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The Chambers County School System (CCSD) received a $3,000 donation from Hyundai Transys Georgia Powertrain on Tuesday. The company is now a Silver Level partner in education for the school district. 

Human resources representatives from the West Point plant presented the check to David Owen, Assistant Superintendent of CCSD. Cassie Allen, the Chief School Financial Officer, and Tyler Nelson, the Career Tech Director were also in attendance. 

Nicki Barradas, the Assistant Manager of HR for the Hyundai plant, said the donation was in appreciation of a long partnership with the school system.

“They brought some of their students over and we’ve hired a couple of students that have gone through some of the machining classes with Inspire Academy,” Barradas said. “We want to keep that relationship going.”

Although Barradas said the district can allocate the funds where it is needed, she suggested that it go toward work-based learning opportunities for the students. In the past, the plant has held tours and fairs with the career tech students at Inspire Academy.

“We would like people to come in and see what we do, put them to work when they graduate,” Barradas said. 

She added that a new plant is set to open soon and will be at full capacity in 2025. They started recruiting for the new location and hope to do events in the future with Inspire Academy’s juniors and seniors to get them interested.

Owen agreed that the funds should go toward programs aligned with the company.

“[The funds] will go toward professional development, the rest will go toward career tech,” Owens said.