Thousands of students participate in School District job shadowing day

By Paul Takahashi

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 | 10:05 a.m.

About 3,000 high school students are ditching school on Wednesday.

No, they aren't playing hooky on Groundhog Day. The students are taking part in the Project 5000 Kids National Job Shadow Day, which organizers plan to make an annual event.

From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., thousands of high school students will shadow community and business leaders across southern Nevada to gain first-hand exposure to the institutions that drive Nevada’s economy.

More than 50 organizations -- from city administrations and fire departments, to casinos and hospitals -- have partnered with the Clark County School District to make this year’s National Job Shadow Day on Feb. 2 special for the participants.

Students ages 14 to 21 will be interacting with dolphin trainers at the Mirage or watching live local television broadcasts. In Henderson, 160 students from Basic and Liberty High Schools will have lunch with Mayor Andy Hafen, and attend a city council meeting. Another group of teenagers will hear from Chef Larre about his life as a pastry chef at Vdara Las Vegas resort.

“The Clark County School District is excited to partner on the Project 5000 Kids/National Job Shadowing Day,” School District program director Bridget Phillips said in a statement. “The job shadowing day will allow CCSD students to benefit from seeing the importance of education related to securing future employment.”

In the Las Vegas metropolitan area, an estimated 13,600 students dropped out in the class of 2008, according to a press release. Project 5000 Kids aims to encourage more youth to graduate from high school and strive for higher education with exposure to various career options through the job-shadowing program.