeople to go out into those spaces. Now,we might need people to have computerskills and drone skills. The way that wedo the work of our industry has changedso dramatically that we want to makesure the skills that we’re providing ourstudents are in alignment with that.”
Training the Workers the Industry Needs
Where programs like Forestry Works excel is that they are developed in con-junction with the industry.
“By partnering with industry, they’re able to make sure that we’re staying very relevant with the material that we’re teaching,” Marchant added. “That partnership between education and industry is so vital to making sure that we’re giving kids the well-rounded education that they need.
”Workforce development has been a hot-button issue for Georgia officials in recent years across pretty much every industry. Marchant noted that Georgia’s approach includes advisory committees with representatives from relevant industries, an approach mirrored at the local level and within each program.“
A lot of times in education, we do test-ing, we do things that show that students have classroom skills, but that doesn’t always necessarily translate into what’s going to be useful for them as they go out and enter into the workforce,” Marchant said. “With this program, we’re making sure that not only are our students successful in the classroom, but they have the skills that industry tells us they need to also be successful once they get a job.”
Meeting Students Where They Are
If Forestry Works is about giving students a first step into the forestry industry, then a mobile workforce initiative is all about bringing career exploration directly to students — whether it’s at a high school, a middle school, a technical college or a community event.
Be Pro Be Proud Georgia has two mobile workshops: a 38-foot trailer that launched in2020 and a 53-foot trailer that launched in the summer of 2024. Both have simulators and “gamify stations” that introduce students to skilled trade professions, including forestry, interactively.
“We’ve been traveling across the state of Georgia with all of these simulators and gamify stations, just letting students know that there are other pathways to success outside of a four-year university degree,” said Justina Brown, operations manager of Be Pro Be Proud Georgia.
In Georgia, this evolution has manifested in programs such as ForestryWorks, which provides free End-of-Pathway Assessment exams to students. Approved by the Georgia Department of Education, the initiative, aligned with six forestry-related pathways, is designed to pro-vide students with career-ready skills for employment in forestry.
“When we create these opportunities, we are acknowledging that we want kids to have something beyond a high school education,” said Kaitlyn Marchant, program manager for agriculture education at the Georgia Department of Education. “But what that looks like needs to be very specific to that student.
“What the forest industry needed 10 years ago is different than what they need today,” Marchant said. “We might be getting a kid a drone certification because now we’re scouting forests that way instead ofbeing boots on the ground and trainingpeople to go out into those spaces. Now,we might need people to have computerskills and drone skills. The way that wedo the work of our industry has changedso dramatically that we want to makesure the skills that we’re providing ourstudents are in alignment with that.”
Training the Workers the Industry Needs
Where programs like Forestry Works excel is that they are developed in con-junction with the industry.
“By partnering with industry, they’re able to make sure that we’re staying very relevant with the material that we’re teaching,” Marchant added. “That partnership between education and industry is so vital to making sure that we’re giving kids the well-rounded education that they need.
”Workforce development has been a hot-button issue for Georgia officials in recent years across pretty much every industry. Marchant noted that Georgia’s approach includes advisory committees with representatives from relevant industries, an approach mirrored at the local level and within each program.“
A lot of times in education, we do test-ing, we do things that show that students have classroom skills, but that doesn’t always necessarily translate into what’s going to be useful for them as they go out and enter into the workforce,” Marchant said. “With this program, we’re making sure that not only are our students successful in the classroom, but they have the skills that industry tells us they need to also be successful once they get a job.”
Meeting Students Where They Are
If Forestry Works is about giving students a first step into the forestry industry, then a mobile workforce initiative is all about bringing career exploration directly to students — whether it’s at a high school, a middle school, a technical college or a community event.
Be Pro Be Proud Georgia has two mobile workshops: a 38-foot trailer that launched in2020 and a 53-foot trailer that launched in the summer of 2024. Both have simulators and “gamify stations” that introduce students to skilled trade professions, including forestry, interactively.
“We’ve been traveling across the state of Georgia with all of these simulators and gamify stations, just letting students know that there are other pathways to success outside of a four-year university degree,” said Justina Brown, operations manager of Be Pro Be Proud Georgia.
"We are preparing that workforce for the No. 1 industry — and doing it in new and innovative ways with science and technology that may not look like what ag looked like when your parents or grandparents were part of it.”— Kaitlyn Marchant, Program Manager for Agriculture Education, Georgia Department of Education
The result has been eye-opening for students, to say the least.
“Shock; it’s usually shock,” Brown said of students’ reactions to the opportunities. “We’ve gamified the process; we’re not doing any training. ... There’s a surprise factor, a shock factor, and their wheels are turning as they’re getting off the trailer. ”
Added Brown: “To have them break the assumptions, some of those stereotypes with a lot of these jobs, is where it’s very helpful for us to have our partners come on board and to talk to the students.
”The organization uses data from Georgia Power to help identify which industries in the state are experiencing a “silver tsunami” — those industries where there is an acute need to fill those roles vacated by retiring workers. Among the industries added as a result of these insights is forestry.
“I think it’s really easy for people from an outside perspective to see ag and forestry as dying industries,” Marchant said. “We are preparing that workforce for the No. 1 industry — and doing it in new and innovative ways with science and technology that may not look like what ag looked like when your parents or grand parents were part of it. But it’s still very much relevant and thriving in our state.”■
T.A. DeFeo is a freelance writer who has written several books about railroads. He is focused on telling stories, whether they are in Georgia’s forests, along the rails that crisscross this nation or anywhere in between.
“Shock; it’s usually shock,” Brown said of students’ reactions to the opportunities. “We’ve gamified the process; we’re not doing any training. ... There’s a surprise factor, a shock factor, and their wheels are turning as they’re getting off the trailer. ”
Added Brown: “To have them break the assumptions, some of those stereotypes with a lot of these jobs, is where it’s very helpful for us to have our partners come on board and to talk to the students.
”The organization uses data from Georgia Power to help identify which industries in the state are experiencing a “silver tsunami” — those industries where there is an acute need to fill those roles vacated by retiring workers. Among the industries added as a result of these insights is forestry.
“I think it’s really easy for people from an outside perspective to see ag and forestry as dying industries,” Marchant said. “We are preparing that workforce for the No. 1 industry — and doing it in new and innovative ways with science and technology that may not look like what ag looked like when your parents or grand parents were part of it. But it’s still very much relevant and thriving in our state.”■
T.A. DeFeo is a freelance writer who has written several books about railroads. He is focused on telling stories, whether they are in Georgia’s forests, along the rails that crisscross this nation or anywhere in between.
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Georgia Forestry Magazine is published by HL Strategy, an integrated marketing and communications firm focused on our nation's biggest challenges and opportunities. Learn more at hlstrategy.com
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