On Wednesday, November 30th, the Newton College and Career Academy (NCCA) hosted their annual Networking Luncheon with over 50 evaluators representing businesses, nonprofits and educational professionals from the community. The students were required to wear business professional dress and treat this as a mock interview luncheon.

Since the beginning of the school year, the students learned about professional soft skills such as eye contact, a strong handshake, business ‘small talk’ and active listening. Students were reminded to turn their phones off and really engage in conversation with their guests.

The Networking Luncheon comprised of four lunch periods. One adult sat at a table with five students. The adults were given a card with generic interview questions. Some examples of questions might be, ”Tell me about yourself,” “What is your favorite subject at school, and why?” “What are your short term and long term goals?” “What school activities do you participate in?” “What are your strengths?” and “What personal characteristics do you feel are necessary for success?”

After the extended lunch period was over and the students said their good-byes, the adults were asked to fill out a short feedback form on how the students performed during their mock interview. The results were handed back to the students at the end of the week. It was strongly suggested that the adults at the table give a few helpful hints for improvement.

Most of the NCCA students received perfect scores on their feedback forms which demonstrated they were listening to their soft skills lessons!

The faculty and staff are thankful for the adults who volunteered to be evaluators this year. Some evaluators were able to stay for the entire event which lasted over three hours. We are very grateful for their help in training our future workforce.

If you are professional and you would like to volunteer for other events similar to the Networking Luncheon, please contact: Jill McGiboney at NCCA at [email protected] or at 678-625-6788.

List of Organizations who helped at the NCCA Networking Luncheon:

Gents Grooming Lounge – Porterdale

Newton County Special Olympics

Newton County School System – Board Office

Snapping Shoals EMC

Newton Chamber of Commerce

Select Newton

Merryvale Assisted Living

Newton Citizen

Godfreys Feed

Bon Appetit Management/Oxford College

Piedmont Newton Hospital

Locust Grove High School

Northeast Georgia Regional Commission

Retired Educators

Arbor Equity

Carmichael Drugs

McMichael’s Construction

Live Oak Elementary

MB Entertainment

Infinity Networks

Ga Piedmont Technical College

Utica Insurance

BB&T Bank

Benchmark Physical Therapy

Peachtree Academy

Fibervisions

NCCA Administrators and Staff