Job Shadow Day pairs mentors, students

  • Published
  • By Amy Rollins
  • Skywrighter Staff
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. --  Mentorship has been defined as a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. Job Shadow Day, a program of the Education Outreach Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, creates a need for such mentors, and the deadline to volunteer for the Oct. 3 event is Aug. 29.

Once volunteer mentors step forward, the Education Outreach Office can assemble the career list and get the announcement out to schools.

"The WPAFB Job Shadow Day is for high school juniors and seniors. In the spring, we had more than 50 career fields for the students to choose from," said Kim Stultz, Job Shadow Day program coordinator. "This event drew a record number of students and mentors -- 163 students mentored by 76 volunteers. More than 37 local high schools participated, and some students traveled from as far away as Butler Tech (Lakota East), Cuyahoga Valley Career Center, Lincoln View (Van Wert), and Watkins Memorial (Pataskala) high schools to take part in the program."

School counselors agreed that their students truly benefitted from the shadowing experience.

Mentoring can include visiting a job site, introducing the students to colleagues, viewing a special project or arranging a tour for the students. If needed, Educational Outreach has a list of tour sites that can be provided upon request.

The day will start at 8:30 a.m. at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force where students will be paired with their mentors for a day of shadowing. Mentors will return the students to the museum at 2:30 p.m. Students are advised to either bring their lunch or money to purchase lunch. Mentors need to secure any necessary permissions or clearances to bring the students into their work area.

A person who is excited about his or her job and is willing to share that excitement with the next generation makes a good mentor. Mentors are responsible for transporting the students to and from the job sites as well as providing the overall job shadow experience.
The Wright-Patterson AFB Educational Outreach Office will perform the pre-event work, including publicizing the program to area schools, pairing students with mentors, registrations and securing school and parental permissions.

To be a mentor, register at www.surveymonkey.com/s/FallJS2014.