GEORGIA COUNTY INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT

As summer vacation draws to a close, students and teachers are preparing to head back to the classroom. As part of their preparation, many teachers must buy new school supplies and teaching materials for their students. In Floyd County, GCIP intern Anna Ayers worked with the recycling department to meet the teachers' needs and breathe new life into materials that might have otherwise been thrown away.

Ayers is a rising junior at Berry College, where she studies marketing. Ayers is also a Bonner Scholar at Berry, where she partners with community organizations and collaborates with fellow students on projects to foster community change and leadership development through service and action. Ayers’ commitment to servant leadership, her skills in marketing, and her interest in sustainability made her an exceptional fit for the internship with Floyd County.

Ayers's main project during her internship was the development, marketing, and execution of a “re-store” for the community of teachers and non-profits in Floyd County. Using donations from the public, the store offered new and gently used classroom and office supplies for free. Throughout the summer, Ayers collected and organized donated materials – from pencils and paints to notebooks and classroom décor. She developed an inventory of donations and, as the summer progressed, set up the store in Floyd's recycling facility.

Emma Wells, Floyd County's Solid Waste Director, supervised Ayers during her internship. Wells noted that she modeled the store after a similar program in Athens-Clarke County. Though Wells had the idea for the store and had been collecting donations, it was with Ayers’ help that everything finally came to fruition. “She’s had ownership of the whole thing from the get-go,” Wells said of Ayers’ work on the store.

In addition to organizing donations, Ayers was responsible for designing and marketing the store brand. Using her background in marketing and graphic design, she created social media content to promote the store to teachers. This experience also helped her develop skills in event management and promotion. "Knowing the best way to promote things will definitely be helpful in my future career goals of marketing,” she noted.

From July 22nd to August 1st, the store was open to teachers. Ayers noted that one of her most significant successes of the internship was opening the store quickly so that teachers could shop before the school year started. Not only was it her biggest success, but Ayers reflected that it was her favorite part of the summer, and she loved “getting to see how excited all the teachers got when they were able to get so many free classroom supplies.” 

The store was especially beneficial for Floyd County, home to two public school systems, multiple private schools, and universities. Ayers reported that some teachers said visiting the store felt like Christmas, but the positive feelings were mutual. "Getting to see my work benefit people so much made it all very rewarding," she reflected.

 

Working for Floyd County also gave Ayers a fresh perspective on future career opportunities. Though the internship affirmed her passion and interest in marketing, it also gave her a new and positive experience with local government. Ayers especially enjoyed the community service-oriented aspect of her internship and hopes to find something similar in the future. Following her graduation in 2026, Ayers said she would consider a career in county government. “I feel as though it is a rewarding, stable job with lots of opportunity for growth and people around you to help,” she reflected.