DALTON, Ga. — From mission work in the Dominican Republic to training to combat cyber attacks to creating the next generation of health care workers, Greater Dalton area schools are helping students make an impact on the community, the nation and the world.

And on Tuesday, students got an opportunity to show off their accomplishments.

The Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce’s Good Morning Dalton breakfast at the convention center focused on local k-12 education, and students and faculty from Christian Heritage School, Dalton Public Schools and Whitfield County Schools talked about some of their programs.

Christian Heritage School student Landon Harris talked about a recent mission trip that members of the school’s baseball team made to the Dominican Republic. The students played games with a youth team there and also helped paint houses.

“This trip was important because it gave us a chance to help some kids down there, but it also had an impact on us,” Harris said. “Four guys on the baseball team got saved while they were down there. It made us all more grateful for what we have.”

Teacher Anita Goddard said educators at the school want to help students achieve academic success but also foster active faith.

Dalton Public Schools focused on its Translation Academy, housed in Morris Innovative High School. The academy helps bilingual students use their language skills by, for instance, translating for parents at school functions or helping students who speak only Spanish learn English.

Dalton Middle School highlighted its health care program, which aims to help students who are interested in careers in health care learn more about the field. The program held its first Med camp this summer with cooperation from Dalton State College, Hamilton Health Care System and the Mercer College of Medicine.

That program is just one of several that Dalton State is cooperating closely with local school systems on.

“Dalton State College exists to serve this community,” said Dalton State President Margaret Venable. “We want to be proactive and reach down and help students prepare for college, whether it is at Dalton State or somewhere else. You can’t start too early.”

Whitfield County Schools focused on the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs at Eastbrook Middle School.

Eastbrook Middle School student Ethan Owens talks about being a member of the robotics team

Teacher Amy Hurlock said that a University System of Georgia survey has found there is a shortage of computer science and information technology graduates in this area. Eastbrook has added a computer programming course this year to help students gain more experience in that field. The school has also partnered with Dalton State and a number of local businesses to find out more about the job opportunities for those with STEM college degrees.

Whitfield County Schools also put the spotlight on the cyber security teams at the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy. Those teams train for and compete in the Cyber Patriot Competition sponsored by the Air Force Association.

“These are the students who will protect your businesses,” said teacher Laura Crumbley.

The competitions take place on Saturdays and last six hours or so. The teams download virtual representations of computer systems with flaws or security problems. They have to identify the flaws and fix them while keeping the systems running.

“It’s like a technology marathon,” said student Jon Tan.