Tracy Williams, Dahlia Restler, and Lashonta Flemister, Fulton County Schools Gifted Internship Program, on Mentoring High School Interns and Building a Talent Pipeline (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 990)
On this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Tracy Williams, Dahlia Restler, and Lashonta Flemister of the Fulton County Schools Gifted Internship Program. For more than three decades, the program has matched gifted high school juniors and seniors with local businesses for semester-long internships. The internships are unpaid, and students earn academic credit and a grade on their transcript.
The three program leaders explain how students are chosen: an application, a minimum 90 GPA, interviews, and a placement meeting where the business owner interviews the student before committing. They also describe what host businesses sign up for. That means five to seven hours a week, a designated on-site mentor, and real work instead of busy work. John adds his own editorial for business owners listening: “This is not free labor.” The guests agree and describe how mentoring pays off for employers, from interns who teach their supervisors Canva, Microsoft Teams, and AI tools to students who are later hired during or after college.
The conversation includes stories from the program’s history. One aspiring veterinarian learned in a vet’s office that the field wasn’t the right fit. Dahlia’s two daughters each did a medical internship. One is now a doctor, and the other is in medical school. And a student placed in a construction class by chance went on to study construction management at Kennesaw State and now works for a large construction company in Texas.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
Key Takeaways from This Episode
- The Fulton County Schools Gifted Internship program places gifted juniors and seniors with local businesses for five to seven hours a week, about 70 hours a semester, in return for academic credit.
- Host businesses are asked to mentor, not delegate busy work. That means a designated site supervisor, a seat in meetings, and real projects. A site supervisor toolkit gives first-time hosts activity ideas for their industry.
- Both sides learn from each other. Interns often arrive with skills in Canva, Microsoft Teams, HTML, JavaScript, and AI tools that their mentors are still learning.
- Ruling a career out is as valuable as ruling one in. Students can complete up to four internships across fields such as medicine, business, and law before their families pay for college or medical school.
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:20 John Ray introduces the show and guests from the Fulton County Schools Gifted Internship Program
02:24 Tracy Williams on the program’s three-decade history and career readiness mission
05:31 How students are selected, from the 90 GPA minimum to placement interviews with host businesses
06:38 What the program asks of host businesses, and why the internships are unpaid and graded
08:40 “This is not free labor,” and what good mentorship looks like
10:29 What interns bring to a business, from Canva and Microsoft Teams to AI
13:44 How grading and site supervisor evaluations work
15:26 The aspiring veterinarian who changed course
18:25 Rotating through up to four internships across career “umbrellas”
19:56 What a business needs to provide, and the site supervisor toolkit
23:12 Success stories from all three program leaders
26:19 How to learn more and reach the regional program leads
Fulton County Schools Gifted Internship Program
The Fulton County Schools Gifted Internship Program gives gifted high school juniors and seniors hands-on experience in the career fields they want to pursue. Each student is paired with a professional mentor and works five to seven hours a week at a host site, in person, hybrid, or remote. Internships are unpaid, last one semester, and earn Georgia high school graduation credit, with a grade on the student’s transcript. Students may complete up to four internships—two in their junior year and two in their senior year—to explore multiple fields before college.
The program partners with businesses, organizations, and professionals across the district and is especially seeking host sites in medicine, law and government, engineering, technology, business and finance, and communications. Host sites provide supervision and mentorship, sign student timesheets, and complete intern evaluations. A site supervisor toolkit helps first-time hosts plan meaningful work for their interns.
Businesses interested in hosting an intern can connect with the program advisor for their area: Tracy Williams (Central and South Fulton), Dahlia Restler (Northwest Fulton), or Lashonta Flemister (Northeast Fulton).
Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio
Renasant Bank has humble roots, having started in 1904 as a $100,000 bank located in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown into one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, boasting over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 offices offering banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which in turn helps them better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
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Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio
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About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray
Approaching 1,000 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!
The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their respective markets, communities, and professions. There is no discrimination based on company size, and there is never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, which is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.
You can find the entire archive of shows by following this link. The show is accessible on all major podcast apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.
John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
John is the author of the five-star-rated book The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.
