The Chronicle News Testing the Water in Future Careers Juniors and seniors get a taste of the working world By Conner Roy Head Viewpoint Editor Upperclassmen got to spend a day in the life of someone in their future career. Career shadowing took place April 8-12. The event, open to all juniors and seniors, was organized by the counseling department. “Through the program, students are able to ‘try on’ a career,” Sue Harmon, counselor, said. “Often, what we believe a career entails is not what the day-to-day job is.” Harmon started planning for the big event months ahead of time. “Students were able to select from a large variety of careers,” Harmon said. “Every year the most popular careers are different, although I always have a lot of students shadow in health care professions, engineering, teaching.” Harmon believes the program is extremely beneficial. “Sometimes students find they love what they shadow, and sometimes they find that they don’t,” Harmon said. “Both are important outcomes for the day.” Shadowing also allows students to build connections and make some contacts in the field they chose. “They often are offered jobs and/or internships,” Harmon said. Senior Catherine Henkel shadowed a clinical psychologist. “I learned that clinical psychology involves a lot of applying psychology to help people improve their lives and solve their problems,” and April 2019 Where Did You Career Shadow? By Samantha Malloy Staff Reporter photo by Emma Gray After a successful day shadowing employees at the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office, juniors Fiona Linton, Emma Gray and senior Cade Campbell get the chance to meet Sherrif Bob Moser. Henkel said. “I gained a lot of interest in the career I shadowed. It was a lot more interesting and personal than I thought, and I will definitely look into it in the future.” Senior Stacy Stiles spent the day with a social worker. “Through shadowing for the Fauquier Social services for Adult and Domestic Violence, I learned how tough my career choice is, but I also learned the impact I could have working in it,” Stiles said. “Overall, career shadowing did nothing but grow my passion for social work.” Junior Declan Boyle spent his day with at the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office in Fauquier County. “I learned that despite their credentials, the workers I shadowed were still very down-to-earth, and it’s definitely something I can see myself working in.” Boyle added that the experience helped him narrow down the type of law that he would like to practice. “It made me realize I would much rather be a trial attorney than tax or copyright because I realized how much more enjoyable it is to work in trials compared to sitting in a cubicle working on taxes.” Junior Megan Maloney is confident about her future career after spending the day with a physician’s assistant. “I got to learn how to read an X-ray, fill out paperwork for patients, and understand what a physician’s assistant can do,” Maloney said. “After shadowing, I am considering the field more because I was able to actually experience the job.” Junior Emma Gray spent her day with Lieutenant Richard MacWelch at the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office. “I come from a long family history of law enforcement,” Gray said. “It is a field that has always interested me. I learned what and how much the sheriff does for our county and what it means to be on the front line in law enforcement every day.” Participants felt the day was extremely valuable. “I would definitely recommend career shadowing to other students,” Stiles said. “It gives you an insight to the real field without having to do all of the work that leads up to it. It saves a lot time, and helps you decide whether or not pursuing the career is worth it.” Young Scientists Marvel at AP Bio Projects Correll’s AP Bio students are superheroes for a day By Charlie Niber Head Sports Editor AP Biology students got the opportunity to be superheroes for a day. On April 3 and 5, members of Linda Correll’s AP Biology classes traveled to Greenville and P.B. Smith Elementary schools to teach younger students about science. This was the second year of this project. Correll said she got the idea after talking to peers who collaborated with neighboring elementary schools. “We presented to each grade level during their encore period,” Correll said. “The high school kids chose different science topics, and the elementary students rotated around the gym to visit each station. We had 11 stations at Greenville and 12 at P.B. Smith.” Correll put the entire project in her students’ hands. “My students choose their own topics,” Correll said. “They had to research or design age-appropriate activiphoto by Linda Correll Creating a bubble around an elementary student, Aiden Sharp and his team explain surface tension. ties, differentiate their activities for grades K-5, and then provide SOL standards that support what they’re doing.” After coming up with their idea, students had to pitch it to their peers for final approval. Senior Jacob Rader and his group taught human anatomy. Group members wore felt vests and challenged elementary students to Velcro organs in the correct location. “It was really fun to interact with the kids and teach them some things they didn’t know before,” Rader said. A crowd favorite were the ducks. “Chase Dickens and I taught the life cycle and evolution of ducks,” senior Georgia Jones said. “We had live ducks with us and allowed the kids to pet them.” Another favorite was the bubble station run by Aiden Sharp, Cosette Cusson and Kimberly Markovitz. The group taught elementary students about surface tension by placing them inside a giant bubble. Correll was impressed with how well her students taught their subject matter to the younger children. “The elementary students got an immersive science experience that will hopefully be memorable and get them interested in science early on,” Correll said. “If a kid shows up at KRHS, in four plus years, excited about science because they fondly remember these experiences, I’ll consider that a win.” Correll explained that her students also benefited from the day. “My students got to be rock stars for a day after honing their project management, science communication, and mentoring skills,” Correll said. “I was so proud of them.” “I shadowed at a general dynamics information technology company.” Daniel Feurlinger senior “I shadowed a publishing firm.” Maddie Green junior “I shadowed the Commonwealth Attorney.” Declan Boyle junior “I shadowed a physical therapist.” Megan Maloney junior “I was shadowed a dentist for the day.” Amanda Frankhouser senior News 5
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