THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 18, 1996 TAG: 9601160082
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
IT WASN'T WHAT any of them expected.
But when five Granby High School students spent a day paired with a business or professional member of the community through the Norfolk Rotary Club's annual Rotary Career Day program, the same thing happened to each.
It caused them to think.
That is one of the objectives of the program, according to Eleanor Tyng Schoonover, chairman of the Rotary Club's vocational education committee. Another is to break down stereotypes that teenagers and students may have about business and professional people, and vice versa.
The students - Sabrina Myrick, 15; John Bailey, 17; Colleen Blue, 17; Sherman Butts, 17, and Gladys Mangaling, 17 - were among 25 selected from the city's five high schools to participate in the event. Their mentors, all Rotarians, with whom they were matched based on their career goals, came from Old Dominion University, a private medical practice, a bank and an architectural firm.
They spent a day together in November and came together again for a luncheon sponsored by the Rotary Club at Scope in December. At the luncheon, also attended by teachers, school administrators, and Rotarian Dr. Roy D. Nichols Jr., Norfolk's schools superintendent, five of the students won $100 savings bonds based on essays they had written describing their day in the ``real'' world of work.
Butts, who had been paired with Rotarian Edward J. Woodard Jr., chairman of the board, president and CEO of the Bank of the Commonwealth, was one of the winners.
Last Thursday, the Granby five met again in the school library to discuss what it meant to them to participate in the program.
``I look at it as a means of networking,'' said Althea Joyner, Granby's dean of students, English Department head, acting assistant principal and the school's faculty member responsible for the program. ``These young people are college bound. It's an excellent opportunity for them. It's a diverse group of students. They are interested in these careers, but when they go out for the day with the Rotarians, it's a unique experience.''
Mangaling had expressed an interest in engineering but, because an engineer wasn't available, was assigned to Henry Shriver, an architect.
Several of the students made contact with their mentors before they day spent together. Butts' mentor sent word that he would send his driver to pick Butts up; they met when Butts arrived at the bank. Bailey met his, Dr. Robert Ash, an assistant vice president at ODU, when Ash came to school to pick him up.
Blue expected to spend the day with Dr. Lewis J. Taylor, a clinical psychologist, in his medical practice but received a call from Taylor the night before saying they would be going to the Omni Hotel to attend workshops on health care reform.
Myrick, a last-minute substitute for another student, had the least amount of time to wonder what it would be like; she found out she was participating the day before. But when Dr. Jean A. Major, university librarian for ODU, got her to the campus and learned of her interest in photography, she arranged a tour of the arts building, including that portion devoted to photography. Myrick was fascinated by the computer manipulations and the equipment the university had.
``We had a really long discussion,'' Myrick recalled, ``about how computers are working into the art field.''
Mangaling's favorite part was lunch but ``not just because of the food.'' Architect Henry Shriver took her, along with his son, also an architect, to the Town Point club in the World Trade Center where they could talk. She appreciated his advice to ``shop smart'' for college.
``I really enjoyed it,'' she said. ``It was different than what I expected. They were a lot more concerned about aesthetic values than the technical details.''
Now she's thinking about such things, too, she added.
When Bailey and Butts pointed out that their mentors had offered to act as resources for them later on, the others nodded their heads in agreement, indicating their Rotarians had, too.
All agreed that, despite their high-level positions, the Rotarians had a good sense of humor.
Butts summed it up for the others, observing, ``Now we all have resources we can get advice from, if we need to.''
The other winners in the essay contest, and their high schools, were Sara Midkiff, Lake Taylor; Amanda Schmidt, Maury; Cathryn Cline, Booker T. Washington; and Gina Ginn, Norview.
Joyce Swindell, senior coordinator for communications skills, and Mark Tavernier, teacher specialist for communications skills, administered the program for the Norfolk Public Schools.
In past years, Granby's Joyner pointed out, the program had been administered as a part of the school system's gifted and talented program. MEMO: If you know someone whom you feel is deserving of a Thumbs Up! feature,
call The Compass at 446-2332.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
From left, Granby students Sabrina Myrick, Gladys Mangaling, John
Bailey, Colleen Blue and Sherman Butts.
by CNB