[Archived] Record Number of Alexandria Mentors and Students Participate in “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day”

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

Record Number of Alexandria Mentors and Students Participate in
“Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day”

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day was recently celebrated in Alexandria on April 22. The City of Alexandria’s Commission for Women, Office on Women and City Manager’s Office co-sponsored the event, in which local mentors from various career fields volunteered to host Alexandria students from T.C. Williams High School and Minnie Howard 9th Grade Center. A record number of mentors and students participated, with more than 55 mentors and 70 students being paired up for the day.

Mentors and students were brought together at a kick-off breakfast reception, held in Vola Lawson Lobby at City Hall. Laura Mandala, Chair of the Commission for Women, welcomed all participants and introduced Mayor William D. Euille. Mayor Euille spoke about the importance of students having the opportunity to see the relevance of their current school studies to future career fields. City Manager Philip Sunderland also made remarks, commending students for taking advantage of the opportunity to learn about career fields, particularly for those students matched with mentors in the City of Alexandria, where they would learn first-hand how the City provides a vast array of services to its residents. Jenny Wade, Chair of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, gave the students one last piece of advice, encouraging them “not to be shy and to ask lots of questions of your mentors today!”

After the reception, students had the opportunity to visit their mentor’s workplace and observe first-hand a career that interests them and how school will impact their future goals. Mentor Wendy Sledd sponsored Minnie Howard student Vanessa Munevar at her workplace, showing her the event planning process in action. Proving that future career opportunities can come of this day, Ms. Sledd commented that Ms. Munevar was a “true pleasure” to host and she planned on giving her a future opportunity to officially be a volunteer for their organization at their upcoming annual convention. Linda Cotton, an Information and Referral Specialist from the City’s Department of Human Services, commented that mentoring her T.C. Williams High School student, Cecilia Lopez, “was a very rewarding and gratifying experience. This young lady will go far in life!”

Nancy Christin, who mentored two boys from Minnie Howard, took them to her job at the Pentagon. The boys were already prepared to be in a military workplace through their participation in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. Ms. Christin commented that boys presented themselves well and had the opportunity to meet the Marine Corps Commandant and his Deputies at the office! These are just a few examples of the wonderful experiences that students and mentors had by participating in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

The event, nationally-sponsored by the Ms. Foundation, initially focused on taking girls to work, but in 2003, offered the opportunity to boys as well. The event not only encourages girls to consider their future career choices, but now gives both girls and boys the opportunity to observe women in positions of leadership in the workplace and community. If you would like more information on the Office on Women, or to participate as a mentor in next year’s event, please contact Jennifer Harris at the Office on Women at 703.838.5030 or visit the web site at www.alexwomen.com.

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