Erin Kenny (right) and Alison Rowntree watch as Alison's father, Joe Kenny, works with a patient at Brock's athletic therapy clinic Wednesday during Take Our Kids to Work Day.

When Erin Kenny and Alison Rowntree arrived at Brock Wednesday morning for Take Our Kids to Work Day, giving a dummy a needle and getting fake blood on themselves seemed unlikely to be on the day’s agenda.

But it happened during a tour of Brock in which the two friends and Grade 9 students got a glimpse into the different academic departments at the University — in this case, nursing.

Though neither knows what they want to do when they’re done school, the experience got them wondering about career options in medicine.

“It makes you think about stuff you could do in the future,” Rowntree said.

That’s the point of the annual sojourn to the workplace that Grade 9 students throughout Canada take for a day, trading the classroom for their parents’ office.

At Brock’s edition of Take Our Kids to Work Day, 31 high school students opted to shadow parents or family friends to get a sense of what they do all day and discover future career options.

The students participated in orientation, tours, presentations and safety training in the morning before getting to spend the afternoon as their parents’ protégés.
Rowntree and Kenny were here with Kenny’s mom Karen McAllister-Kenny, director of Recreation Services, and dad Joe Kenny, adjunct professor in the Department of Kinesiology.

Though neither got to spend much time shadowing their mentors before heading to volleyball practice, McAllister-Kenny said she was happy with the exposure the duo got to the Brock campus.

“It’s the gym they see most of the time,” McAllister-Kenny said. “They come to camps and other activities but this opens them up to other things.”

For Matthew Grinbergs, who has aspirations to become an architect, the day showed him that Brock would be a great place to do his first degree before pursuing his dream profession.

“Today just finalized it for me,” Grinbergs said.

It also gave him new appreciation for what his mother Joanna Romano does each day as marketing production co-ordinator in the University’s marketing department.

“I didn’t really know much about her job beforehand,” he admitted. “When I found out, I felt proud. She’s kind of like a head honcho, fixing things up.”