The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Students Shadow Professionals

On Thursday, February 2, the school held the annual Job Shadow Day, which gave students the opportunity to experience a day in the life of professionals of different occupations. The job mentors were from different departments and facilities of the city of Mountain View.

Around 30 students from LAHS, Mountain View High School (MVHS) and Alta Vista High School took a bus to downtown Mountain View where students met their job hosts. Students had the opportunity to get to know their hosts and ask them questions. After spending time with the hosts, students returned to City Hall for lunch where they were debriefed on their experience.

The professionals included building inspectors and civil engineers as well as employees from the police department, fire department, library, performing arts sector, Parks and Recreation sector and the Maston Architect Firm.

The coordination for the event was a collaborative effort between the Youth Resources Manager of Mountain View Kim Castro, College Career Center Coordinator Kristin Joseph, and the College Career Center Coordinator at MVHS and MVLA Workability Coordinator, Kim Jackson. The Job Shadow Day evolved out of Junior Achievement, a nonprofit organization with programs to help educate young people about work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

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“We found [Junior Achievement to be] difficult because that involved a teacher in specific classes,” Joseph said. “We open it up schoolwide [with] juniors and seniors getting first priority.”

Job Shadow Day originally started six years ago with only Alta Vista students.

“It became a situation where we realized that it was something all students should participate in,” Jackson said. “So we opened it up for the entire district.”

Job Shadow Day allows students to get a perspective on different kinds of careers.

“I think it’s a way of exposure for students to learn more about what’s out there career-wise that perhaps they had no experience or knowledge about and gain that knowledge,” Joseph said.

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