It’s become a yearly tradition for students of United South High School's magnet program to welcome national business etiquette expert Diane Gottsman to Laredo for a special seminar at La Posada Hotel. The yearly event is organized by the Magnet Dean Sinneh J. Koroma and former logistics teacher Claudia Saenz, who worked hard to convince Gottsman to make the yearly trip to meet with the students from the United South HS Academy of Global Business and Advance Technology Magnet.
Gottsman generally works with universities and corporations, so this is a unique opportunity for these students.
“Mr. Koroma called me eight years ago, and I was fully prepared to tell him, ‘I can’t do it’,” recalls Gottsman. “I normally don’t work with this age group because of our calendar, but he is so compassionate and so committed to giving leadership skills to his students that I just couldn’t say no. We have built an eight year relationship, and I love coming to this high school because the students are eager, the staff is attentive, and it’s just my pleasure to work with the students here at UISD.”
Each year, about one hundred Juniors participate in the hands-on etiquette training, which is conducted over a lovely lunch at the San Agustin Ballroom. It has become a favorite learning experience for the students who pick up tips on how to impress future employers with their table manners and conversation.
On this trip, Koroma has a heart-to-heart talk with the students, letting them know that they have opportunities beyond the reach of other students their age around the world. He encourages them to take advantage of important advice from successful people such as Gottsman.
“It is important that our students get as many learning experiences that they can,” he says. “The competition out there is very, very stiff, so we want to prepare our students in such a way that if they go against anyone in any part of the country, they will be on par, and they will be able to perform to the best of their abilities.”
Gottsman says business relationships are built on trust, and soft skills must be learned because that’s how we become the people that we are in our community.
“Soft skills are leadership skills, so 85% of our job success is based on our ability to put others at ease, and that’s a study done by Harvard, Stanford and the Carnegie Foundation, so I teach my students that everything they do matters.”
Small gestures can make a big impression in the business world, according to this expert, and having confidence in one's manners allows a person to focus on the discussion at the table with potential employers, instead of, how to eat their food properly.
“I think some basic skills are knowing where your utensils go, knowing how to hold the utensils, knowing what to do with your napkin, how to make table conversation, how you can step away from the table courteously and then come back.”
Koroma says they like to give the students this out of the classroom experience because it prepares them for the real world.
“They love it because this is putting everything they’ve learned into practice, so we can tell from their reactions and their questions that it’s really something that they are into," states Koroma. "And they are enjoying the experience of learning how it is to interact in a business-like setting.”
United South Principal Martha Alvarez supports the program and is impressed with the way Gottsman is able to engage the students year after year.
“I believe that our Magnet Dean Mr. Koroma has truly set a great learning platform for our students to acquire those skills that are crucial as we move on to post secondary. Whether it be immediately to a career or advancing to higher education, these types of skills are going to be necessary,” states Alvarez.
For anyone interested in learning more about this program, Gottsman shares her tips on social media as well.
“You can follow me on Instagram at Diane Gottsman, Facebook at Protocol School of Texas, and I love to see who follows me,” she adds. “I answer back because that’s building relationships.”
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