Activity 1
“Diagnose the line”: a one-period activity
A packaging line goes down. Teams get the symptoms and work the same fault tree a maintenance technician would follow. Runs on paper or a screen. No lab required.
You already know this pathway works. Here's the proof, and the lesson plan.
Program-to-career maps, current Georgia wage data, employer contacts, and classroom-ready material. Built for a counselor carrying 386 students (Georgia's average) and for a teacher who has one period, not one semester, to make this land.
No login. No email required. Everything on this page is free to use, copy, and hand out.
Start here
Five things, one download.
- Program-to-career alignment sheetsWhich TCSG programs map to which roles, with current pay bands and the Georgia employers hiring for them.Download PDF
- A slide deck for a career unitEditable, no branding lock. Drop it into what you already teach.Download Slides
- The parent conversation guideThe same one we give families, so you're not contradicting each other.Download PDF
For the classroom
Something to do on Tuesday.
The toolkit above is advising paperwork. This is teaching material, built to fit one period, run without equipment, and survive a room of sixteen-year-olds.
Activity 2
Wage math with real Georgia numbers
Students build a first-year budget from the verified wage data further down this page, then compare it against what the job they assumed they'd take actually pays.
Activity 3
Competition and program tie-ins
Maps the four roles to SkillsUSA and robotics events you may already run, and to the TCSG programs that continue the pathway after graduation.
Partner integration
Skillionaire Games: play the job instead of reading about it
Georgia manufacturing already has a game. Skillionaire (by Skillsgapp) builds free, web-based career games, one per industry, with Maker Mojo covering advanced manufacturing. Students work a real job in the game rather than answer quiz questions about it, and the game surfaces the technical college, employers, and apprenticeships near them.
It is already wired into Manufacturing Georgia: a completed profile matches a student to Georgia open roles at Georgia manufacturers, work-based learning, and scholarships, and earns points and perks back inside the game.
- Free to schools, funded through industry and post-secondary partners
- Skillionaire handles deployment, educator and parent resources, and impact reporting
- Student profiles and dashboards, so a teacher can see class-level progress
Editable and unbranded: drop it into what you already teach. Looking for video? See classroom-ready video below. Want a technician in the room? Request a tour or speaker.
The numbers you can defend
Every figure here links to its government source.
You get challenged by parents and administrators. Here are citations, not claims.
| Measure | Georgia figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial machinery mechanics, median | Georgia figure$61,130 | SourceBLS OEWS ↗ |
| Same role, metro Atlanta mean | Georgia figure$65,780 | SourceBLS OEWS ↗ |
| Retail salespersons, Georgia median | Georgia figure$30,840 | SourceBLS OEWS ↗ |
| First-line retail supervisors, Georgia median | Georgia figure$46,150 | SourceBLS OEWS ↗ |
| Projected GA growth, industrial machinery mechanics | Georgia figure+20.2% (2024 to 2034) | SourceGA Dept. of Labor ↗ |
| Average annual openings, same role | Georgia figure1,440 / yr | SourceGA Dept. of Labor ↗ |
"They could just work retail."
Georgia medians: $30,840 retail, $61,130 maintenance technician. Every figure on this page is federal and linked.
If a parent or administrator challenges a number you got here, send them the link. We'd rather be checked than believed.
Map a program to a paycheck
Start from a program, a role, or a county.
See the roles a program leads to, what those roles pay in Georgia, which employers hire for them, and how long the credential takes.
Search by programAny TCSG certificate or diploma.ProgramsSearch by roleMaintenance, robotics, quality, controls.RolesSearch by countyWhat's within driving distance.Near you
18
Tuition-free programs
Georgia's HOPE Career Grant covers tuition on 18 in-demand programs, including Industrial Maintenance and Precision Manufacturing, at all 22 TCSG institutions (TCSG). Students still pay fees and equipment costs. Eligibility detail at Georgia Student Finance Commission.
See tuition-free programs by campus →Pathways for a student still enrolled
They don't have to wait until graduation.
Work-based learning placements
Employers currently accepting WBL students, by region.
Registered apprenticeships
Earn while enrolled, with the employers running them.
Internships and co-ops
Summer and term-time, by industry.
Dual enrollment into TCSG
Stack credentials before a diploma.
CTAE pathway alignment
How these map to pathways you already report on.
Get an employer in front of your students
Plant tours, guest speakers, career-day exhibitors.
Georgia manufacturers who have said yes to hosting students, searchable by county, industry, and what they'll host.
Your request goes straight to the employer. Not to us, and not to a general inbox. Each manufacturer names their own contact and keeps their own availability current, so you're talking to the person who can actually say yes.
Every employer card shows when they last confirmed their details. If a contact is stale or nobody replies, flag it and we'll chase the employer to update their profile.
Report an out-of-date contactShow, don't tell
Classroom-ready video. Nothing longer than four minutes.
Virtual plant tours and day-in-the-life footage you can play in a career unit or send home to a skeptical parent.
When the parent is the obstacle
You recommend the pathway. The parent overrules you. We built for that.
Myth:Dark, dirty, dangerous
The floor
Myth:Retail pays the same
The paycheck
Myth:It's a dead end
The ceiling
Myth:Robots take these jobs
The robots
Take the toolkit. Use what works. Ignore the rest.
No account, no email, no follow-up sequence.
Something missing that would actually help you?Tell us what to build →
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