CCHS freshmen participate in Corporate America Week

By GARY EMMERT 
Cove Leader-Press 

Growing up is not easy, as any adult reading this article can attest.  High school students work very hard to make it to the finish line that is graduation.  
Recognizing this, Copperas Cove High School freshmen are beginning the transition early by participating in Corporate America Week.  
Their week was packed full of valuable lessons such as writing a resume, performing a proper handshake, and dressing appropriately for an interview, culminated by a visit from former NFL executive Orlando Gunn. 
“Each one should reach one to teach one,” said Gunn, a graduate of Harker Heights High School and walk-on running back at Louisiana State University.  
Gunn was a member of LSU’s National Championship team in 2007, but suffered a torn ACL the following season.  This dampened his hopes of playing in the NFL, but it hardly slowed him down.  He went on to intern for the NCAA as a student-athlete at their headquarters in Indianapolis then.  
After getting a Master’s degree in Sports Business Management from the University of Central Florida, the Miami Dolphins hired him.
“We have to teach them how to dress, talk to people, be organized, study, all those things that are part of an organization,” said teacher Heather Calhoun.  
Having watched so many students struggle after high school, not knowing these basic skills, Calhoun began this program with the school’s freshmen with the intention of reaching them while they have time to hone these skills.  
“This week has given me a lot to think about,” said Jauvielle Myers, a freshman at Copperas Cove School.  “I plan on playing in the NFL one day, but know that getting my degree is important as is having a plan.”  
Shelly McKnight, also a freshman, is a member of the school’s junior varsity soccer team.  “I think that it is cool that we get an opportunity to experience this, and at a young enough age that we have time to do something with it,” McKnight said before going up to the from of the Lea Ledger Auditorium stage to learn how to tie a tie.  McKnight wants to go to medical school and then be a Medic in the U.S. Army.
The event ended with selected students going on stage dressed in a “business fashion” themed runway show, which included every detail from a fresh new haircut to the ever-important first handshake.  
Their time spent last week was the foundation of the building that will one day be their life after high school.