Breakfast with the Boss connects students with future opportunities
More than 100 students from Lamar High School’s P-TECH incoming freshman class networked their way into the business world at the second annual P-TECH Breakfast with the Boss Wednesday morning.
Lamar is entering its second year of the P-TECH program where students learn about business and cybersecurity while gaining exposure to opportunities that align with their field of study.
Breakfast with the Boss is the perfect example as representatives from more than 30 industry partners from across the community came to Lamar to chat with the students about their experience in their current roles and offer advice on the students’ journey into their future careers.
Lamar P-TECH welcomed Arlington mayor Jim Ross as well as business professionals from Bell, Chase Bank, Medical City Arlington, Southwest Airlines and several other local employers.
“Part of our program is about work-based learning, so this is their first exposure to industry,” said Carolyn Longoria, Lamar P-TECH assistant principal.
Students got the opportunity to pick three industries they were interested in learning more about while enjoying breakfast with their leaders. During the event, students learned about job opportunities, professional backgrounds and skills needed to meet today’s workforce demands.
Many students knew exactly what kind of insight they wanted to take away from Breakfast with the Boss to then apply to their own career goals.
“I’m excited to meet people with the same mindset that I have,” said Terrance Williams. “I’m trying to get the details on everything that they did to get to where they are so that I can get there, too.”
Reps were equally excited to share their knowledge and encouragement with Arlington ISD students.
“These are kids who are excited about where they want to go in life,” said Ross. “They’re really our hope of putting some normalcy back in society. I’m impressed, and I’m excited about what the future holds for these kids.”
Breakfast with the Boss came on the third and final day of the Summer Bridge that helps students with the transition from junior high to high school and college while also helping integrate the students into the P-TECH program.
The breakfast was also a wonderful way for incoming freshmen to meet some of their new classmates in P-TECH.
“Since we’re all going to be together for the next couple of years, we’ve all been open to meeting each other and forming good relationships,” said incoming freshman Eric Bradford.
One of the primary goals of P-TECH is for students to build connections within the program to gain job and internship experience during their junior and senior years. Breakfast with the Boss did exactly that, opening new doors to future opportunities for the incoming freshmen.
To learn more about P-TECH at Lamar, click here.