Students from Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology, North Mecklenburg, Providence, South Mecklenburg and West Charlotte high schools explored post-secondary opportunities through a Job Shadow event at Coca-Cola Consolidated on Oct. 9 in partnership with Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas.

Junior Achievement’s Job Shadow is a comprehensive experience that helps students design their career path by developing their interests, talents and values through a career interest assessment, and interacting with professionals during a workplace site visit.

“When they come on site for these experiences, they are looking through the lens of ‘I know my value system sits here, so this position resonates with me,’” said Mary Beth Taylor, director of Development at Junior Achievement. “What I really like about Job Shadow is that they’re taking the classroom curriculum, analyzing who they are and what their value set is, and then we get to take them on-site into real-world examples, they get to see what fits their value system and see examples of what resonates with them, excites and inspires them.”

Students had the opportunity to tour the Coca-Cola Consolidated facility, observe production lines, walk through the warehouse and talk with several employees to learn the ins and outs of the company.

Morris Howard, director of Community Relations at Coca-Cola Consolidated, described Job Shadow and the partnership between Junior Achievement, Coca-Cola Consolidated and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as a “win-win-win.”

“We’re all about giving back to the community because we know that the stronger the community is, the stronger we’ll be,” said Howard. “We look at it from a prong of workforce development for us, as well as an opportunity to show kids exactly what else is out there. People may think because it's Coca-Cola, it’s a warehouse job, but there’s a plethora of other jobs. And it’s just a great opportunity for us to give back and talk to these young men and women.”