In the Season 8 finale, core and elective English teacher Rionda Bell visits the podcast from Hillgrove High School in Cobb County School District to tout a vital component to student attendance. Getting students in seats is not just a metric of student presence at school, but also of student engagement in the classroom. Bell reveals her personal "song and dance" for fostering a desire to come to class, which combines high-energy instruction, supportive relationships, and real-world course applications.

Tune in for an update from Teach in the Peach, the State's teacher recruitment engine. With the support of a $3.9 million U.S. Department of Labor grant, an exciting new pathway to the teaching profession is gaining speed. The Georgia Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program provides a unique approach to certification, wherein teachers-to-be who are enrolled in college classes can work in the classroom right away as paid paraprofessionals. From rural district Crisp County Schools, Teaching as a Profession Teacher Amber Ward and Paraprofessional Jerardy Castro share the ins and outs of the para-to-teacher pathway.

Preventing chronic absenteeism requires that we understand the inner workings of habitual student absence. In this episode, we go straight to the source with Osborne High School senior Oscar Segoviano. Oscar details his attendance journey in his own words, vis-à-vis his teacher advocate, Osborne High's Work-Based Learning Coordinator Katy Hunt. Katy's refusal to accept excuses and her commitment to grasp Oscar's pattern lit the fire that ultimately brought him back to school.