From staff reports

Groundhog Day isn’t until Monday, but local employers will be seeing “shadows” on Friday.

The annual Job Shadowing Day will put about 100 high school students in local businesses to observe workers in jobs that are of interest to them. More than 40 employers have agreed to host students.

The event is sponsored by the Troup County school system in conjunction with West Georgia RESA and the Education Career Partnership at West Georgia Technical College. Over the past seven years, about 1,000 students have taken part.

“Many of our students have never had actual contact with people from their chosen career path,” said Ginger Booton, executive director of Educational Career Partnership. “Job Shdaowing Day provides employers an opportunity to tell interested students about the training, education, advancement and other information pertinent to their jobs. It helps our students to make informed career choices.”

Student “shadows” will spend the entire school day with their hosts, checking out careers ranging from pharmacy to food service, graphic design to diesel mechanic. Outdoor opportunities include golf course management and park ranger.Two students will explore church-related fields and more than two dozen will be hosted by medical professionals or West Georgia Health System.

Booton said the experiences are valuable to the students, whether or not they follow the “shadowed” path.

“Shadow Day is not what you want to do for your career. It’s much better for a student to realize in 11th grade than to spend years working and then realize a career is not for them.”