Saugus High students shadow mentors

SAUGUS – Laurie Golan has had her share of high school students who dream about a medical career, only to see them pass out at the sight of blood on Job Shadow Day.It?s exactly why the Saugus High School math teacher has kept the job shadow program going for 18 years. “I love to do this program. I feel so passionate about it. I see so many kids get into fields and have no idea what the job was,” said Golan. “With the experience the kids get, they can see what?s going on and know that?s what they wanted to do.”On Wednesday, about 90 juniors and seniors departed from a breakfast at Prince Pizzeria with their mentor for the day. From shooting firearms in the basement of the Public Safety Building to teaching elementary school students, the Saugus High School students could be seen in their career dress rehearsal in many parts of town.Georgia McMaster was one of four students who found herself crawling on the floor in full turnout gear and a “blacked-out” mask searching for a doll in a cluttered room at the Saugus Fire Department headquarters that morning. Though she decided she would “definitely be going into engineering,” her peer Chris Sanderson said after that exercise, he was more convinced than ever that he wanted to become a firefighter.Saugus High School graduate Andrew McDermott spent his Job Shadow Day in 2008 at the fire department doing the same search-and-rescue exercise, and now, five years later, calls himself a member of the department. “It?s a good thing for people to come and see what we do,” said McDermott. “Until you?re crawling on the ground, you don?t realize how hard it is.”Golan said civil service has been a popular career choice in the past. This year she noticed a trend in the medical industries, with students applying to shadow professionals in the nursing, physical therapy and mental counseling fields.Chad Condon was one of those students, choosing to pursue a passion for personal training by shadowing Don Doward, former Hilltop manager turned gym owner. Doward said he planned to show his students a lot of the work involved in owning a gym that isn?t taught in the fitness training industry so they could “find out if they really want to do it.”