November 5th was a busy day at Coca-Cola UNITED.  As part of our support and partnership with the Birmingham Education Foundation, we invited teachers and students from William J Christian School and Hudson Middle School to tour the plant and hear from some of our local leaders.

The students watched videos on the history of Coca-Cola UNITED and on where we are today, to get a better understanding of our company, as well as to understand the significance their decisions today can have on their lives, and the lives of others tomorrow.

They heard from Linda Sewell, Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications about our company and how we interact with the local community, from Pam Cook, Director of Multicultural and Community Affairs about our Pay if Forward Internship Program, from Randy Murphree, Plant Manager and Kenny Powe, Production Supervisor about the production process, and from Taraysa Smith, Employee Relations Manager and Amanda Crowson, Recruiter about career preparation and social media.

Christy Danzy, Community Relations Manager and organizer of this event, lead the students in fun games and activities to promote teamwork and critical thinking.  “We support Ed in so many ways. My favorite event to support by far is the Career Day and Plant Tour,” said Christy.  “The students learn about the various jobs available at Birmingham Coca-Cola,  and the educational requirements for the different levels of jobs from our HR team.”

Christy also stated, “We talk about how we give back to the community through a variety of programs and events.  Our Social Media Recruiter shares the importance of building a positive Social Media self-brand. The students also learn some valuable team building skills as they work in groups of 5-7 to build product display bottles. The winning team is awarded with Coke branded items and bragging rights.  The staff from Birmingham Education Foundation says that the Coke Career Day is the BEST program, and the students and teachers love our career day and we LOVE hosting them!”

Rebecca Garner, Media and Promotions Manager, spoke to the students about our products and provided some samples of our latest flavors.

The plant tour took the students through the bottling process, so they could better understand how their favorite drinks end up on store shelves.

All in all, it was a fantastic fun and educational day for us and for the students.  They even had some laughs taking photos with the Coca-Cola polar bear.