Photo by Wren Norwood/ Peninsula Clarion Bella Fiore and Alyssa Herr stretch with Pako Whannell after working with her on Job Shadow Day, Wednesday, April 9, at New Beginnings in Kenai.

Photo by Wren Norwood/ Peninsula Clarion Bella Fiore and Alyssa Herr stretch with Pako Whannell after working with her on Job Shadow Day, Wednesday, April 9, at New Beginnings in Kenai.

On-the-job training

  • By WREN NORWOOD and KENDRICK O'ROURKE
  • Wednesday, April 9, 2014 10:46pm
  • News

More than a hundred Kenai Central High School students join the workforce for the day Wednesday, as part of the annual Job Shadow Day.

Job Shadow Day, now in its 20th year, is a joint program between Kenai Central High School and the Kenai Chamber of Commerce. High school juniors are matched with local businesses for a hands-on experience in a number of different career areas.

KCHS Principal Alan Fields said that about 125 students are given a day to shadow a worker and experience the job of their host. Students have the opportunity to understand what the job is like and if they might enjoy that type of career.

The school faces a huge logistical challenge transporting more than a hundred students to different businesses, from the refineries and oil industry businesses of Nikiski to the hospital and police station in Soldotna.

Fields said he appreciates the community support and would like to see it the community continue supporting the program.

Johna Beech, president and chief operating officer for the Kenai Chamber of Commerce, said that about 56 businesses are involved with the Job Shadow Day. This is her third year working with this program and she said KCHS is the only school in the United States that puts on a job shadow program of this type.

One challenge the chamber faces in putting the program together is the size of the community and the heavy burden on some of the businesses. The hospital alone has accepted about 24 students for the Job Shadow Day.

Beech said that one of the most exciting things about it is that it gives students the opportunity to join the work force for the day, giving them the chance to experience that job.

The opportunity can help them decide whether they really want to pursue the career they chose, or perhaps they want to look for a different goal after their job shadow experience.

Volunteer Coordinator at Central Peninsula Hospital Jim Childers said that things students do include working in the clinical lab. Some students learned how to be radiologists, while others learned about anesthesiology.

Childers also said that a couple of challenges they face about having students come is the lack of space, especially in the operating room. Also, confidentiality is stressed and students are asked to not talk about certain details of their experience outside of the hospital.

Some of the pros about having the students come to the hospital is that they are exposed to the health and medical field, and hopefully encouraged to become more involved in it, Childers said.

 

Wren Norwood and Kendrick O’Rourke are juniors at Kenai Central High School participating in Job Shadow Day.

More in News

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Candidate Bill Elam waves signs on election day on Tuesday, Oct 3, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voters take to the polls during Tuesday municipal election

Poll workers report low turnout across the central peninsula

Some of the pumpkins submitted to the pumpkin-decorating contest are seen here during the 5th annual Kenai Fall Pumpkin Festival in Kenai, Alaska, on Oct. 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Kenai’s Fall Pumpkin Fest set for Saturday

The fun actually starts early, as a central element of the festival is a pumpkin decorating contest already underway

Aurora Borealis Charter School Art and Music Teacher Eleanor Van Sickle leads students in a performance of "Autumn Canon," a Hungarian song at a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Student serenade

Aurora Borealis Charter School students sing at the assembly during the regular school board meeting on Monday

Bear 747, defending Fat Bear Week Champion, stands on the bank of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The winner of a Thursday matchup between Bear 128 Grazer and Bear 151 Walker will meet 747 in Fat Bear Week competition on Saturday. (Photo courtesy C. Cravatta/National Park Service)
Survival of the fattest

Paunchy ursine competitors go head-to-head in annual Fat Bear Week

Soldotna Elementary School Principal Dr. Austin Stevenson walks amid natural gas pipes anchored to the outside of school on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
High costs stall work on school bond

A cost estimate for the reconstruction of Soldotna Elementary School came back $13.5 million over budget

(City of Seward)
Police standoff closes Seward Highway

Police say standoff was with ‘barricaded individual,’ not escaped inmate

Mount Redoubt can be seen across Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska not included in feds’ proposed 5-year oil and gas program

The plan includes a historically low number of proposed sales

A copy of "People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska" stands in sunlight in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Moose Pass to receive award for community historical effort

“People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska” was a collaboration among community members

Most Read