Job Shadowing at York High School

Job shadowing allows students to see what a work day is like in a particular profession that related to their interests. It is a valuable experience for a student as you get see the real life work conditions of a job... things you wouldn’t necessarily see or experience in the classroom. Work shadowing experiences can help you decide if you really are on the right career path.

For instance, one of our current high school students is currently taking College Biology and towards the end of the semester she had the chance to shadow any job in the medical field. She chose to shadow Dr. Claudia Samland at the Gloystein Vet Clinic here in York. She was able to see a lot of the surgical procedures that go on in a normal day at the clinic. She observed the surgical procedures performed on several cats and dogs being spayed and neutered that day.

She was also able to observe the dental work procedures for a smaller dog, and surprisingly, it’s a lot like any normal persons dental clean-up! Although she loves animals, she is not planning a career in veterinary medicine. However, she is strongly interested in science and perhaps becoming a science teacher. This experience opened her eyes to the many opportunities in the work world for someone with a science background and she will be a better science teacher because of it.

In a personal interview with our principal Mr. Mitch Bartholomew, we discussed the great advantages of job shadowing, as well as sharing stories about our experiences with job shadowing since he also had the opportunity to experience that. “York High School would be crazy not to use the community resources that are out there!“ said Bartholomew. “Also, with the right shadowing experience, you can take what you’ve learned and apply it. When kids take the knowledge the have and apply it to their actions and decisions, they make better decisions.”

The classes at YHS that provide the chance to have a job shadowing experience are Advanced Biology, College Biology, Novel, and the Career Academies through Southeast Community College. “I believe there are two parts to a great education; the first begins in the classroom, and the second part is giving the students the ability to apply what they’ve learned and experience real-life situations,” says Bartholomew.