By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Students in Lindsay Walker’s eighth-grade computer applications class are getting a jump on entering the job world.
Personnel from Center Point Business Solutions have been in Mrs. Walker’s classes this week presenting what is essentially soft skills training for job interviews.
In a partnership with CPBS, all eighth-grade students in Obion County are receiving the training — thanks to a $15,000 ThreeStar community grant received after collaboration by UC Director of Student Services Michael Paul Miller, Obion County Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Lindsay Frilling and Career Technology Education Director George Leake of the Obion County School System.
The training in Walker’s classes this week has focused generally on the dos and don’ts of job interviews and how to better ensure good results and the best chances of landing work.
Walker, who has four periods of eighth-graders each day, said the instruction has fit perfectly with her teachings.
“It really goes well with my curriculum and focuses on a lot of basic life skills,” said the 2002 UCHS graduate who has two children in the Union City Elementary System and a spouse who is also a Tornado graduate. “I believe it’s been really helpful to the students because of the technology and social media aspect.
“Later in the school year, we’ll have a period where we discuss and work on résumés.”
Topics have included appropriate dress, communication, dealing with the various types of posts on social media and following directions, among others.
Members of Center Point, including Elizabeth Pritchett, Natasha Pennington and Kim Watts, along with Mrs. Frilling, have been among the speakers for the training. A panel of local businessmen will be in attendance Friday to answer questions of class members.
“This the first time ever we’ve had this type of training and I believe it’s helpful now and will be even more so in the future,” Miller said. “It falls under our CTE (Career Technology Education) umbrella, and all of our eighth-graders will be exposed to it. We originally thought it would be for our high school students, and we’ll still be presenting it to our seniors after Christmas and they can use some of what they learn in scholarship interviews.
“When Lindsay (Frilling) came up with the idea for us to work together on the grant, we thought it would be a great idea that would be invaluable to our students. We’ve really enjoyed working with our Chamber, especially Lindsay, who did great work in applying for the grant.
“We hope these opportunities will present themselves in the future and we can continue to have a great relationship.”
For her part, Frilling, also the head of the Obion County Joint Economic Development Council, said this in her grant application: “The Rural Task Force in Tennessee was created to bring resources together to advance rural communities and economic development throughout Tennessee. This program falls in line with the Rural Development initiative.
“With an unemployment rate around 5 percent and the continued introduction of new jobs into Obion County, our employers are beginning to question where they will find qualified talent in the future. Obion County has announced over 1,500 new jobs in the last five years in addition to the 1,500 jobs to be added by Tyson in Gibson County.
“These numbers alone require economic and workforce development officials to seek out target populations who may be underserved due to barriers, including soft skills. Our goal is to target the local schools and general population as part of our talent pipeline by enhancing soft skills. Obion County would work with each school system to establish a soft skills training program for students. The goal of the program is to increase skills and lower unemployment rates, by increasing occupational skills.”
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