Job Shadow day offers students day out

Jennifer Doran
USAFE School Liaison Office


***image1***The U.S. Air Forces in Europe Job Shadow Day takes place Wednesday in conjunction with the National Groundhog Job Shadow Day.

KMC Department of Defense Dependent Schools and home-schooled students will have an opportunity to be part of a national effort to shadow a workplace mentor through the course of a regular workday.

Shadowing helps students realize the importance of their classroom lessons, provides the opportunity to observe a career in action and benefits the community by providing students the answer to the inevitable question, “What do I want to be when I grow up?”

KMC sponsors and mentors are invited to host a student to shadow them throughout the day. The mentors have a responsibility of demonstrating to the student what they and their organizations do on a daily basis.

When the students return to the classroom, teachers can facilitate lessons to incorporate shared experiences and give students a new perspective on education.

In a 2001 and 2002 school year evaluation conducted by the Western Institute for Research and Evaluation, 67 percent of students surveyed reported that Job Shadow Day taught them how important education is to their future success, and 86 percent of students reported that their experience in Job Shadow Day had changed their attitudes about working. The most notable changes included better insight to the reality of working, broadened job interests and motivation to attend college.

The National Groundhog Job Shadow Day is in its eighth year and boasts more than four million student participants since its inception.

KMC Job shadow day events
•76th Airlift Squadron sponsors tours of C-21 aircraft on the ramp 8 to 11 a.m. Bldg. 2327.
•The 86th Operations Support Squadron sponsors control tower tours, 8 to 11 a.m. Bldg. 2303.
•The 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron sponsors tours of the equipment shop and C-130 aircraft orientations, 8 to 11 a.m. Bldg. 2327.
•The 435th Civil Engineer Squadron sponsors a tour of the fire station, 8 to 11 a.m. Bldg. 2303.
•The 786th Security Forces, Sembach, hosts physical training 8 to 9 a.m. in the Sembach Gym, followed by an intelligence briefing, airborne demo, sniper demo and Raven demo 9 to 10:10 a.m. and weapons demo 10:10 to 11:30 a.m. at the softball field. Meals Ready to Eat served for lunch 11:30 a.m. to noon.
•The 435th Material Maintenance Squadron, Sembach, hosts a squadron overview and tour, including bomb loader demo, static displays of aircraft munitions equipment and support vehicles, and fire truck demonstration, 8 a.m. to noon.
•The 435th Communications Group hosts various site tours 7:30 to 10 a.m.
•Lunch for Job Shadow Day participants is scheduled for 11 a.m. to noon, with students returning to schools at noon.
For details, call John Bohannon or Edward Lepper at the KMC Schools Liaison Office, 489-6771 or 0631-536-6771.