Sophomores learn soft skills for the workplace

Our Lady of the Lakes tenth graders had the opportunity to work on building their soft skill sets to utilize both now in the classroom and in their professional lives.

In a workshop led by Sheri Dunatchik, an admissions counselor from Northwood University, students learned about hard and soft skills and specifically how important effective communication is in the workplace.

Our sophomores are not unaware of their generation’s lack of soft social skills. “We’re glued to our phones and lose social skills,” commented Brooklyn Robak. “We’re not good at starting conversations.”

Dunatchik reviewed hard vs soft skills, active listening, and verbal vs non-verbal communication before breaking the class up into groups to work on team communication. In the activity, each team practiced collaborative communication and efficiency while working together to recreate a drawing. 

Each team of four assigned themselves the roles of Director, Connector, Builder, and Feedbacker. The Director could see the final product in the hallway and could only talk to the Connector about what the Builder was supposed to be drawing. The Building listened to the Connector, but could also ask only yes or no questions of the Feedbacker who was also allowed to look at the picture in the hallway.

Each group collaborated to complete their version of the goal picture. Kailey Koshorek said, “Overall they look pretty similar, but the details were harder.”

Dunatchik complimented the class on their confidence, another soft skill. She also mentioned how she has had groups who do not listen to the rules and that shows their poor soft skills of honesty and trustworthiness, which are things future employers will look for.

Dunatchik is excited to bring these fun, educational workshops to schools in her region sharing, “Northwood is committed to the success of the student, no matter where they go for college. We are committed to the high school classroom and teachers.”

Our eleventh and ninth graders also participated in workshops led by Dunatchik on the topics of college admissions and GRIT, respectively.

Educating students in grades PreK through 12 for over 60 years, Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic School provides an educational experience grounded in Catholic Tradition, personal discipline and academic excellence. We offer small class sizes and low student-to-teacher ratios in a safe and secure family-oriented community. Weekly Mass complements a fully integrated one-to-one iPad program, championship athletics, K-12 robotics program, before and after school care, and much more!