Lakewood High School offers multiple courses dedicated to communication, recognizing that communication is key. Speech is a popular class among the 10th, 11th and 12th grade students at LHS, with the intention of building students’ confidence in public speaking.

There’s another communication course offered at LHS that some may not have heard of: Practical Communications Skills. A senior-only elective, Practical Communications has been a part of Lakewood High School’s Program of Studies for 11 years. The class is co-taught by Aimee Guzowski and Gray Cooper. “Mr. Cooper and I teach how to master conversations as it’s related to apologies, manners, conflict, difficult people, challenging situations, interviewing, networking, answering the phone. Everything that could be related to a conversation and communicating, Mr. Cooper and I teach that,” said Guzowski.

This year, Guzowski decided she wanted to take it a step further. After nearly two years of planning and approval, Guzowski launched a career shadowing program for the seniors who take her class. “It took me about 18 months to get this approved from administrators and people from the board office,” Guzowski said.

The idea originated after she ran into a former student working at a fast-food restaurant. The student tried to explain that the job was only temporary and they were eventually going to go to school to be a barber.

“It broke my heart, because one, he didn’t have to prove anything to me. But two, I just kept thinking, what if I had gotten that kid a chance to spend time with the barber instead of thinking about it and looking at videos and maybe just talking about this possibility, what if he actually got a chance to spend a day doing that?” Guzowski said. “But while it was just that one student who I saw…it was over the last 11 years, Mr. Cooper and I felt like something was missing.”

In the program’s first semester, Guzowski has already sent more than 50 students on trips to shadow professionals in their future field of interest. For example, senior Gaby Carroll-Greeves had the opportunity to shadow Ohio Sen. Nickie Antonio at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

“It was really good to see all of the different roles that people have working in the Ohio Statehouse. I got to sit in session, so it was really cool,” said Carroll-Greeves.

“It gave me an idea of how many other roles there are, and not just being the candidate. Senator Antonio had so many people that worked for her. You don’t even realize how much goes on behind the scenes.”

Carroll-Greeves said she also learned new skills and knowledge during her day at the Statehouse. “How hard everyone works. I mean, I am a hard worker, but it just shows, every second of every day that they have, like it’s constantly hard work, and the day never stops, which I think is really good for a lot of people who want a fast-paced job,” Carroll-Greeves said.

Another senior, Ava Cox, shadowed Hannah Driscoll at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Cox wants to be a paleontologist. “I think it prepared me very well [for the future] because Hannah went into great detail of all the stuff and everything that happened within the Earth. My interests were very much heightened. My overall experience was amazing. I loved it there, I did not want to leave at all,” Cox said. Cox emphasized that she would participate in the career shadowing program again.

Another student who participated in Guzowski’s program is Mia Resto, who shadowed Kevin Delsanter of Marcus Thomas, an advertising agency — the type of career Resto is interested in.

“It was super cool. I really enjoyed it. I got to see more of what he does, because he was like, ‘Yes, we write ads, but we also do a lot of editing,’ and all this other stuff. So I got to see exactly what the job entails,” Resto said. “It was nice to be able to also make connections and learn things from people that were already established.”

Guzowski’s career shadowing program has given many in the senior class opportunities and platforms that may not have been available or that they may have struggled to get before.

But these opportunities aren’t strictly designated for Guzowski’s own students. She actively encourages seniors outside her class to join the program, meeting with them during free periods and learning about their interests.

Seniors at LHS should keep an eye out for Guzowski and her program, which is making a significant impact on students’ career exploration and development.