Kids get chance to see world of work
4/27/2001Melissa Fickel, who at age 81/2 stood chin level to the counter at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Toledo, stretched to time stamp complaints handed to her by a deputy clerk.
She filed some cases and ran some copies and a highlight of her Take Our Daughters to Work Day was winning a free small cone at McDonald's where she ate with her father, the deputy clerk in charge of the court.
Hundreds of youngsters took a day off school to spend time on the job with an adult yesterday for the day which was organized by Ms. Foundation after reports that girls' school performance and self-esteem often decline during adolescence. Many employers, however, allow employees to bring their sons, too.
In its ninth year, preparations were much more low key than in the past and some companies that once participated apparently forgot about it.
“Was that today?” asked Heather Roe, office manager at Inverness Veterinary Hospital on Hill Avenue. “Every year we are bombarded and this year we have nobody and I didn't even know it was today.”
Other businesses, such as Fifth Third Bank, decided for a variety of reasons not to put together programs like in the past.
At Owens-Illinois, Inc., 36 boys and girls toured the operations of the downtown skyscraper, which included a view from the roof. Still, participation was just half of the record year.
Some companies had just as many children and teenagers as usual. At Manor Care Inc. downtown, 78 youngsters decorated glass bowls and used computers to produce greeting cards that included their photo. The bowls and cards will be given to residents in the company's nursing homes and other facilities during National Nursing Home Week the week of May 14, said spokesman Rick Rump.
Many children throughout the area had new experiences. Natalie Farell, 13, said she had never been inside a courthouse or seen a Dictaphone. She spent the day with her father, an attorney with Malone Ault & Farell.
Natalie, a sixth-grader, wants to be “a famous actress starring in hit movies.” Lower on her list of choices are fashion designing, marine biology, and - maybe - teaching like her mother. She doesn't want to be a lawyer, though, because she wouldn't like wearing a suit every day, she said.
Nearby in bankruptcy court, Melissa wasn't sure what bankruptcy meant at the end of the day. “Does that mean when the bank gets robbed and you lose all your money?” she asked.