While the groundhog didn’t see his shadow, there was plenty of shadowing happening at Nationals Park.
The inaugural Washington Nationals Job Shadow Day invited students who are part of the NatsPrep program to meet, network and shadow professionals from the Nationals front office, with the goal of helping students learn about careers in sports and hospitality.
One of the 30 NAF Academy students from across D.C. public schools who took advantage of the opportunity was Christian Osborne, a junior at Ballou High School.
“There are some things that you can’t learn in the classroom and you have to be out there,” Osborne said. “When I first joined the academy of hospitality I thought it was all hotels, restaurants, airports. But then I go out there and I learned it was way bigger than I originally thought it would be.”
DCPS NAF Academies help prepare students for their future careers. Each month, NatsPrep brings students in to show them what it’s like to run the front office of a professional sports team.
Ashleigh Hazley, director of youth programming for the Nationals, works with students who are part of the cohort.
“I think the thing that has been the most impactful for them through this experience is they’re learning how to advocate for their careers,” Hazley said. “They’re able to say ‘this is what I like and this is what I don’t like.’”
DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee connected the inaugural day to Black History and Career and Technical Education Month. He said he wants the students to understand there are so many opportunities at Nats Park, from communications to finance.
“They saw staff members of the Nationals who looked like them,” Ferebee said. “I’m hopeful we have more minorities in leadership in professional sports, and I think it starts with that exposure.”
Senior vice president of community relations Gregory McCarthy said the Nationals want kids to know you don’t have to be an athlete to work at the park. He also wants them to think big about the future and strive for ownership one day.
“The founding owner of the Washington Nationals, the late Theodore Lerner, who died last year, is actually a graduate of D.C. Public Schools,” McCarthy said. “Including one of the high schools here today. He was a young man that thought big, that thought bold and had big dreams. He knew what the sports industry was like and we want these kids to have the same passion.”
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