On March 23, 2026 11th grade students participated in the first ever HS223 Professional Olympics.

The Professional Olympics are a competition where students compete in teams in different “professional events” like email writing, resume writing, and job applications. 

“[The Professional Olympics] are between four junior advisory classes that focus on certain high leverage skills. And the winning team will be crowned the Professional Olympics champion and they will get school swag and a trip to visit a business,” said Ms. Haines who took the lead on planning the event

The Professional Olympics were added to the 11th grade advisory curriculum in order to improve student’s skills in the professionalism that they will need in their future careers.  

“It’s a great school culture opportunity. The Career Connected Learning team at the school noticed that students talk a lot about wanting to have professionalism skills and this gives them the opportunity to practice them, “ said Ms. Haines.

Students participated in 11 lessons during advisory that were focused on how to act more professionally. Students benefited from the extra focus on these skills that large and small corporations are looking for when it comes to hiring.  

“We’ve gotten to meet with several corporate leaders like Accenture and they all told us that what they are looking for in employees are skills that we think we teach, like teamwork, time management, punctuality, adaptability and problem solving skills,” said Ms. Haines.

Students appreciated the extra attention to their skills building and the seriousness with which the process was carried out.

“I liked the actual professionalism of it. I think I will carry this with me into my future career because I am able to have a professional conversation and solve problems. I am able to see things from different perspectives,” said Laila Macias (Class of 2027)

The 11th grade advisers agreed, seeing further positives for their students and their futures.

“Students benefit from extra understanding of work, socializing and communication,” said Mr. Perez, an adviser for the 11th grade.

The final for the Professional Olympics came down to Mr. Spodek and Mr. Skali’s advisories with Mr. Spodek’s advisory taking the first place. 

“I loved seeing how intensely our students competed. It allowed them to really delve deeply into professional situations,” said Mr. Skali. 

With the success of the Professional Olympics this year, will this idea continue in the future?

“I think that other grades should be implementing the Professional Olympics [in the future]. There should be a cross grade against each other,” said adviser Mr. Perez.