Thousands of high school students participate in citywide job shadow day

SA Works, Junior Achievement partnered to host event

SAN ANTONIO – More than 3,100 local high school students participated in a citywide job shadow day.

SA Works and Junior Achievement partnered to host the event, which is now in its second year.

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SA Works said the number of students and employers has more than doubled since last year.

“They recognize that the young people today are the workforce future for San Antonio. And so for them to open the doors to us, invest a head of time to plan a meaningful experience for them, also took heavy commitment from our employer community,” said Romanita Matta-Barrera, executive director of SA Works.

The students were matched up with more than 100 local businesses based on their career interests.

“I wanted to go out on like an oil rig and weld, but after seeing this, it’s giving me the idea of if I want to work here, learn stuff here to get ideas,” said Ramiro Gutierrez, a Southwest High School sophomore.

"That was the most incredible experience they had ever had. It made what they were learning in the classroom very real to them, because they saw it being applied in the business,” said Dr. Brian Woods, Northside ISD superintendent. “On the flip side, we got some feedback, not a lot, but some that said, 'I saw that I thought I might want to do it, but that doesn’t look very good to me.’”

The job shadow was an invaluable experience that gave the students a head start on mapping out their future goals.