By Vicky Falcón
NAVAIR Public Affairs

Meetings . . . meetings . . . meetings! That was one of Lauren Johnson's first impressions of the Naval Air Systems Command. Johnson, a junior at Calvert High School in Prince Frederick, was one of two students from that school to take part in a pilot job shadowing program between the school and NAVAIR's Business and Financial Management Community (B/FMC).

"Hearing the discussions in the meetings and how they all work together to plan an event was impressive," said Johnson, who shadowed Ray Wernecke, head, Program and Business Analysis, for four hours last week.

The program was developed to provide insight to promising young adults as they prepare for college and begin to look at potential opportunities for careers.

"Job shadowing gives young people a look into the future," said Wernecke. "It provides them with a real-world perspective of the demands of our business."

A Calvert High School senior, La Shonda Gantt, shadowed Theresa Thomason, director of business operations, and comptroller competency manager.

"She was a great help to me," Gantt said. "She told me about her job and how she got to the position she had."

Gantt also got to talk to several other business professionals within NAVAIR.

"During her day with me, I arranged for her to meet with our accounting officer, who described the accounting functions here at NAVAIR," said Thomason. "I think hearing about how she could apply her education to a career in accounting will help her in the decision making process as she finalizes which field she will pursue in her undergraduate studies."

Gantt, who is already taking classes at the College of Southern Maryland, said she appreciated learning about the professional business world from the inside. Both girls returned to their school ready to recommend the job shadowing experience to other classmates.

Yet the benefits to a job shadowing program go both ways.

"Job shadowing lays the foundation for potential future recruitment efforts," said Wernecke. "It enables NAVAIR to provide the community with a sense of its responsibility to the country and, more importantly, it provides involvement and a partnership with our community."

Thomason agreed.

"Having an opportunity to influence a young person with great potential to consider the NAVAIR B/FMC as a career option was very rewarding," she said. "Hopefully this experience will attract young people to work for NAVAIR."

"Having the opportunity to share knowledge is always a great opportunity and benefit to me, but it goes deeper," Wernecke said. "Personal pride - pride in my job, my community, the command and the country are benefits to us all. Mentoring our youth is a responsibility we all need to share to ensure our future success as a nation."

Photo by John Johnston, NAVAIR Public Affairs

Caption: Calvert High School students attend a strategic planning meeting as part of a pilot job shadowing program between the school and NAVAIR's Business/Financial Development Community.