Students Shadow Experts at Work : Careers: One hundred Conejo Valley teen-agers get close-up looks at role models in professions they may be interested in pursuing.

Thousand Oaks cat veterinarian Valerie Creighton wanted to show Jennifer Jones the ins and outs of feline oral hygiene--a familiar subject for animal doctors but a foreign one for 17-year-old high school students.

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“Most cats don’t need their teeth cleaned,” Creighton said, gently running a high-powered pencil-thin water brush over an anesthetized kitty’s gum line. “It’s just that certain breeds of cats have more of a tendency for gum disease than others.”

Jennifer, who wants to study veterinary medicine, got out of classes Wednesday to follow Creighton through her Thousand Oaks Boulevard cat clinic.

She was one of about 100 Conejo Valley students who participated in Student Shadowing Day, which pairs teen-agers with professionals in career fields of their choice.

“The idea behind it,” coordinator Ron LaGuardia said, “was to give students an opportunity to see what the real world of work is like . . . so they can make more competent career choices.”

The event, now in its second year, was sponsored by the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

Last year 50 students participated, but this year more than 300 students from three high schools applied. Only 100 were selected, however, since just 44 businesses and individuals volunteered to be shadowed.

A Thousand Oaks dentist, an architect, three veterinarians, various school administrators and representatives from GTE, Amgen and the city of Thousand Oaks were among those participating.

“I never had anything like this when I was in high school,” said Matthew Quinn, manager at Hudson’s Grill in Thousand Oaks, one of the participating businesses.

“In high school, I was pretty much trying to get to graduation day,” he said. “No one pulled me aside and let me know there were things I should have been involved in.”

Two Thousand Oaks High School students shadowed Quinn, who showed them the ropes of operating a restaurant. In addition to waiting tables, students Jenny Mudd and Justin Blake were introduced to the grill’s accounting system.

“We both wanted to learn about management,” said Jenny, a junior who donned a black company T-shirt for the day.

“To shadow somebody in a profession that you want to do gives you an insight,” Justin said. “You can learn by watching them.”

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Creighton said the event gives students an opportunity to experience the workplace firsthand, which is particularly important for students considering entering medical professions that require years of schooling.

“I think it is a real good idea to think ahead of time and talk to vets,” Creighton said. “It makes it a lot easier to decide if it is a life you are going to like or not.”

Jennifer said she has been interested in veterinary medicine for some time. Watching Creighton--and even assisting her with some procedures--piqued her interest even more.

“It’s all kind of like a start, an introduction to the vet profession,” she said, adding that she was surprised by how much she enjoyed Student Shadowing Day.

“This is a lot better than I thought it would be,” the Newbury Park High School junior said. “I thought I would stand back and watch, I never thought I would clean a cat’s teeth.”