Ashton Ziegler knew the Atlanta Hawks ran on more than basketball. But standing inside State Farm Arena on Feb. 26, hearing directly from the people who handle marketing, sales, culinary operations, and fan experience, made it real.  

“It showed me how much goes into behind the scenes and how they all play a big part,” he said. 

Ziegler was one of 26 students from Jackson County High School’s FCCLA chapter who visited State Farm Arena that day as part of “Day at the Hawks,” a career exposure field trip made possible in part by an $800 HireSmart Cares grant that helped offset transportation costs. 

“The grant helps more kids attend, ones who wouldn’t have been able to attend due to the transportation costs,” said Brooke Curtis, who teaches Food for Life and Food Science at Jackson County High and serves as the school’s FCCLA advisor. 

The centerpiece of the day was a Sports Speaker Series panel featuring professionals from the Hawks and College Park Skyhawks business operations staff, people working in marketing, sales, culinary, social media, and fan experience. 

“They (students) get to hear from people who are living the day to day of what they do in the job, what skills they need,” said Curtis. 

For students used to hearing career advice from teachers, hearing it directly from working professionals carried a different weight. One message in particular stuck with Curtis. 

“The panelists talk to them about not going into a job just for the money — go into it because you love it,” she said. “Because if you love it, then you’re not going to work a day in your life. It’s interesting and eye opening for the kids to see and hear that from other people, besides their teachers, who preach it every day.” 

The variety of careers on display gave students a window into professional worlds they hadn’t previously considered. Abby Johnson, a senior, said the team’s sports nutritionist stood out. 

“One that stood out to me was the sports nutritionist, who works closely with the athletes and learns about their individual preferences and needs,” she said. “I think it’s really interesting that their job is always changing and that they get to learn something new every day. As a high school senior, it was both educational and exciting to see how many different career options there are for the future.” 

Lincoln Scott was drawn to the culinary side of the operation. 

“I enjoyed hearing from the chefs that work behind the scenes at the Hawks Arena,” said Scott. “The way they collaborate and work together to create different dishes and cater to a surplus of people is interesting, and I enjoyed hearing about the prep work behind it all.” 

Beyond the panel, students also competed against FCCLA chapters from across the state. The challenge: design a product that could be sold at the arena. Curtis described the competition as a test of the same skills employers look for. 

“There’s like a mini competition, and usually it’s ‘create a food truck’ or ‘create a birthday party theme,'” Curtis said. “They have all these stipulations. They want the kids working together in groups, teamwork, creating some sort of product, talking about what they would do.” 

Students also got to play a game of Knockout on the Hawks court, a detail that mattered more than it might sound for students who had never been to a professional arena. 

Heidi Morales-Hernandez described the day as more than a field trip. 

“Overall, the day at the State Farm Arena was an amazing experience,” she said. 

The long-term payoff from trips like this one can be hard to measure, but Curtis has seen it happen. A former student who attended Day at the Hawks through FCCLA later landed an internship with the organization. 

“I actually had a former student who reached out and she got an internship at the Hawks because of her experience through FCCLA and us going on this field trip,” said Curtis. 

HireSmart Cares, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Mark and Anne Lackey, focuses on helping K-12 students develop job-ready skills without college debt. The $800 grant supporting Day at the Hawks reflects the organization’s commitment to giving students real-world career exposure. To learn more about HireSmart Cares, visit hiresmartcares.org.