The eighth-graders from Charles Henderson Middle School stepped into their futures today. Instead of attending class, the students visited businesses around Troy to shadow jobs that they are interested in pursuing.

“The goal of job shadowing is to give the kids a bird’s eye view of what to expect in the future,” said Dollie Jones, counselor at CHMS. “Once they go out there and get to shadow an individual on the job, we hope that they will want to start working toward successfully obtaining that career choice.”

Students visited places such as Cato, Troy Animal Clinic, Monarca’s Mexican Restaurant, Chick-fil-A, Troy Elementary School and many others.

Jones said that she wanted the students to know that all of the jobs are equally important. Some kids are able to see what their parents do every day, athletes can see their favorite sport from the coach’s point of view, and they can see what work goes into running the restaurants that they visit on a regular basis.

“It gives them a feel of the work field and taking on responsibilities,” said Kathryn Whigham, manager at Cato. Temoni Blair and Karneshia Davis shadowed Whigham at Cato.

Blair and Davis both enjoyed their time working in sales.

“I love fashion,” Blair said. “It seems like a fun job.”

Gabby Esquivel shadowed her father at Monarca’s Mexican Restaurant.

“It’s really fun working here,” she said. Her father is the manager, and she wanted to spend time with her dad while he worked.

Roberto Juarez and Christian McCall also shadowed at Monarca’s, and got a job experience they did not expect.

“The food industry isn’t what it seems,” McCall said. “It’s a fun experience”

“I thought there were going to be less people, but there were a lot more people than I expected,” Juarez said. McCall and Juarez helped clean tables and bring dirty dishes to the kitchen, while Esquivel helped work the cash register.

The businesses were very open to allowing students to shadow them during the day. Troy Animal Clinic has had students shadow annually for many years.

“I think it’s good for them to see what actually goes on,” said Dr. Robert Hawkins at Troy Animal Clinic.

Five students, Abbie English, Reagan Gross, Halie Haynes, Demi Huynh and Ariel Barron, shadowed at Troy Animal Clinic.

“I really like animals,” English said. “When I’m older I want to be a veterinarian.” Shadowing at the clinic showed her that being a veterinarian is much different than what she had thought.

“It’s a lot more work,” she said.

The girls were able to observe spades and neuters as well as other routine surgeries.

“That one day of experience could lead to a lifetime of opportunities,” Jones said.