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Students shadow career mentors on Groundhog Job In an event that's becoming as synonymous with Groundhog Day as Punxsutawney Phil, high school students around the country "shadowed" workers as they went about their business on national Groundhog Job Shadow Day, which kicked off on February 1, 2002. Over 100,000 employers nationwide opened their doors to one million high school students for this event. Northbridge High School, Douglas High School, Millbury High School and Grafton Job Corps participated in this year's Job Shadow Day in the Blackstone Valley. Other area schools, including Uxbridge High School, have held or will hold their own Job Shadow Day at a different time. Results of a study by the Kravis Leadership Institute for the Groundhog Job Shadow Day Coalition found that, compared to students ages 12 to 16 who did not participate in job shadowing, those who have job shadowed were one-third more likely to seek part-time employment during their high school years, were five percent more likely to believe they would obtain a college degree, and were significantly more likely to expect to finish high school. In short, job shadowers were more optimistic about their future. Thirty-two Northbridge High School juniors spent a drizzly February 1 seeing firsthand what work is like in medicine, law, photography, business, public service, and other fields. Julie Blair and Jessica LaChapelle explored their medical interests by spending the day in the pediatrics department at Tri-River Family Health Center in Uxbridge. Sue Goyette, R.N., pediatrics nurse clinician supervisor, scheduled each student to spend an hour shadowing a licensed practical nurse, a nurse practitioner, and a pediatrician. Blair and LaChapelle were thrilled when their first patient visit was with a one-week old baby, Cameron LaCour, son of Jessica Duda and James LaCour of Douglas. The day's experience clinched their interest in pursuing a medical career path. Elizabeth Riley looked into following in her family's legal footsteps as she shadowed Whitinsville Attorney Thomas Wickstrom. Riley sat in on a meeting discussing real estate matters, and then headed up to Worcester with Wickstrom to visit the courthouse and registry of deeds. "There's a lot more phone calls than I thought," said Riley about the day-to-day life of a lawyer. But with a lawyer uncle and paralegal mother, she still plans to pursue a career in litigation. Photographer Sean Cassidy of Cassidy Photo Studio in Whitinsville showed 10 students from Northbridge and Douglas the ropes in taking photo portraits. Students observed Cassidy smoothly tackle a typical photographer's challenge of photographing a child, and then set up some studio shots of their own. Northbridge High School guidance counselor Kathleen McCarthy said, "The high school participates in Job Shadow Day as part of its overall guidance and school-to-career program. It makes a lot of sense for students who think they have an interest in a field to get some real world of work experience." Job Shadow Day participants will have a follow-up meeting at school to share their responses to employer interview questions and will write up an evaluation of their experience. McCarthy added, "I really appreciate all the people in the business community who took kids. Without them it wouldn't be successful. And people who don't normally get to interact with teenagers find out what great kids they are too!" Susan Spencer Photos
Read previous Focus on Education articles...
Six years of focusing on education. (November 2006) |
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Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce
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