One-hundred-thirty-eight students from the five Greeneville and Greene County high schools took part on Friday in national "Job Shadowing Day 2010."

During the event, students were matched with hosts in workplaces where they "shadowed" employees between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Samantha Belt and Ashley Guard, juniors at North Greene High School, spent their day at Corley's Pharmacy.

Belt and Guard said they aspire to become pharmacists. Belt said they had "watched the process of filling prescriptions and observed the pharmacy's conveyor."

Robert McNeese, the "shadowed" pharmacist, said the girls "assisted with a custom compound prescription for an animal patient."

At VetCare Animal Hospital, Sierra Darnell, a junior at South Greene High School, shadowed a veterinarian. Throughout the day, Darnell helped with checking various animals, including a chihuahua named Biscuit.

Darnell said she had "been around animals all her life" and that the "next step is to become a small animal veterinarian."

Dustin Ripley, a senior; Stefania Collins and Dakota Steele, both juniors, all from Chuckey-Doak High School, job-shadowed EMS workers.

When asked why they wanted to shadow these workers, Ripley said it was to "get a better look at what I may be doing in the future."

Ashlynn Keasling, a junior at West Greene High School, shadowed Bill Rambo, The Greeneville Sun's webmaster for GreenevilleSun.com.

Keasling said, "Bill is awesome and we had fun taking pictures throughout the county."

She also observed the Sun " and said the journalists' have interesting jobs.

Also at the Sun was Maggie Solomon, a junior at South Greene High School. Solomon shadowed staff writer Tom Yancey and photographer Phil Gentry.

Keasling and Solomon were exposed to various aspects of running a newspaper, starting at collecting the data for a story and ending with the finished product.

Throughout the day, the two girls accompanied Gentry and Rambo as they went to various locations throughout the day to observe other job shadowers.

Solomon said she "learned exactly how a newsroom is run and enjoyed the time meeting all the hard workers at the paper."

At Laughlin Memorial Hospital, students Catherine Adams and Nathan Black, juniors at North Greene High School, spent their day observing various medical procedures and assisting in daily activities.

Adams said that she "wants to be a plastic surgeon" in the future, while Black said hopes to become an anesthesiologist.

Black said they had "watched surgeries" including an epidural anesthesia procedure.

Daniel Ewel, a sophomore at Greeneville High School, shadowed Jeff Howell of Sky Knight Aviation at Greeneville-Greene County Municipal Airport.

Throughout the day, Ewel learned "how the airplane works, certain measures to be done to override problems in the cockpit, and the structure of a plane."

In its 13th year locally, Job Shadowing Day is coordinated by Partners In Education and is sponsored by Junior Achievement, according to Kelly Burrell, Partners In Education Director for the Greene County Partnership and local coordinator of the event.

Students were selected to participate by an application-and-selection process.

Students in grades nine through 12 were eligible. Schools participating this year were: Chuckey-Doak High School, Greeneville High School, North Greene High School, South Greene High School and West Greene High School.

Some 65 companies offered the opportunity for job shadowing experiences to participating students this year, Burrell said.

She noted that students completed interest surveys which are used to match them with area professionals in career fields.

Burrell said that every effort is made to put students in career areas that are their first choices or interests.

According to Burrell, Job Shadowing Day is held to provide students with a snap-shot of professions that will give them a realistic idea of what people in those jobs do on a daily basis.

Students should also see the connection between what they are learning in the classroom and how those skills are important in the workplace, Burrell said.

Partners In Education is a joint effort of the Greeneville City and Greene County school systems and the Greene County Partnership to provide links between local schools and businesses, institutions and organizations in the community.