The City of Victoria’s Communications & Public Affairs hosted a high school student Feb. 28 as part of the Victoria Business and Education Coalition’s Job Shadow Day, which allows students to visit with local employers to learn about different career paths.
John Andruss, 16, a sophomore at Victoria West High School, said that he knew very little about the communications field prior to his visit to the City and wanted to learn more about communications as a possible career path.
“It’s not what I thought,” Andruss said. “Y’all have your own TV station — I had no clue! It’s a very fast-paced environment.”
During his visit, Andruss was able to meet and speak with Communications & Public Affairs team members and learn about their roles and responsibilities. He also toured other City offices and learned more about the different areas of service the City provides to Victoria residents.
“Job Shadow Day was an absolutely wonderful experience,” said Ashley Strevel, Director of Communications & Public Affairs. “It was such a great opportunity for us to help mentor the youth in our community while educating about what all the City does.”
Andruss said he’s still considering different career options and that the communications field is one he’d like to explore further.
“I’m going to do further job shadowing and see what I’m interested in and what else is out there,” he said.
The Victoria Fire Department also hosted two students for the event.
Gary Gonzalez, 17, and Juan Mujira, 18, observed fire department operations and rode out to emergencies with fire and EMS vehicles.
Fire Chief Tracy Fox said he hoped the event would provide the two students with a better perspective on a career with the fire department.
“These events can be a good source of recruitment because we get to share our profession with potential candidates,” he said.
The Victoria Police Department also hosted a student for the event.
Ayumi Pacheco, 17, was able to meet with detectives and administrators during her tour of the police department. She then participated in a ride-along with Officer Ashley Rendon.
Officer David Brogger said that these types of job shadowing events help the police department to foster students’ interest in law enforcement careers.
“We like to forge relationships with schools and organizations like VBEC so that we can reach out to these students, and hopefully they’ll consider coming to work at the police department one day,” he said.
Strevel said she hopes the students learned more about the job fields they wish to pursue after graduation but also about the various areas of service the City provides.
“We often get asked questions daily from the public,” she said. “I hope that we were able to send John and the other students who shadowed in other departments home with answers to some of those questions so they can share it with their friends, families and the community.”
PHOTO #1: Communications & Public Affairs hosted John Andruss, middle, for Job Shadow Day. Andruss toured the City offices and met with employees of various departments.
PHOTO #2: Ayumi Pacheco, left, participated in a ride-along with Officer Ashley Rendon during Job Shadow Day.