Job Shadow Program with Pacific Beach High School

We partnered with our local continuation high school to provide academically at-risk students the chance to shadow a Rotarian for a few hours at their workplace. These career exploration activities were designed to expose high school seniors to a day in the life of a career professional. Thirty Rotarians volunteered to serve as job shadow mentors. Students chose a Rotarian to shadow, spent several hours with the Rotarian at work, then wrote up a report on their experiences. Job shadows included visiting a drywall firm’s job sites, Cal Poly’s Performing Arts Center during set up and a live band performance, a local realtor as she made her rounds of homes for sale, and a marketing/PR firm with involvement of the owner and several of her colleagues. Several students sent heart-warming thank you notes, grateful for the eye-opening experiences they shared with Rotarians.

A Pacific Beach High School student with her job shadow 

mentor at the Verdin Marketing firm.

Verdin Marketing President and Rotarian, Mary Verdin (left) with Pacific Beach High School job shadow student (upper middle, black top) and the Verdin team.

 

Article By: Mark Shelton, Vocational Service Chair, Rotary de Tolosa, San Luis Obispo, CA, mshelton@calpoly.edu (805) 459-7863