Junior students in the Human Anatomy and Physiology class of Old Rochester Regional High School went to Buttonwood Park Zoo last Tuesday for a job shadow field trip. The students met the zoo’s education coordinator, veterinarian technician, and zookeeper, and learned a little about each occupation.
“They talked to us about their education, how they got to where they were at,” said Mary Cabral, an anatomy teacher at ORR, “What was interesting, I thought, was that it was not a direct route. They majored in one area, worked in some other field, and then finally ended up where they were at this point.”
Each of the zoo’s employees who participated in the job shadow did plenty of volunteer work after graduating from college. This allowed them to gain more experience before securing a job at Buttonwood Park Zoo.
“They were advising our students to internship, to volunteer, to kind of check things out before you make a commitment to a full-time career – make sure you really like it,” explained Cabral.
Cabral felt like the job shadow was a valuable experience for all the students, even those not planning on going into an animal science career. “Even if it was one piece of information, like volunteering or doing internships, something that might not be specific to that particular job,” said Cabral. “I think that everyone took away something.”
These job shadows are not a new type of field trip for the students of ORR. Teachers affiliated with the Junior Achievement program of New Bedford have been making these types of connections with businesses in the area for years.
Cabral has been connected with Junior Achievement for about eight years. While this was only the second time she’s taken her anatomy class to the Buttonwood Park Zoo, Cabral has done many job shadows with past classes. She’s taken her anatomy class to a physical therapy clinic in Dartmouth and the Eye Health Vision Center, also in Dartmouth.
The Forensic Science class has visited the Bristol County House of Correction, as well as the Third District Court of New Bedford, while technology classes often visit Titleist, a company in New Bedford that makes golfing materials. Each of these job shadow trips brings a new understanding to the students involved.
“It’s a great experience,” said Cabral, “I think it’s important for [the students] to be able to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and see how it’s applied in the real world, how people actually use these skills in their careers.”
With this ideal in mind, Cabral is planning a Health Science Career Fair along with the school’s nurse, Kim Corazzini. Students from Cabral’s anatomy class will be presenting at the career fair. They’ve been doing research on health science careers of their own interests.
The school has also invited at least ten professionals to make presentations about their careers. Presenters will include a holistic emergency room doctor, a nurse practitioner, an EMT, a nutritionist, a nurse instructor from UMass Dartmouth, a social worker, and a representative from the South Coast Hospital group who will speak on health careers that are a bit outside the box.
Along with these professionals, there will be four college admission officers present at the career fair. UMass Dartmouth, Bristol Community College, Fisher College, and the Spa Tech Institute will all be represented.
Both ORRHS students and members of the community are invited to enjoy the Health Science Career Fair. The event will be held in ORR’s cafeteria on May 29 from 12:45 to 4:00 pm.
In other news, the senior class had their last day of high school last Tuesday. They celebrated with the annual senior picnic. After attending classes for the first two blocks of the day, the senior class spent the remainder of the school day relaxing with their friends on the football field. The Police Associations generously donated pizza for the seniors to enjoy, while parents brought baked goods from home.
“It was fun being able to hang out with all our friends for the last time in one place,” said Brianna Perry, a senior, “It hasn’t quite hit me yet that I’m not going back to ORR.”
While most seniors look forward to new adventures in the coming years, some seemed a little sad as they signed the yearbooks of friends they’ve known since elementary school. “Bittersweet” seems to be the seniors’ word of choice when describing their approaching graduation, despite all the upcoming festivities.
After wrapping up final exams this week, the senior trip to Six Flags will be on June 2. The following Wednesday, June 4, will be the senior prom at Indian Pond Country Club in Kingston, MA. Senior awards night is at 7:00 pm on June 5, followed by the senior assembly from 9:15 to 10:40 am on June 6 in the high school gymnasium. Finally, on June 7, the seniors’ graduation ceremony will be held on the football field at 12:00 pm.
By Renae Reints
