As a means to fulfill their graduation requirements, juniors took the SAT on Thursday, March 2. On this day, to allow these students to perform the best with the least amount of distractions and strong internet, other me students found themselves off campus. Underclassmen took field trips to various colleges, while seniors had a variety of options to choose from. Seniors could either go on college visits, go to work or job shadow to excuse their absence.

“The reason we had the day was to give seniors the opportunity to gain some more experience to finalize plans after high school,” said Guidance Counselor Rachel Robinson.

Many students job shadowed at Throop Elementary including Xander Phelps, Keenan Hays and Lara Brace. Phelps visited Carson Key’s first grade class to help with finger painting and math problems. When lunch hit, both Phelps and Hays took on lunch duty, which they enjoyed overall.

“The best part was going to the kids PE class with them, and playing basketball and catch. I have always been interested in teaching in my future, so this was a really great opportunity,” said Phelps.

Brace also shadowed at Throop, sitting in on Bobbi Rutherford’s first grade class and Danielle Kendall’s second grade class. In both classes, Brace and the students worked together on rhyming patterns and did a scavenger hunt for Dr. Seuss Day.

“I love kids and want to go into education, so spending the day with them and being able to make relationships was a warm welcome to the education field. Although I did learn that you have to be patient with the kids to get to know them, that is part of the job,” said Brace.

Aside from job shadowing in the educational field, Clara Henderson went to Southern Indiana Community Health Care (SICHC) to shadow Nurse Practitioner Shannon Dooley. Henderson has ambitions to go into the medical field as a pediatrician, so she learned a lot of insight on what the job may entail. Henderson enjoyed the overall experience and appreciated the opportunity to see what her future career may hold in terms of interactions with patients.

Other students traveled to Indiana University Bloomington such as Masden Embry and Ella Sims. During their visit, the students toured the campus and got to know their home for the next four years.

“On the college visit and job shadow day, I visited IU Bloomington because it is my top college choice for attendance this upcoming fall. I think this opportunity solidified my decision by allowing me to get a good feel of the campus,” said Embry.

The goal of this career and visit day was to give seniors an opportunity to explore their future with the encouragement of PHS. Students were able to go out in the real world to dip their toes in the water and get a feel for things.