Baking chocolate eclairs does not figure into the usual schedule of a middle school students, but that was the assignment for several eighth graders who shadowed professionals in the kitchens of the Hanover Inn as part of a "Job Shadow Day" on Wednesday. The program, which is in its ninth year, brings approximately 50 eighth graders from around the Upper Valley to Hanover to experience a day in the life of Dartmouth employees.
Most of the students began the day with a tour of different workplaces and then students were allowed to participate in some aspects of the jobs they were interested in, according to Dartmouth Worklife Program Manager Jessica Friedman.
"The students are at a point in their development when they're starting to think about what they want to do," Friedman said.
The athletic department hosted students, two of whom shadowed swimming and diving head coach Jim Wilson. After introducing the students to the athletic department, Wilson said he had them do some "grunt work" shuffling papers and copying. Finally, the students went swimming and Wilson explained how he coached swimmers.
"I think it gives them the flipside of the coin," Wilson said. "I like showing off the area and letting kids know there's more to coaching than just standing there and yelling at kids."
Two other students shadowed assistant athletic trainer Tracy Poro, who showed the students the "behind the scenes" of the ice rink and basketball courts and explained how she treats student athletes, Poro said.
"They had a lot of fun taping each other up," she said. "And we let them stick their feet in the whirlpools."
Two students interested in learning about business spent their mornings at Dartmouth's Human Resources department, according to Friedman. After learning that the department was in charge of new employee orientation, the students were given 20 minutes to make a PowerPoint presentation containing all of the information that a new student at their school would need to know, Friedman said.
"They did a very great job," she said.
Ten students spent the morning at the Hanover Inn, where they were split up into several groups based on their career interests. Some students prepared marinara sauce and chocolate eclairs in the kitchens. Others learned about sales in the hotel business. These students helped check in guests, learned how to plan a menu and discussed different kinds of marketing.
"One of the things that the students were saying about the Hanover Inn was that they were surprised about the complexity of the business," Carl Pratt, the general manager of the Hanover Inn, said.
The event was rewarding for the Hanover Inn employees as well, Pratt added.
"I think it's also a great experience for the staff to do something a little different and think about their jobs a little differently because they have to explain them to the kids," he said. "I think eighth graders are a wonderful group of kids, and once they get comfortable they really have a lot of fun with it. It's always interesting to hear what they're thinking at their age, and what they have to say."
After spending the morning at the workplace most related to their prospective career, the students met for lunch at the Hanover Inn, where they shared their experiences and provided feedback to event organizers. The lunch also gave students the opportunity to learn about attending Dartmouth, according to Kerry Jones, director for workforce planning and organizational effectiveness for the Office of Human Resources.
Jones said she and other program coordinators would draw on the student feedback they received to make improvements to the program next year. Some changes under consideration are extending the shadow day and involving more departments at the college, so that more students would be involved with different careers that interest them, Jones said.
Sixteen workplaces around Dartmouth hosted students, including the Hanover Inn, Human Resources, the Child Care Center, the athletics department, the Tuck School of Business, the Thayer School of Engineering, the Department of Biological Sciences, Public Affairs, the Center for Women and Gender and Dartmouth Dining Services.
Job Shadow Day is run by the Upper Valley Business and Education Partnership.
