Published in the Sept. 30 – Oct. 13, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Sandra McNeal
Photo by Marlene Guerrero
Crystell Rodriguez, a 17-year-old Central High School junior, learns how to properly shake hands from Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Chairman Rich Firato during the 2013 Rock the Mock .
With the annual Rock the Mock program which is held in the spring, local high school students learn basic job interview skills. This popular events has been a success in helping Morgan Hill’s young people in preparing for professional careers.
The program was started by the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee five years ago to encourage students to build their job interview skills, including the ability to answer questions, dress professionally, and even the etiquette of shaking hands. Rock the Mock is designed for Morgan Hill High Schools students to help them obtain fundamental interviewing skills and practice. In addition to the interviews, there are a number of skill building workshops. This program is a supportive, non-judgmental process committed to the growth of the students. Having this experience will help students get into college, sharpen their skills or land a job.
The event will be held at Central High School Dec. 8, Ann Sobrato High School on Jan. 14, and Live Oak High School Feb. 9. The local community brings local high school students together with trained professionals who volunteer to conduct mock interviews in preparation for “the real thing” in the job world. The interviewers come from a variety of career fields and all familiar with the interview process. Students learn a lot from receiving feedback so that when they go to apply for jobs in the real world, they are well prepared. This event has been a huge success in Morgan Hill schools, and we hope to expand the program as it continues each year.
In the past five years, we have placed different logo’s on our communications. I thought that it was time since we are celebrating our 5th year to brand Rock the Mock because of its success. Allowing the students to participate seems ideal because they can also benefit from the results as a winner.
The Chamber’s Education Committee has decided to enhance Rock the Mock by holding a contest to develop a special logo for the program. The contest was launched Sept. 14 and the deadline to submit a logo design for the contest is March 14, 2016. I encourage students with creative visual arts ability at Ann Sobrato, Live Oak and Central high schools to participate for a chance to share their creative vision with the community.
The first prize is the opportunity to “shadow” an art designer at Specialized Bicycle Components in Morgan Hill. The second prize is the chance to create an advertisement in the Morgan Hill Life newspaper displaying the logo. The logo must be done by only one student. It must be scalable to any size. A panel of between six and eight art professionals at Specialized will judge the logo contest entries.
Visit the Morgan Hill Chamber’s webpage morganhill.org/pages/RocktheMock to learn more about the criteria required for the logo and how to submit your logo for the contest.
Our young people today are so talented. With computers and other digital technology, they have so much available to them to create visual art that was not available in the past. I want to be there to help them along the way to be the person they want to grow into with ease and satisfaction.
Sandra McNeal is a member of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee. She wrote this column for Morgan Hill Life.
