At some point during their high-school or college years, students will be expected to pick their professions or, at least, narrow their focus on the future. What better way for them to make choices than to meet people who are actually doing the jobs they'd like in their fields of interest?

Norridge police sergeant Tony Pekar (right) talks to Ridgewood High School's Matt Kucharczyk, 16, during students' tour of the police department.
(Brian O'Mahoney/Staff Photographer)

Enter job shadowing, part of a required course for juniors at Ridgewood High School, in Norridge. Students are asked to name the careers they're interested in, and the Ridgewood staff works to find professionals with whom to pair them. Then, the students travel to the professionals' work places to ask questions, watch them function and find out just what their jobs entail.

NPolice Chief Charles Ghiloni (right) talks to a group of Ridgewood High School students who visited as part of a career job shadowing program last month.
(Brian O'Mahoney/Staff Photographer)

The three- to five-hour experiences either reinforce the students' choices or lead them to rethink their options.

Careers in law enforcement appeal to a number of the Ridgewood juniors, The school sent them blocks away, to the Norridge Police Department, 4020 N. Olcott Ave., for some one-on-one time with the real deal.

Norridge police sergeant, Tony Pekar (right) talks about police careers to students Mike Arcaro, 16, Carlos Dominguez, 17, and Matt Kucharczyk, 16.
(Brian O'Mahoney/Staff Photographer)

They started their job shadowing experience with a conference with Police Chief Charles Ghiloni, who gave them an overview of the life of a career officer. Then, Ghiloni handed them over to Sgt. Tony Pekar, for a tour of the department and some question and answer time. The students came prepared, with a list of topics to discuss.

Pekar, who joined the department in 1992, showed the students through the department's lock-up cells, processing area, line-up room, records room, radio room and roll call room. He demonstrated the equipment on the squad cars and showed the students the weapons officers carry.

"I pretty much showed them everything," Pekar said. "They had a look at our computerized fingerprint system, too. We can even search fingerprint records by nickname now."

Sebastian Szpara, 17, of Norridge, was impressed with the department's technology, particularly the squad cameras, digital video recorders and lights. Szpara is thinking of a career as a police officer or an FBI agent. He'd be the first in his family to pursue a law-enforcement career.

"Crime statistics are up," he said. "I'd like to do something to reduce them."

Pekar recommended college to the Ridgewood juniors. Officers should have at least an associate's degree, preferably a bachelor's degree, if advancement is their goal. In fact, the Norridge department now requires rookies to have 60 college credit hours, the equivalent of an associate's degree.

"It opens up so many more doors,' Pekar acknowledged.

Szpara wasn't surprised. He plans to earn a bachelor's degree in law enforcement at Western Illinois University.

"Education is important," Szpara said.

The students asked good questions, especially on salary, duties and ranks, Pekar noted.

For Szpara, the experience at the Norridge Police Department was positive.

"I'm more anxious than ever to pursue law enforcement as a career," he said.

Law enforcement was by no means the only career path students expressed interest in pursuing. Job shadowing experiences were arranged for aspiring dentists, teachers, college professors, hair stylists, personal trainers, business managers, accountants, physical therapists, banquet hall managers, maintenance engineers, firefighters, airport passenger assistants, nurses, event planners, engineers, computer scientists, life and car sales personnel and restaurateurs.

Mentors to field their questions were obtained in Norridge, Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Chicago -- and suburbs as distant as Bedford Park, Schaumburg, Roselle and Lisle.

Article written by Staff Writer Wynn Koebel Foster in the Thursday, May 15, 2008 issue of the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/norridge/news/947406,no-jobshadow-051508-s1.article. Used with permission.

Ridgewood business education teacher Debra Ridgner described what job shadowing is all about.

"We believe in the business department that it's really important that students -- especially high school juniors -- kind of get an idea of what the career that they're expecting to train for outside of high school is really like on a day-to-day, live-the-career type basis," she said.

"We're requiring them to get out into the community and locate someone who's already in the career that they envision for themselves and have a day to spend with them, watching what they do, being in their environment, absorbing what's going on in that field, having a chance to sit down and interview them about the job, their educational requirements, their experience, what does a job like this typically pay and how they feel about their position.

"They're also going to spend time in observation watching the use of different skills; writing skills, reading skills, interpersonal skills, technology skills."

Types of careers that students shadow include various branches of law, automotive technician, cosmetology, library science and veterinary science.

Students are released for one day to be in a work environment, Ridgner said. If a student is split between two different areas, she suggested spending half of the day in one location and the other half in another. Expenses are paid by the students themselves.

The next job shadow days are scheduled for a three-day period from Wednesday, April 15, 2009, through Friday, April 17, 2009. Ridgner acknowledged flexibility with scheduling a job shadow day due to circumstances such as illness or vacation.

Article written by Craig A. Whitney for the Thursday, April 9, 2009 issue of the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/norridge/news/1515703,no-jobshadow-040909-s1.article. Used with permission.

Junior Georgia Parashos makes her way around the tables at the Career Fair at Ridgewood High School February 26, 2010.
(Dan Luedert/Staff Photographer)

About 45 different organizations were invited to talk to Ridgewood High School students during the school's Career Fair.

(From left) Xavier Santiago and Kio Ahmed talk with Air Force Staff Sergeant, Jacob Colon at the Career Fair at Ridgewood High School February 26, 2010.
(Dan Luedert/Staff Photographer)

Organizations such as Best Buy, Eisenhower Public Library, Norridge and Harwood Heights police departments and the United States Air Force talked to students February 26, 2010 during their lunch or study hall periods.

Senior Magdalena Bobek talks with representatives from the Tricoci University of Beauty Culture at the Career Fair at Ridgewood High School February 26, 2010.
(Dan Luedert/Staff Photographer)

Norridge police corporal Dave Disselhorst talks with Brian Spenk, a junior, during the Career Fair at Ridgewood High School February 26, 2010.
(Dan Luedert/Staff Photographer)

Article written by Craig A. Whitney on Monday, March 1, 2010 for the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/norridge/news/2077230,norridge-careerfa ir-030410-s1.article.