University High students speak with their mentors in Lupton Hall. Photo by Kali Glover.
University High juniors recently tested their networking skills at an event on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus.
University High, launched in the fall of 2023, is a Hamilton County Schools initiative headquartered at UTC. The program allows the group of high school students to take college courses while working towards their diplomas.
The students joined University High for their junior and senior years from 10 different Hamilton County schools.
At the Lupton Hall event on March 7, students talked with mentors from various Chattanooga-area employers as part of the inaugural University High Speed Mentoring Night.
Arielle Hayes, principal of University High, created the speed mentoring event to help students make meaningful connections with people who can help further their careers.
“This is an opportunity for them to potentially job shadow,” Hayes said. “To find people wherever they go to be connected with, to go ahead and have a seat at the table for anyone they have already met.”
Arielle Hayes
For many students, it was their first time networking. The first hour of the event was spent mingling and enjoying appetizers, allowing students to make small talk and introduce themselves to mentors.
Then, in six-minute bursts, students seated face-to-face with a professional interviewed their “mentor.”
Students moved across the room, interviewing, taking notes and exchanging resumes with the professionals.
Mentors were asked to keep track of those who made a positive impression and collect their information for future use.
“The more people you meet and interact with, the more opportunities you can get,” Hayes said. “This is building opportunities they may not have otherwise had.”
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