Drawing On Experience

Most people would spot black-and-white dogs in Walt Disney’s poster for the upcoming movie “102 Dalmatians.” Fifteen-year-old Roxanne Martinez sees mathematical proportions.

“I’m glad I paid attention in math,” said Roxanne, a sophomore at Clark Magnet High School in the Glendale Unified School District. “You need to understand angles and stuff to make a good poster.”

Roxanne was one of 40 students at the Burbank studio learning from Disney executives as part of Groundhog Job Shadow Day 2000, a national program sponsored by youth organizations.

Throughout the next eight weeks, the goal is to place 1 million students nationwide, from elementary schools to community colleges, with politicians, athletes, firefighters, scientists, graphic designers, engineers and employees from hundreds of other professions for a day.

Locally, the program aims to place 20,000 students, many of whom volunteer or are selected by school administrators and teachers, said David Rattray, a spokesman for School-to-Career in Southern California, a youth program.

Besides Disney, students followed professionals from the Long Beach Ice Dogs hockey team and politicians in Sacramento. They visited employees at Loma Linda University Medical Center and Ontario Airport, among other places.

Last year, Rattray estimates, 8,000 Southern California students participated in the program, which was established in 1997 and geared toward teaching students how classroom lessons apply to the working world.

Besides youth organizations, such as retired Gen. Colin Powell’s America’s Promise, thousands of companies are participating in the project, including Bank of America, State Farm, Wells Fargo and McDonald’s.

“The obvious question we’ve all experienced in school is: Why am I learning this?” Rattray said. “Job shadowing shows students that literacy, math and science do matter in the real world.”

Even a detail such as spelling counts, said Renee Stauffer, Disney’s director of broadcast publicity. She occasionally used to misspell Dalmatian with an ‘ion’ but has had to catch herself while working on Disney’s promotion for the movie.

“Not good,” Stauffer said to Erica Sin, 17, a senior at La Canada High School.

Erica said she understood.

“It’s important to be as professional as possible,” she said. “I like the atmosphere here. It’s lax but professional.”

Another lesson Disney executives hoped to teach students was that work can be fun, said John Sabel, vice president of creative print services.

Years ago, as a kindergartner in Torrance, Sabel was advised by his teacher to have fun while working hard. He knew then that he wanted to be an artist.

“I’m having a blast at work,” Sabel said. “I feel like I’m a kid having fun.”