Date: Fri 08-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-shadowing-program

Full Text:

with cut: An Inside Out Look At Local Government

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

When Robert Cascella came to work the morning of Wednesday, October 30, he

knew it would be business as usual, a regular day at the office - with one

small difference.

Newtown High School junior, Wylie Norville, 16, would be accompanying the

first selectman throughout his work day, watching his every move and listening

to every word, as part of a job shadowing program sponsored by the high

school.

"We gave him a full dose" said Mr Cascella, listing the day's schedule, which

included an 8 am budget meeting, a 9 am press conference, a tour of the Edmund

Town Hall offices and an introduction to staff members, not to mention a

chance to sit in on deliberations with a vendor about a new computer system

that will soon be installed.

"I purposely made him a real part of my day, even putting my phone calls on

the speaker microphone," Mr Cascella said.

"Wylie saw a broad slice of what goes on here," he added.

Being on an actual the job site to learn about a possible future career is

what the Newtown students are supposed to do, said Newtown High career

coordinator Jane McEvoy. Mrs McEvoy oversees the job shadowing program that

was begun by school guidance counselor Don Elliott three years ago. She first

contributed as a volunteer and is now a full-time staff member as the school's

career coordinator, also running the academically oriented mentorship program

that is offered to 16 seniors.

To focus on various career opportunities, Mrs McEvoy said, questionnaires are

sent out to junior and senior students and their families, as well as to area

businesses. She then uses the returned questionnaires to match students'

interests with jobs being performed by parent volunteers who indicate a

willingness to take a student to work with them for a day.

"We have many parents who work outside of Newtown," Mrs McEvoy said,

explaining that this aspect broadens the scope of possible professions a

student might explore.

There have been many parents and community members who have offered to

participate in the job shadowing program, Mrs McEvoy explained, mentioning an

architect in New York City, a police officer in Darien, an artist in New

Haven, carpenters, electricians, a psychologist, a journalist and an engineer,

to name a few recent respondents.

"The students have to have the right attitude, however," Mrs McEvoy said.

This should not simply be a day off from school, she explained, but a valuable

opportunity to find out about a career he or she might someday want to pursue.

Certainly, Wylie's choice to shadow Newtown's top politician was a "first time

occurrence," Mrs McEvoy said.

But as Mr Cascella pointed out the day after Wylie's visit, "This is a

profession just like any other. The jobs will always be there."

He added he'd only returned his questionnaire a short while ago and he was

delighted to have Wylie join him for the day.

"He was a wonderful young man. Very bright and open," Mr Cascella said.

From Wylie's point of view, his day with the first selectman was "run of the

mill" but, at the same time, "very interesting."

He recalled how, at the press conference, Mr Cascella had deliberated about

what to do with employees working at Town Hall South, when the office might be

relocated during future remodeling or rebuilding.

And when the first selectman and his staff met with a computer company vendor

about a "whole new computer system" that is being installed in the town's

administrative office, Wylie said he "just sat back and listened," being

pretty familiar with computers already.

But he did notice that the first selectman took a very business-like approach

to whatever issues crossed his desk.

"He's logical and always looking for ways to save money," Wylie said.

Asked why he chose to shadow the first selectman, Wylie answered he'd always

been interested in politics.

"It's just something I've learned from my parents," Byron and Jacqueline

Norville, he said, "who are both teachers and who have always been politically

active."

After graduation a year from this spring, Wylie hopes to attend Georgetown

University in Washington, DC, and major in government and political science.

As for the job shadowing program, Wylie was most enthusiastic.

Who wouldn't want to do it? he said, adding, "It's the real world and the kids

are excited by that!"