Dallas

Dallas school teaches teens to interview and communicate in the business world

It's all part of a program designed to help students prepare for college and beyond

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Students at Thomas Jefferson High School set aside math and science and practiced talking, communicating, and interviewing for a job. NBC 5’s Wayne Carter takes us to the classroom and shows us how alumni helped students prepare for the work world.

Talk to a teen these days and you might struggle to understand them.

"That's one of my weaknesses meeting new people and talking to them," said Lindsey Guerrero.

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That's why -- for two days, students at Thomas Jefferson High School set aside math and science and practiced talking, communicating, and interviewing for a job. 

"I swear we practice our handshakes 5,000 times," said Krystal Ellis who teaches in the AVID program. AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. It's a national program designed to help students prepare for college and beyond.

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"We live in a society where it's this all day long -- being able to hold a conversation, without a cellphone, or social media is huge," said Ellis.

She invited alumni with professional jobs in the community to interview her students -- ask questions, get them experienced talking in a professional setting, and connecting with someone not their age. 

Alan Rogelio Montalango was confident.

"How to firmly handshake, how to keep visual contact with each other," Montalango told us was his focus.

Lindsey knew this wasn't her strong suit. But she wants to be the first in her family to go to college she knows it's a skill to improve.

The experience was eye-opening, not just for the teens, but also for the alums who came to campus to help.

Bill Parr graduated in the class of '68 and marveled at all the changes on campus, but said the teens shouldn't accept the claims that they're not good communicators. 

"That's because we don't spend enough time with them. My dad did not like my music. I didn't like my kids' music. I don't understand my grandkids' music but I know them," he said. "They're not shy, we just have to listen to their way, and help them see ours."

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