Event Galleries

Starting four years ago, the evolution of this event is one of which FORGE is very proud. This year, over 350 students from both Lowndes County Career Tech and McKellar Career Tech attended Soft Skills and Interview Day. Golden Triangle Leadership partnered with us to volunteer in a variety of roles throughout both days.

Day One – Soft Skills University

Students met on Wednesday to hear various speakers touch on the subject of soft skills. They covered topics such as social media, cell phones, resumes, handshakes, how to dress, and how to interview.

Speakers included:

• Lu and Katie McCrary with McCrary West Construction
• Brent Thompson with Thompson’s Welding
• Talia Worth with TRONOX
• LeAnn Alexander (MSMS) and Nikki Nicholson (Community Counseling Services) both represented Golden Triangle Leadership.
  • For their presentation, they had assistance from additional Leadership members Elizabeth Lavender, Brian Anderson and Greg Webb. These members gave examples of appropriate and inappropriate dress.

Day Two – Interview Day

Students returned on Thursday to practice what they had learned the previous day by being interviewed by industry representatives. Students were required to come dressed for an interview with a resume and application in hand. We had 36 representatives from 25 organizations that participated in the interview portion.

Lowndes County CTC and McKellar CTC’s culinary programs partnered to provide lunch for the industry partners. Lowndes County provided soup and dessert, and McKellar provided sandwiches.

Industry Participants that participated include:

• Allegro Health Services
• Atmos Energy
• Baptist Memorial Hospital
• Carl Hogan Toyota
• City of Columbus (Mayor)
• Eat With Us
• EMCC
• EMCC Communiversity
• Future Tek, Inc.
• Graham Roofing, Inc.
• International Paper
• Lion Hills
• Lowndes County School District
• Lowndes County Sherriff’s Office
• Major Design Studio
• McCrary West Construction
• MSU
• MSU FSNHP Department
• Sanders Counseling Services
• The L Salon
• Thompson’s Welding
• TRONOX
• US Army
• Waters Truck and Tractor
• West Brothers Construction

We owe a big round of Thank You to many different people and groups.

• Thank you to McKellar and Lowndes County School District for being flexible so that both programs could participate and benefit from the experience.
• Thank you to Lowndes County CTC for hosting the event.
• Thank you to all of the industry volunteers who showed up and invested in these students.
• Thank you to Golden Triangle Leadership for volunteering and helping out.
• Thank you to all of the sponsors who have invested in FORGE so we can organize events like this.
  •   Sponsors include: 4County, International Paper, and 100+ Women Who Care.
• Thank you to Sam Allison and Dr. Robin Ballard with Lowndes County School District, Macaulay Whitaker with the LINK, and Dr. Courtney Taylor with EMCC Communiversity for taking time out of their busy schedules to stop by and see the event.

There were a lot of moving parts, and many individuals helping them move. FORGE wouldn’t be able to do what we do if not for you guys.