Wilson Creek High School seniors job shadow for a week

WILSON CREEK — Wilson Creek High School’s senior class spent a week in someone else’s shoes.

The group of eight job shadowed a person working in the career of their choice for five days as part of a senior requirement. The goal is for students to develop a career goal.

“These kids are graduating soon and need to start thinking about what they want to do,” said Jackie Floetke, business teacher.

The high school has held a five-day job shadow for about nine years.

“One-day job shadows just don’t allow students to see the good, the bad and the boring,” Floetke said. “With a week, they get a better overview of what it is like in the real world.”

The students are also required to write a paper on a subject involved in a career.

“The paper isn’t on the career itself but something specific,” Floetke said. “For example, if they wanted to be a doctor they might write a paper on down syndrome.”

The students tell Floetke the career they are interested in and she calls contacts for the students to job shadow. The students shadowed someone last week, each returning to school Monday with a different experience.

Ksenja Fredere, 18, was set on becoming a baby care nurse until she job shadowed at McKay Health Care & Rehabilitation Center Nursing Home in Soap Lake.

“I was more interested in babies but couldn’t get into the hospital so I was sent to McKay,” Fredere said. “Now I’m not as dead set on baby care because the job shadow showed me there were many different options for nurses out there. It made me want to look into this field a lot more to see what was available to do.”

Fredere shadowed two nurses at McKay. She assisted the nurses in administering medication to elderly patients.

“It was really touching to see the relationship between the nurses and the patients and to find there was a real community there,” Fredere said. “I learned how to handle people with different illness and issues, such as dementia.”

Fredere also learned about medication.

“The nurses taught me the importance of checking everything about the medication before giving it to people,” she said. “You have to be aware of everything.”

Fredere wishes she didn’t have to return to school.

“I miss going to McKay because of the people I met there,” she said. “I really feel like I got some friends out of it. I think I’ll go and visit often.”

James Storfa, 18, chose the aviation field for his job shadow.

“I’ve had an interest in flying since I was really little,” he said. “My family owns a plane that I’ve gotten the chance to fly before. I like the thrill of being up in the air and seeing everything from every direction.”

Storfa went to three different places during his week. He served as a student at Big Bend Community College’s aviation program, assisted a private pilot and learned from an airplane mechanic.

“At Big Bend I followed the instructors around, did a bit of class work and got to go up in the planes,” he said. “Flying was the best part.”

Storfa toured the Grant County International Airport where he looked at radio and radar equipment and helped pilots land their planes. He drove to Spokane and met a mechanic specializing in restoring old planes.

“It was so cool to see old planes and to look at how they can be improved,” he said.

Storfa wants to enter Big Bend’s aviation program after graduation and transfer to a four year university after two years at the college.

“I’m definitely going into aviation school now and really want to be some sort of pilot,” he said. “This job shadow showed me all the possibilities you have when you fly and what it can do for you.”

Jackie Treat, 18, spent time with kindergarten students at North Elementary School in Moses Lake.

“I got to see what a kindergarten teacher does every day and work one-on-one with the kids,” Treat said. “I played a lot of reading and math games with groups of kids, which was so much fun.”

Treat always wanted to be a teacher.

“I liked seeing how much the kids wanted to learn and how they are excited about it,” she said. “I have always liked being with little kids because I think they are fun to be with.”

Treat’s biggest struggle was disciplining misbehaving children.

“I didn’t know how to handle it because I was just a student that was job shadowing,” she said. “But the teacher told me what she does, so now I know how to handle behavioral issues.”

Treat’s week in the classroom assured her teaching is the right career to pursue.

“This made me want to be a teacher even more,” she said. “I enjoyed seeing the kids every day, learning their names and building a relationship with them. I am going to miss not seeing them every day.”