See a Shadow?
Must Be
Groundhog Shadowing Time!

The Broward County Public School District will be holding its annual Groundhog Job Shadowing event January 24, 2005 - January 28, 2005. Job Shadowing is a national effort to enrich the lives of students by acquainting them with the world of work through on-the-job experiences and a school curriculum that ties academics to the workplace. This initiative is designed to give students across America an up-close look at the world of work and to answer the question, "Why do I have to learn this?" Job shadowing provides students an opportunity to experience a normal workday on the job. They have the unique opportunity to see firsthand how the skills learned in school relate to the workplace.

Last year in Broward, 600 students took part in the Groundhog Job Shadow event in over 50 workplaces. Nationally, more than one million of America's youth were able to experience more than 100,000 workplaces.

The Groundhog Job Shadow Initiative is designed to:
* demonstrate the connection between academics and careers, encouraging students to learn by making their class work more relevant;

* build community partnerships between schools and businesses that enhance the educational experience of all students;
* introduce students to the requirements of professions and industries to help them prepare to join the workforce of the 21st century;
* encourage an ongoing relationship between young people and caring adults; and

* ensure that students in need of additional services or programs are linked to other appropriateservices/organizations/agencies.

The District has participated in this event since its inception. The School to Career Department will be providing technical assistance and support to schools in the implementation of this event. For more information, please contact Deborah Wells at 754-321-2536.

District's "To Do List" is
massive undertaking

If you own a home, you undoubtedly have a "to do list" of repairs and improvements you'd like to make -- when you can find the time.

Multiply that list by 251; prioritize all the items listed; and put yourself on a deadline - that will give you a rough idea of the challenge facing employees in the District's Physical Plant Operations Division (formerly Maintenance Department) every day.

How do they handle such a massive job so successfully?

For starters, your workday is probably 8 hours long. A "workday" in the Physical Plant Operations Division is 20 hours long, with the first shift starting at 5:30 A.M. and the second shift ending at 1:30 A.M.

If you want bookshelves built in the corner of your family room, you'll probably check the yellow pages for a carpenter. There's no need to do that in Broward Schools. Unlike many other schools in Florida, Broward's schools don't languish at the bottom of outside contractors' waiting lists. The division handles most jobs in-house. The division is composed of four departments, Maintenance, Energy Management, Custodial & Grounds and Support Services.

Maintenance employees are not only well trained, they are licensed, certified craftsmen. There are locksmiths, sheet metal workers, carpenters, roofers, indoor air quality inspectors, welders, air conditioning technicians, plumbers, electricians, and fire alarm technicians. There are even employees who design and create the many signs you see used throughout the District as well as the graphic designs on District vehicles.

The division also has tools and heavy equipment that are the envy of other districts in the state - backhoes to Bobcats; dump trucks to front-end loaders and mowers to chainsaws. In addition, just as students use technology in the classroom, the Physical Plant Operations Division is always exploring the latest in technology to improve its operations.

If your home needs a new front door, you head to the closest home improvement store and pay a delivery charge. But, the Physical Plant Operations Division operates its own stockroom, filled with the supplies and materials needed to make almost any repair or replace any part.

Organization is key in all aspects of the division's operation because it is responsible for maintaining all the buildings in the school district. In order to reduce travel time to worksites, three area maintenance facilities have been established, and a fourth is being planned. The District is also considering the construction of satellite stockrooms.

Just as you need to set priorities when you tackle your "to do list", so does the Physical Plant Operations Division. It must look at the big picture - the needs of the entire district. What may be a top priority to staff at one school may be placed farther down the division's list of jobs when it takes the needs of the entire district into consideration. Items that impact the health and safety of staff and students must, of course, take top priority.

The Physical Plant Operations Division currently employs nearly 1,000 people, but is always looking ahead in regard to personnel needs. It operates the largest apprenticeship program in the state - currently there are 39 men and women enrolled. Through the apprenticeship program workers learn new skills and the District gains even more highly trained personnel.