Wayne County high school students spend a day in the shadows

'Youth in Government Day' helps 16 youths learn about county government through job shadowing

Keith Jones of Southern Wayne High School explains what he learned during his day in the Wayne County Finance Office as Commissioner Andy Anderson listens.

If learning by doing provides opportunities for developing new skills, then some Wayne County high school students recently received the opportunity to expand their abilities in several areas.

Sixteen students from county high schools participated in "Youth in Government Day" in early May. Each student shadowed a department manager for several hours. Participating departments included Finance, Animal Control, Emergency Services, Human Resources, Register of Deeds, Soil and Water, Environmental Health, Information Technologies and Social Services.

The students shared their experiences and thoughts with school administration, as well as the Board of Commissioners during a special lunch following the job shadowing:

• Considering it was budget time for the county, Keith Jones of Southern Wayne High School took careful notes of what County Finance Director Pam Holt explained to him.
• Amber Lane of Charles B. Aycock High School learned that there is a lot more involved in the Animal Control Department than playing with cute dogs and cats.
• Cailey Solomon of Eastern Wayne High School and Anthony Dobson of the Wayne School of Engineering said they were fascinated by the county's new venture into the world of "virtualization" in the Information Technology Department.
• Brooke Mayo of Charles B. Aycock and Zacchia Cobb of Goldsboro High School spent the morning at Social Services.
• T.J. Frost of Rosewood High and Eliza Weaver of the Wayne School of Engineering realized first-hand the importance of the Soil and Water Department.
• Emergency Services hosted two potential future first-responders as Kerri Jo Gurley of Rosewood High and Rachel Wegman of Eastern Wayne learned more about the services provided by the department.
• Aleyah Brown of Goldsboro High and Brianna Todd of Spring Creek decided they needed to learn more about the impact of the environment on health issues and were able to participate in the inspection of a local restaurant.
• Megan Stott of Southern Wayne and Adam Haggerty of Spring Creek decided to learn more about personnel issues in the Human Resources Department.
• Jasmine Jones and Anna Strickland of Wayne Early/Middle College recorded their experience in the Register of Deeds Office and said they were astounded by the amount of paperwork.