Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, January 15,2020
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Brenau helps students with confidence — and a suit
Scott Rogers Dawson County News
Brenau University's Lila Westmoreland visits Tiger Threads
Thursday, Jan. 9, inside the university's Jacobs Building.
By Kelsey Podo
DCN Regional Staff
For many students, putting on
a tailored suit is like donning a
cloak of confidence.
This extra dose of profession
alism can make all the differ
ence when interviewing for an
internship or job, and Brenau
University recognizes that.
To help students along their
career paths, Brenau started a
clothing closet called Tiger
Threads.
Since November, students
have been able to visit the clos
et, located on the lower level of
the John W. Jacobs Jr. Building,
and pick out professional cloth
ing for free.
Lila Westmoreland, director
of operation and executive pro
grams at Brenau’s College of
Business and Communication,
said she got the idea to start the
shop when visiting Georgia
Southern University’s
Armstrong campus.
She tested the waters for a
couple of years at Brenau,
offering a pop-up professional
clothing store at intern fairs.
Most of the clothing dona
tions were gathered through a
partnership with The Rotary
Club of Gainesville, and the
clothing racks were provided
by Brenau’s theater department.
As the students perused the
clothing at the intern fairs,
Westmoreland asked them to
take a survey.
“It was very informative,”
Westmoreland said. “The sur
vey resulted in students saying
they don’t have anything to
wear during interviews and that
makes them feel insecure.”
Once the Jacobs building fin
ished renovations this past sum
mer, Westmoreland decided to
give the professional clothing
closet a year-round space.
Brenau’s fashion design
department students and faculty
helped paint the clothing clos
et’s walls and shelves. They
also provided photographs from
a recent fashion show, which
now adorn a section of the
room.
“It has come a long way, but
we still have a long way to go,”
Westmoreland said. “We really
want to make it pretty and
inviting.”
She plans to finish restocking
and decorating the space in the
spring and celebrate the accom
plishment with a grand
opening.
As Westmoreland equips stu
dents with the skills to nab an
interview, she never fails to
stress the importance of look
ing the part. Through Tiger
Threads, students have one less
hurdle for landing their next
internship or job.
“I tell them that this is your
one time to convince somebody
why you’re perfect for this
position,” Westmoreland said.
“You want it to be more about
what you’re saying and not dis
tracting in any way.”
Looking toward the future of
Tiger Threads, Westmoreland
hopes to gain a couple of com
munity partners, including large
retail companies like Brooks
Brothers, JCPenney or Belk.
For now, the biggest needs
are shoes, accessories and a
broader range of men’s and
women’s suit sizes.
People can make donations,
and students can schedule a
time to pick out clothing by
emailing Westmoreland at
lwestmoreland@brenau.edu.
Mobile career coach
visits Dawson County
By Joshua Demarest
jdemarest@dawsonnews.com
A mobile career coach from
WorkSource Georgia Mountains, a
cooperative effort lead by the Technical
College System of Georgia (TCSG) and
the Georgia Mountains Regional
Commission (GMRC), visited the
Dawsonville Goodwill Tuesday, Jan. 14.
The event, which was free and open to
the public, promised to help job seekers
search and apply for jobs online, create
and hone their resumes and cover let
ters, take career assessments, develop
workforce skills and learn about WIOA
training opportunities in the area.
People who are interested in making
use of the services offered by
WorkSource Georgia Mountains but
couldn’t attend the two-hour coaching
session can visit their office in
Gainesville.
The WorkSource
Georgia
Mountains mobile
career coach sits
outside of the
Goodwill in
Dawsonville
Tuesday, Jan. 14.
Jessica Taylor
Dawson County News
Dawson County Schools seeks
input to develop Strategic Plan
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County School District is
asking for community input as it embarks
on its strategic planning process. The sys
tem is asking for feedback from citizens,
school staff, parents, students and civic
leaders in order to ensure the resulting
strategic plan reflects the wishes of the
community.
A school district’s strategic plan is a
long-range planning document that out
lines the district’s mission and vision as
well as its goals and objectives needed to
achieve its vision.
According to a press release from
Dawson County Schools, there will be
two upcoming opportunities for communi
ty members to provide input. On Jan. 21, a
select group of community members com
posed of citizens, school staff, parents and
high school students are invited to partici
pate in a small group discussion regarding
issues useful in developing the plan. The
meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
at the Board of Education in the
Professional Development Center.
If it isn’t possible to attend the meet
ing, community members are encouraged
to participate in an online survey to
weigh in on the strategic plan which will
be posted on www.dawsoncoun-
tyschools.org on Jan. 22 after the Jan. 21
meeting.
“It is critical to have as many voices at
the table as possible so that our strategic
plan will truly represent all of our dis
trict’s stakeholders,” said Superintendent
Damon Gibbs.
All of the input will be given to a plan
ning team composed of school staff and
community members to assist in their
deliberations on crafting a vision, mis
sion, beliefs and strategic goal areas for
the district.
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