Freshmen learn ‘speed’ communication skills at high school

Fourteen-yearold Diana Garcia wasn’t born with the gift of gab, at least when it comes to chatting with adults.

But for her and fellow freshmen at Cristo Rey Columbus High School, she doesn’t need to be. New students there are learning that keeping up with the grown-ups, especially in a professional setting, is a skill to be honed.

Cristo Rey Columbus welcomed 110 freshmen this year with a weeklong course in soft skills and professionalism.

The course culminated for the freshmen when they sat down with local business executives and community leaders during a series of “speed-chatting” sessions, similar to the rapid-fire exposure of speed dating. Freshmen were paired with adults in rotating, 10-minute shifts to learn about different careers and practice maintaining a conversation and eye contact.

“Fourteen-year-old kids, by and large, are often uncomfortable talking to adults,” Cristo Rey Columbus President Jim Foley said. “But talking to adults is essential if you are going to be successful in a professional work environment.”

Students at Cristo Rey find themselves in that environment very quickly. Each student performs in a professional work-study program once a week at a participating business. Just after Labor Day, students will be placed at banks, city government offices and nonprofit organizations, among other establishments. On one day, 120 volunteers showed up to chat with the kids.

They sat knee-to-knee with students, in low, teal chairs lining a long hallway on the first floor of the school. They made small talk, discussed students’ plans after high school and shared experiences from their careers.

“At the beginning, I felt kind of nervous,” Diana said. “And then, slowly, I started to open up a little bit.”

But just as students were getting comfortable, a loud bell signaled them to switch partners and start all over again: a new introduction, a new handshake, a new challenge to keep up with a fast-talking professional. The process repeated for a full hour.

And the professionals didn’t take it easy on them.

“I didn’t think I needed to adjust how I talked to them,” Morgan Pelt, from the Ohio Development Services Agency, said. “I remember being in their shoes, being scared and all those feelings when talking to an adult. I want them to be able to adjust and to