On April 28, WHS took part in what has become a tradition throughout the country: Take your child to work day. According to time.com, the initial iteration of the day called “Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” was launched as an initiative to empower young girls with a wide range of workplace experiences. Now, at WHS, teachers bring their children of all ages to see the inner workings of their job. 

Take Your Child to Work Day provides the unique opportunity for the Child Growth and Development class at WHS to interact with young children. Kimberly Rhodes, who teaches the course, said, “Child Growth is a class that focuses on children’s intellectual, social and emotional development [from birth] through the ages of six, so we don’t have a lot of opportunities to interact with children at that age in this building.”

In preparation for the day, Rhodes tasked her students with crafting an engaging activity that would interest all of the kids. “The goal for my students is to create something that is understandable for the ages of [the] children, and work on their interaction skills with the children during the activity,” she said. 

The result: An engaging scavenger hunt around the school that allowed the high school students to interact with the kids, and also adults along the way, which Rhodes noted to be a key component. Along with that, high school students were exposed to working with kids and how it differs from working with adults. 

The scavenger hunt, which took place during first period, served as a way to get the kids to tour the school at the beginning of the day. Nine-year-old Jack Scott, son of Math Teacher Jillian Scott, said the scavenger hunt was the highlight of his time at WHS. Younger brother Owen Scott, age seven, said the best part of his day was “probably giving people one hundreds” on assignments. He added, “I want to be the principal in the school.”

Pippa Campbell, age five, daughter of Math Teacher Callie Campbell, said the best part of her day was holding the lizard in Mr. Huhn’s class, while eight-year-old Anetta Malvasio, daughter of Math Teacher Nicole Malvasio, really enjoyed walking to different classes. 

Take Your Child to Work Day also offered many of the children an opportunity to see what it will be like as a high school student one day. “I’m most excited to have a locker and switch to different classes when I’m in high school,” said 10-year-old Lucas Spring, son of Social Studies Teacher Jaqueline Spring.  

It also allowed the kids to see what exactly it is their parents do every day. Lucas said, “I loved watching my mom teach because I think it’s really unique how she teaches.” 

Whether it was for the Child Growth and Development students, the children or the teacher-parents, Take Your Child to Work Day appeared to be a successful and engaging day for all at WHS.