By Staff
EXPLANATION n Carver Middle School seventh-graders John Dixon, left, and David Mosley listen while BellSouth project engineer Randy Ainsworth explains what the buried service wire plow does. Photo by Steve Swogetinsky/The Meridian Star.
By Steve Swogetinsky/The Meridian Star
Feb. 3, 2001
BellSouth got some extra help Friday as nine students went out with employees on various jobs as part of the company's annual Groundhog Job Shadow Day.
Eight students from Carver Middle School's Career Discovery Classes were joined by a senior from Southeast Lauderdale High School.
This year was a little different in that Eric Conley, a senior at Southeast Lauderdale High School, joined the group. His BellSouth mentor for the day was Chuck Shepherd, a network manager.
Shepherd talked with Conley, and afterwards invited him to be his guest during Job Shadow Day. Conley enjoyed the day and is looking forward to his future.
Conley plans to attend college at the University of Alabama, Auburn University or Georgia Tech, and wants to major in electronic engineering or general engineering.
After spending the morning with their BellSouth mentor, the students returned to the main office in the downtown area for a pizza lunch. Afterwards, they told their stories.
Seventh-grader Camrin Mack described what he saw when he visited the switching rooms. "There were shelves and shelves of switches and wires," Mack said. "Later, we went down to the basement and saw the vault."
BellSouth launched Ground Hog Shadow Day in 1996, and it expanded to a national level in 1998 with other businesses and groups joining in.
Steve Swogetinsky is regional editor of The Meridian Star.