USAFE Job Shadow Day offers mentoring opportunities Published March 15, 2006 By Jennifer Doran USAFE School Liaison Office RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) -- The U.S. Air Forces in Europe Job Shadow Day will take place Feb. 2 in conjunction with the National Groundhog Job Shadow Day. Department of Defense Dependent Schools and home-schooled students will have an opportunity to be part of a national effort to shadow a workplace mentor through the course of a regular workday. Shadowing helps students realize the importance of their classroom lessons, provides the opportunity to observe a career in action and benefits the community by providing students the answer to the inevitable question, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” USAFE sponsors and mentors are invited to host a student to shadow them throughout the day. The mentors have a responsibility of demonstrating to the student what they and their organizations do on a daily basis. When the students return to the classroom, teachers can facilitate lessons to incorporate shared experiences and give students a new perspective on education. In a 2001 and 2002 school year evaluation conducted by the Western Institute for Research and Evaluation, 67 percent of students surveyed reported that Job Shadow Day taught them how important education is to their future success, and 86 percent of students reported that their experience in Job Shadow Day had changed their attitudes about working. The most notable changes included better insight to the reality of working, broadened job interests and motivation to attend college. The National Groundhog Job Shadow Day is in its eighth year and boasts more than four million student participants since its inception. For more information on participating in the USAFE Job Shadow Day Program, contact Jennifer Doran at the USAFE School Liaison Office.