More than 40 Morgan Hill Unified School District students
participated in a job-shadowing program Feb. 2 that taught them
about the relevance of their school work in
”
real life,
”
gave them the opportunity to see the kinds of workplace skills
that are needed and to learn about the many different kinds of
careers available.
Morgan Hill – More than 40 Morgan Hill Unified School District students participated in a job-shadowing program Feb. 2 that taught them about the relevance of their school work in “real life,” gave them the opportunity to see the kinds of workplace skills that are needed and to learn about the many different kinds of careers available.
Groundhog Job Shadow Day is part of a national program sponsored by Junior Achievement, a national volunteer organization, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Education and America’s Promise, a national non-profit organization that helps young people with resources to further their education.
Local businesses participating in the program this year included: Integrity Express, Bank of the West, Cherisse’s Hair Salon and Day Spa, Community Chiropractic, Johnson Funeral Home, Felice Insurance, EDO RSS, South Valley National Bank and Ledwith Financial Services.
The job shadowing program provides an opportunity for students to learn about life in the workplace and see the connection between what they learn and what they earn. The experience can help them to understand the importance of their education for their future.
Ten students from Central Continuation High visited EDO RSS for the day, and Bev Stenehjem, director of human resources for the company, said she believes the program is a great success.
“We’re hoping to inspire students in potential careers so that they can plan college accordingly,” she said. “EDO RSS benefits from the program since job shadowing is an excellent way for potential future employees to learn about the company.”
Central High student Jorge Munoz, 16, said he was surprised when he visited EDO RSS, because it was not what he expected.
“It was cool, though,” he said. “We got to see how they work in the offices. The lady I shadowed … I went with her to the different cubicles and saw how they do the pricing for what they sell. We also learned how a lot of those guys maybe didn’t have college degrees or maybe didn’t get good grades in high school but they were still able to get these good jobs.”
Jorge, who works at the Safeway grocery store on East Dunne Avenue, said he’s still not exactly sure what his future holds in terms of a career, but he said programs like the job shadowing program are important for students to participate in.
“It would be really good if more kids could go out and do something like this, especially students from other continuation schools,” he said. “Then they can go out into the real world and get a look at what different careers are like.”
Stenehjem said she would highly recommend the program to other companies. The employees, she said, received far more than they gave out of the experience.
MHUSD Assistant Superintendent Michael Johnson, who was with the Central students while they were at EDO, said the experience reminded him of a quote by President Dwight Eisenhower. When he bought land in Gettysburg, Johnson said the 34th American president made the statement, “I want to buy a plot of land and give it back to God better than when I found it.”
“This is what you have done for our students today,” Johnson told EDO employees. “You have given them back to us even better than they were when they arrived this morning.”
Irene Macias-Morris, principal of Central High, sees great value in the program, particularly for Central students who are at the continuation school typically because a traditional high school schedule would not work for them.
“The value, especially for my students, is to see the real life jobs out there, what kind of requirements to get the jobs,” she said.
One of the interesting things the students learned, Macias-Morriss said, was that many of the employees they shadowed had a degree in a field that is different from what they are now doing.
“It’s the whole idea that you can change, that you’re not stuck in a specific career if you get a certain degree,” she said. “It’s good for them to see they can have that flexibility.”
She also said she was proud of her students who participated in the program.
“The kids looked great, the employees were very impressed with their questions, their willingness to continue their education and to get out there and be good citizens,” she said.
