Just me and my shadow at Deer Park High School

On February 2, there were many shadows to be seen as tenth graders at Deer Park High School participated in Teens on the Job, Long Island Groundhog Shadow Day. Teens on the Job, a program of the Long Island Mentoring Partnership, provides tenth grade students with experiential learning about a chosen career field and its workplace. Job shadowing enables students to shadow a workplace mentor as he or she proceeds through a routine day on the job, providing an up-close look at how the skills learned in school are put into action in the workplace.

In the program, pairs of tenth graders spend five hours in the work world hosted by employee/mentors who have careers that interest the students. The students select shadowing opportunities out of the Teens on the Job classified newspapers. The newspaper has classified advertisements describing the job, company and location. To be considered for a shadow position, student pairs complete an application indicating up to three choices. The Long Island Mentoring Partnership matches the student pair with an employee/mentor based upon information in the application.
Deer Park High School students, Dana Collins and Gaelle Hubert, shadowed Stacy Botbyl, a dietitian at the Gurwin Jewish Geriatric Center in Commack. The students, who both expressed an interest in the medical field, attended meetings, observed residents and their meals and were given a tour of the kitchen. "I’d definitely take the opportunity to participate in this program again," Gaelle said.

Another pair of Deer Park High School students, Kaye DeGracia and Elizabeth Koch, shadowed Attorney Heidi Hilton of the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, Inc. in Central Islip. The students sat in on cases and even had the opportunity to see a full trial. "Kay and Elizabeth saw every type of case that a family court has," Hilton stated. At one point, the students took trial notes. The students were also given a tour of the holding cells and lockup. Afterwards, the two sat with Judge Freundlich and asked questions regarding the trials they had seen. "It was very interesting." Koch said. "It was more like a TV show than I had expected."

In the picture, Clinical Dietitian of Nutritional Services Leslie Fischler, far left and Assistant Chief Dietitian of Nutritional Services Stacy Botbyl, far right, show Deer Park High School students Dana Collins and Gaelle Hubert how to read charts.

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