Chamber ‘interviews’ E.M. young entrepreneurs

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East Meadow High School junior Kaylee Torres is trilingual, a former sales associate at Mandee and has experience writing for her school’s paper the Get Gazette. She is looking for an opportunity to use her skills and learn more about business.

Eshan Shakrani has numerous honors classes under his belt, volunteer experience at White Oaks Nursing Home in Westbury and is the Vice President of the National English Honor Society at W.T. Clarke High School. His passion, however, is computer engineering and he hopes to find a career in the field.

The Herald spoke with both students for a mock job interview, hosted by the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce. Chamber members met with students from East Meadow entrepreneurship classes on May 18 for its Annual Mock Interview Program. The program comes right before students embark on summer internships and employment opportunities, said Toni McIntosh, the district’s chair of business.

Chamber members give students a crash course on resume building and the basics of an interview, according to Alan Hodish, who coordinates the program. He added that he always receives outstanding feedback from the students, who come well prepared and conduct themselves professionally. Some even found employment opportunities through the experience.

“The major goal of the class is really to expose the students to the real world,” said Melissa Woisin, who teaches the entrepreneurship class at East Meadow High School. “It’s teaches students about life beyond the textbook.”

This was the first year that students from W.T. Clarke participated and their teacher Carol Duckfield, said that many of them were nervous going into it, but “they all came back very pleased and smiling.”

Stephen La Sala, the commissioner of the East Meadow Baseball and Softball Association, interviewed junior Stefanie Botman and senior Kyle Santos. He said that he was impressed by the professional manner with which the students conducted themselves.

“[Stefanie] was very poised and confident in her delivery,” he said, adding, “And Kyle was very clear in his goals and how he wants to achieve them.”