A Glimpse Of The Future Students Take Part In Groundhog Job Shadow Day For A Look At Workaday Demands

Standing next to boxes of tropical fish, fresh-cut flowers and cages holding puppies, Chase Middle School students Jieshre Adeeba and Apryl Stome learned there’s more to an airline than jets.

There is cargo - not all of it with handles. Some of it has fur, fins and pollen. Such living luggage needs a little extra attention.

The fish, destined for a pet store, need to stay warm. The flowers need to stay cool. The two puppies need water and enough room to turn around in their cages.

“I stress about dogs, because to me they are just like people,” said Russ Siebert, a cargo agent with Horizon Airlines at Spokane International Airport.

Siebert’s miniature zoo was just a small part of a half-day tour of Horizon Airlines for the girls and 12 other students.

It was part of Groundhog Job Shadow Day, a national event where teenagers walk in the footsteps of various professionals to get a taste of adult working life.

About 250 students from the Spokane area participated Monday, following around professionals at Boeing, Empire Health Services, Seafirst Bankcard Center, US West and a handful of other businesses. The program was organized by Junior Achievement of the Inland Northwest, a nonprofit economic education organization.

“We’re trying to improve young people’s lives by introducing them to business and economics,” said Eleanor Andersen, president of Junior Achievement in Spokane.

“Hopefully, this will make it easier for them when they get into the real world.”

Junior Achievement also runs an eight-week class in the schools where students learn personal finance, how to find a job and are run through mock interviews.

During their day at the airport, Adeeba and Stome got good advice from a ticket agent - computer skills and comfortable shoes are important - sat in the cockpit of a passenger jet and learned how important it is to be calm and polite when confronted with a passenger who can’t find his luggage.

“This is cool,” Adeeba said of her tour. “But I want to be a lawyer.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WORK WORLD Groundhog Job Shadow Day is a national event where teens get a taste of adult working life.