Osbourn Park High School Students Learn Networking Skills from PWC–GM Chamber Members

Osbourn Park High School FBLA member Mercedes Vargas (far left) and FBLA President Lupita Vargas (left) recruit business volunteers at the Chamber’s Business After Hours event held at SunTrust Bank last September.

Photos: Prince William County Greater Manassas, Chamber of Commerce 

Manassas, VA—“I used to think networking was a big joke,” Denyse Carroll of Micron Technology Virginia told students at the Speed Networking event held at Osbourn Park High School in Manassas on January 8th and 9th. “Until I joined the Chamber and started actually doing it. I’ve gotten real results—from raising money for my program to recruiting volunteers for National Young Readers Day.” 

Carroll was one of more than 50 business people who volunteered to participate in the two-day event organized by the school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club in conjunction with the Prince William County–Greater Manassas Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee. The purpose of the event was to teach networking skills to more than 700 business students.  

This is the third such event to be held in area schools. The first took place three years ago at Osbourn High School in the City of Manassas. Last year’s event was held at Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas and earned the Prince William County–Greater Manassas Chamber of Commerce a “Creating Excellence Award” from the Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education Services. 

According to Lupita Vargas, Osbourn Park High School FBLA President, the club began planning the event last fall. The students in the club, with guidance from faculty advisor Kathleen Riddle, did the work of planning and organizing the event. They lined up event sponsor Commerce Bank and lunch sponsors Chick-fil-A—Signal Hill and L & L Delivery, Inc., met regularly with the Education Committee and attended Chamber events such as Business After Hours and the Annual Silent Auction Luncheon to recruit business participation. They coordinated event-day details, like posting signs in the school, providing parking and escorts and checking in new arrivals. 

During the event, the school’s business students met with business volunteers to practice introducing themselves and talking about their respective career paths.  

Lupita Vargas learned that organizing a huge project such as the Speed Networking event requires a great deal of planning and teamwork. In her opinion, the best part of the event was seeing her classmates participate. “I was really proud of the way the students dressed up for the event and opened up and interacted with the business volunteers.” She is certain that they all gained a lot of good information and valuable contacts for the future.  

Stated event sponsor Brendan Baldwin, Assistant Vice President of Commerce Bank in Manassas, “Commerce Bank is proud to be a sponsor of the FBLA Speed Networking event. We’d love to be the sponsor year after year.”

Date Published: 2008-01-16 03:00:00

Section: Education, Photos: PWC-GM-Chamber of Commerce, Prince William County-GM,