Current student reflects on experience shadowing at SHS

The shadowing program offered at SHS and other high schools such as  Archbishop Mitty is a great opportunity to view a potential school for the future. Junior Claire Strickland was one of the students who found that shadowing at Saratoga High helped her narrow down her choice of school. Strickland shadowed here when she was a freshman at Notre Dame in 2011, following then-freshman Rachel Hull to all of her classes one Friday.

“I didn’t know how it would be until I shadowed [at] the school, but when I came, it seemed pretty good,” Strickland said.

The shadow program is managed by the principal’s secretary, Sue Dini, and it is offered to students here who wish to help those who are considering attending the school. Some shadowing opportunities are unsuccessful if the school does not appeal to the prospective student. For others like Strickland, however, the experience can be eye-opening and useful in multiple ways.

Dini said that students interested in shadowing fill out a form detailing their likes and dislikes as well as their interests in school. The forms are then matched to a database of students who have volunteered to be shadowed and have similar interests to those who want to shadow here.

Besides being able to tour a new high school, students who shadow others have the chance to meet their possible future teachers.

“The teachers here understood me much better and had more variety and flexibility than the ones at my old school,” Strickland said. “That was definitely a deciding factor in my decision.”

According to Strickland, her shadowing experience allowed her to notice the differences in the programs offered at Notre Dame and Saratoga High.

When she shadowed here, Strickland was intrigued by the journalism and drama programs. Hull, who Strickland shadowed, was part of the journalism program, allowing Strickland to get insight into the program.

Although Strickland did not attend Hull’s journalism class that day, Strickland was able to ask questions about the class.

“The kids here were really cool, and [Hull] had a lot of friends in programs I was interested in,” Strickland said. “That’s another great thing about shadowing: it allows you to figure out what you are interested in just by previewing it while [you’re] there.”

Strickland said that while she was shadowing here, she got a preview into the social groups of the school.

With all these factors drawing Strickland’s interests in, she couldn’t say no to attending Saratoga High.

“It’s a great school because I got to meet many people with similar interests as me,” Strickland said. “And it easily gave me a good idea of what it was going to be like. Coming to the school to tour it in person was helpful. I think it would have been much different if I were to have just looked online rather than actually being there.”