Willowbrook students participate in Career and Technical Education College of DuPage Student Leadership Team events

On Sept. 19, Willowbrook students who are part of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) College of DuPage (COD) Student Leadership Team attended their first event of the 2014-15 school year.

The Student Leadership Academy is comprised of DuPage County students, who participate in four field trips throughout the school year to College of DuPage, DeVry University, North Central College and Lewis University. During those trips, students hear guest speakers and participate in mock interviews to help them become better leaders and students and find success in college and careers. Those students form the CTE COD Student Leadership Team.

During the Sept. 19 event, Willowbrook students met students from other DuPage County schools, heard from speakers and had a catered meal from COD. The main speakers were George Karavattuveetil with AccentHR LLC and John Blumberg, Certified Speaking Professional. Karavattuveetil spoke to the teams in smaller sessions about résumé building, interviewing strategies, techniques for finding that first job out of high school and in college and preparing for their futures. Blumberg spoke about building communication with core values and goals individualized for each student.

The next sessions for the students will be in December, as they update their résumé and practice interview skills. They also will hear from speakers at a different college campus. The Willowbrook team is sponsored by CTE Department Chair Mary Barney and CTE teacher Steve Chojnacki.