Hillcrest HS Students Participate in Job Shadow Program

In a partnership with Junior Achievement of South Suburban Chicago, students from the DECA (Distributive Education Club of America) Internship Program at Hillcrest High School recently participated in the AT&T Job Shadow and Aspire Mentor Program at the AT&T Corporate Headquarters in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates. Vice President of Construction & Engineering, Kevin Haynes, spoke of several career pathways in the corporation, in addition to his pathways within AT&T, as well as possible career paths outside of AT&T.

Student participants toured and shadowed employees from various backgrounds, such as: Human Resources, Operations, Cloud Management, Infrastructure Support and more. The “connectors” and students participated in real-life project-based activities in which they problem solved in a team setting. AT&T mentors also took student groups on tours of the facility and highlighted world-wide teleconferencing rooms, as well as perks of working at AT&T.

A select group of students participated in a Toastmasters International meeting held at the facility and were awarded best speeches for the day’s meeting. DECA Senior Anaija Griffin exclaims of her Toastmasters experience, “I have always been afraid to talk in front of people and voice my opinions. However, at Toastmasters I felt as if I was a completely different person and I could say anything that I wanted to. I felt that I wasn’t being judged about what I said and that people gave me the courage to speak more than once and speak loudly and confidently in front of people.”

For more information about the DECA Program at Hillcrest High School, please contact advisor Mike Cicirale at mcicirale@bhsd228.com.