WATSONVILLE — A group of Watsonville students on Wednesday got a taste of their possible futures by participating in Watsonville Rotary’s job shadowing program, which was designed to connect young people with local professionals in fields that spark their interest.
The students, nearly 90 in all, fanned out into the community to participate in such careers as police work, radiology, cooking and law.
Participating companies included Graniterock, Cabrillo College and Watsonville Community Hospital.
It also included the Santa Cruz County Probation Department, where Probation Officer Gina Castañeda spent the morning with Watsonville High School students Savanah Quintana and Paloma Herrera.
Quintana said she wants a career in law enforcement, but is trying to decide between being a patrol officer and working in probation.
“Not a lot of people know about the probation department,” she said.
Herrera, on the other hand, is certain she wants to work for the probation department, a career she said was inspired by seeing officers trying to help family members who had run-ins with the law.
“I noticed they were the only ones who helped them out,” she said.
The program was open to any interested high school student. It has been a Rotary mainstay since its creation more than a decade ago.
