Atlanta—Last week, students from Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC)/The Dalton Academy and Atlanta Technical College, who are participating in the Basic Floor Covering Program, attended Coverings 2024 here. Coverings, which spans nine miles of tile and stone from 1,000+ global exhibitors, was an opportunity for the students to experience the industry outside of the classroom.
Conversations began last fall when Jamie Rich, Coverings show director, contacted the Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF) about partnering during the show and hosting students participating in the flooring program. Rich and the FCEF team worked closely over the following months to coordinate transportation, registration, scheduling and an industry sponsor for the day’s events.
The morning started with a warm welcome from Rich and a word of appreciation from Megan Faulknor, education project manager for FCEF. Throughout the day, students were able to visit the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) booth to observe the CTI Testing and then to the main stage to observe the Installation Innovation Stage Demo. Several students, including Andy and Donte from The Dalton Academy, named this as their favorite event of the day “because you are able to see different methods of installation.” The tour continued with a stop by one of the day’s sponsors, QEP Roberts, where students were able to hear from the Leslie Del Pozo, VP marketing communications, and Lenard Gould, president and CEO. Students were able to speak with several other industry representatives during the show floor tour led by NTCA leadership.
When asked about the day, Sasha, a dual enrollment student at GNTC, said it was great to hear the life experiences and career journeys of industry partners and NTCA members. “I’ve heard several people say they have more than 25+ years of experience in the industry, and it is cool to see them stay so long,” Sasha said. Several students were surprised by the architecture of the booths, the size of the show, the number of vendors and attendees and of course the cool cars featured on the show floor.
FCEF said it appreciates each industry partner that made this day possible and all that took time out of their day to speak with the students in attendance. FCEF gave a special word of thanks to QEP Roberts for sponsoring the students in attendance, Nick Sun, executive director of secondary operations for the Dalton Public School system, and Shannon Georgecink, VP of institutional advancement at Atlanta Technical College.