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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-6871
U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman and about 35 other top Labor
Department officials are hosting three dozen Washington, D.C., middle-school
students today as part of the first national Groundhog Job Shadow Day,
organized by the National School-to-Work Office of the U.S. Departments of
Labor and Education.
Each student will spend much of the day with a department official,
working side by side with them, to learn first-hand about their jobs, the Labor
Department and careers in public service. Today, two students who are shadowing
Herman will accompany her to the White House for the Administration's FY 1999
budget brefing. Last Friday, the students were guests of President Clinton for
the taping of his weekly radio address.
"I am very excited about having these students at the Labor Department
today," Herman said. "They will have the opportunity to see what we do every
day to help working Americans and their families, while learning about careers
at the department. One of the most important goals of the department's
School-to-Work initiative is for students to link their academic studies to
their future as workers and citizens."
The students are primarily from Charles Hart Middle School, the Labor
Department's official "adopted" school in the District of Columbia.
More than 100,000 adults in workplaces throughout the United States are
expected to host students today to learn about careers, specific and general
job skills and the world of work. Job-shadowing allows students to see the
relevance of what they learn in school, while adult mentors have the
opportunity to directly share their knowledge and experience, and inspire the
next generation.
In addition to spending time in the offices of department officials, the
students will be welcomed and given an orientation at 10:15 a.m. by Deputy
Secretary Kathryn Higgins, several assistant secretaries and other managers. At
a closing ceremony at 2:15 p.m., each student will receive a certificate signed
by Herman, after a departmental historian presents a brief history of labor in
America.
The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 provides seed money to
states and local partnerships of employers, educators and others to design
systems that involve classroom and work-based learning. The program brings
together education reform, worker preparation and economic development.
School-to-Work is based on the proven principle that education works best and
is most useful for future careers when students apply what they learn to real
life and real work situations, and the program is already benefitting students
in every state.
Groundhog Job Shadow Day is being co-sponsored by the National
School-to-Work Office; America's Promise--The Alliance for Youth, the
youth-development organization headed by Gen. Colin Powell; Junior Achievement;
the American Society of Association Executives and the National Employer
Leadership Council.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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