There is a teacher shortage in South Georgia school districts inhibiting the hiring of teachers for many subject areas. School districts are partnering with universities to identify teacher candidates who can serve as the teacher of record in their districts during their final semester or year of teacher preparation through the intern as teacher model. The purpose of this study was to explore what constitutes success in the intern as teacher model for interns participating in a paid internship during their final semester of undergraduate education through a complex adaptive systems theoretical framework. Research has not been conducted on the intern as teacher model in Georgia although there was an abundance of research on alternative preparation models and residency programs. Addressing the gap in literature to consider mentoring models through the complex adaptive system (CAS) lens (Janssen, van Vuuren, & de Jong, 2016; Jones & Corner, 2012), this study employed a case study approach bounded by South Georgia school districts using the intern as teacher model. Participants included three interns and three mentors from public universities in South Georgia. Additionally, there were three P-12 district personnel and seven university personnel. Data were collected using focus group interviews, individual interviews, and document collection. This study extended the literature by looking at an innovative approach to recruiting interns to school districts facing teacher shortages in South Georgia. The findings from this study produced evidence illustrating to harness complexity with the model, decision-makers should not adapt the original intent of the intern as teacher model too much because this will cause the system to change considerably. Keywords: student teaching, internship, intern as teacher, teacher shortage, harnessing complexity, teacher education