Wednesday, May 14, 2025
BREWSTER – From Brewster Marketplace to Mid Valley Hospital and Gebbers Farms to Gritworks, Brewster High School seniors are getting a head start on their post-graduate career path thanks to a BHS requirement to intern – job shadow – in the business and professional world.
Five seniors in instructor Jeff Dowd’s business class – Maddie Sandoval, Emily Pulsifer, Amy Alvarez-Garcia. Rafael Cruz-Lozano, and Mareli Arevalo-Martinez - share their experiences in response to questions Dowd put to them, including:
“I shadowed at Mid-Valley Hospital for ultrasound,” said Sandoval. “When I was there a student from Seattle University was doing her clinicals while I was also doing my job shadow. She gave me insights into being a student in the Ultrasound Program.
Sandoval had an insightful perspective on the importance of the BHS job requirement.
“It makes you go out of your comfort zone and explore the careers students may or may not want to look into,” said Sandoval. “It helps students go out and learn new material and what it would be like if they took on that role.”
Sandoval said the encouragement and advice from mentors during the project is especially useful for students trying something new.
“My job shadow did connect with my post high school career plan,” said Sandoval. “I wanted to do ultrasound since I have known about this career.”
While Sandoval admits that she has “been switching gears here and there” ultrasound is one of the career choices she wanted to explore.
“My 20-hour job shadow experience helped with my future planning,” said Sandoval. “I am still deciding, and it is still an option. Overall, my job shadow was important.”
“I shadowed a high school/middle school choir teacher, and I do plan to be a music teacher or, at least, I do plan to teach,” said Pulsifer.
Pulsifer said she enjoyed watching her mentor, Don Pearce, talk and joke with his students.
“I especially enjoyed getting to hear some of the inside jokes with his older students.” Pulsifer said.
Pulsifer said her exposure to her career choice helped refine her preferred grade teaching. level
“The job shadow helped me realize I did not want to teach in high school or middle school very much,” said Pulsifer. “It allowed me to see that I would much rather teach elementary school.”
Garcia credits the positive attitude of mentor, Rebecca Michael, for her rewarding experience in the Brewster Marketplace bakery.
“Mrs. Michael is always believing in me even when I thought a cake I made wasn't worthy to sell,” said Garcia. “She's inspired me to go back to baking treats with a purpose.”
Garcia said working in the bakery taught her about the work environment, what to expect and what not to expect, and always to make sure to ask questions about the career.
Garcia said job shadowing did resonate with her real post-secondary career plan.
“The 20-hour job shadow has helped me learn about bakery management, the ups and downs about running my own bakery in the near future, and tips and tricks about pricing, and knowing what the customers are looking for specifically,” said Garcia. “Wanting to have a career in the culinary arts field has and always will be a passion of mine.”
“I had a great time during my job shadow experience at Gritworks in Burlington,” said Lozano. “I got to experience athletes of different ages strive for improvement in their desired sport.”
Lozano said he was especially interested when his mentor showed him the different programs that he had worked on for each set of athletes and how each exercise would pair well with what each athlete was looking to improve.
Even though he plans to pursue another career path Lozano endorses the BHS requirement because he believes it helps students better understand what career they may want to pursue and provides valuable experience to help them find interest in a career.
“It did not connect with my real post-high school career plan since I currently plan on majoring in construction management,” said Lozano. “It did help me figure out if I wanted to pursue a career in the sports/physical education field since I was interested. It also gave me a better understanding of what work is done in this field.”
Lozano said job shadowing helped him understand better about the responsibilities that a performance manager has.
“During my job shadow at Gebbers Farms, I really enjoyed working alongside Kailee Tanneberg and her accounting team,” said Martinez. “One highlight was when Kailee allowed for me to begin my own little accounting project. I appreciated seeing how each team member pitched in to tackle even the most tedious data-entry tasks.”
Martinez said the BHS requirement gives students hands-on exposure to a real workplace, helps build professional skills, and allows more informed decisions about future careers.
“My job shadow directly connected with my post-high school career plan,” said Martinez. “I have taken an accounting class before and enjoyed it, and spending 20 hours with a professional accounting team solidified my ambition to earn an accounting degree.”
Martinez said she learned about the specific educational background and on-the-job skills like bookkeeping, accounting software, and teamwork.
“All key aspects that I will need to become a CPA,” Martinez said.
Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media
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