THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511030199
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
Kim Jackson carefully laid out disposable diapers on plexiglass boards in a testing lab at Hoechst Celanese Corp.
She placed 10-pound cylinders in the middle of each diaper and poured a saline solution into each of the cylinders.
The weight of the cylinder simulated the weight of a baby and the pressure that the baby, sitting down, would exert on the diaper.
The solution that seeped into the diaper had a red dye in it so Jackson could see how it traveled through the absorbent diaper.
The diaper didn't come from one of the companies that uses the super absorbent polymer Hoechst Celanese makes, but the company must stay ``abreast of the market,'' explained Patricia Brown, a lab technician for the company.
The diaper did well, she said. And so did Jackson, who actually was a Norcom High School student participating in Hoechst Celanese's annual Shadow Day program.
The program, now in its third year, brought 20 students from the company's adopted school to the plant last week for a chance to observe or actually work alongside mentors in various aspects of the business.
While Jackson tested the ability of diapers to keep babies dry, a fellow student was using a computer to send about 144 truckloads - or more than a million pounds of super absorbent materials - to plants all over the country.
``It was the first time I worked with the Lotus system and I felt I understood it pretty quickly,'' said Tiana Garrett.
Her mentor thought so too.
``The first thing she said was, `I want to work.' I was startled,'' said Elwood Hill, an inventory control supervisor. ``You know how you sometimes want to take them along slowly.
``You could see she wanted to grab the reins, and I gave them to her and just oversaw (what she was doing).''
Hoechst Celanese's Shadow Day program was an event dreamed up by the company's Adopt-A-School Task Force, said John Fredricks, a project engineer who coordinates the annual event.
Before that, he explained, employees had gone over to the school and set up Career Day tables and booths.
Fredricks said the company isn't able to serve as many students with Shadow Day, but the employees feel they are giving more to the students who do participate.
Shadow Day actually is a two-day event. The first day the students go through an orientation, meet their mentors and take a tour of the plant.
Besides the super absorbent polymer used in diapers, the company produces chemicals called amines used in products ranging from motor oil to cosmetics.
The second day students spend a half day on the job and then, along with their mentors, are treated to a buffet lunch where they give each other feedback on their experience.
The students also were treated to nice portfolios as mementos of their day.
``I don't think very many of them had been exposed to an industrial setting and seen machinery,'' said Nina McConnell, a guidance counselor who went along.
``This (plant) is something local they have probably passed lots of times on the road and never realized how many people work there and what different skill levels it takes. . . ,'' she said.
That's one of the reasons employees like Hill sign up as mentors each year.
``I never had this when I was a kid - an exposure to corporate America, to see what it was like,'' said Hill. ``To me it's an opportunity I missed I want to share with somebody else.''
And he also was pleased that the students were mature enough to realize they were being offered something special.
``They were sharp; they were attentive,'' said Hill. ``They really wanted to participate. They wanted to see what you were doing.
``I like that.''
Hill's shadow, like many of the students who participated, is enrolled in the school's magnet program for math and science.
So the business side of the company was not one of the top occupation choices Tiana Garrett listed on her Shadow Day application.
But she has no regrets after her half day working with Hill.
She described him as sort of a father figure whom she hit it off with and felt she had known for years. And she learned that his job was more than number crunching - that it was about constantly interacting with people successfully.
``Most definitely the most important thing I learned through that day was communication is the key to everything,'' said Garrett. ``Without communication nothing gets done - at least properly and successfully.''
Hill seemed to learn something from Garrett too.
``At the end of the day he gave me a copy of all the things I had done for that day,'' said Garrett. ``He told me how proud he was and how happy he was I was his shadow that day.
``I not only helped him with his work, but I showed him the younger generation is willing to work and learn.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Student Kim Jackson, of Norcom High, tests the dryness of baby
diapers, at Hoescht Celanese. Lab technician Patricia Brown, left,
supervises.
by CNB