NVOT was filled with cuteness (and chaos) as children ran rampant across the halls.

On Thursday, April 25, faculty and staff participated in the first Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day at NVOT. From activities ranging from origami to making slime, teachers organized the day to entertain the children and allow them to experience their parent’s work life through interactive means. There were no age and grade limits; however, teachers could put their own age limits on their activities. 

The children started their day off with many different activity options, like making slime with chemistry teacher Thomas Villa. “I decided on slime because I wanted a safe activity that the high school students could complete and help the younger children who would be attending,” Villa said.

Sophomore Selden Kolkebeck, a student in Villa’s class, said that “working with my teachers’ children was an awesome experience that definitely connected me to my teachers better.”

Villa said, “take your child to work day is a great opportunity for the children to learn more about what their families do. It can also spark an interest in a career that they haven’t previously considered. I know my son personally had a great time during the day and he was able to complete a lot of fun activities.”

Another activity open to the children was a scavenger hunt hosted by the guidance department. Guidance counselor Amanda Fitzpatrick knew this would be a great event since “letting kids run around and burn off energy in a fun and challenging way is always good,” plus the sunny weather worked out perfectly for the day. Fitzpatrick said that the educational aspect of the day was great, but the importance of the children being able to “see their parents as people and not just ‘their parents,’” added more to the day. Students were able to meet their teachers’ kids and learn how to communicate with people from all ages. “My kids got to experience a little bit of what I do, and they got to hang with and meet other kids who participated as well,” said Fitzpatrick.

Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day participants said the event was a huge success, even in some surprising ways. Sophomore Claire Ryu said, “interacting with my teacher’s kids was weird at first because you don’t expect your teachers to actually have lives outside of school, but in the end, it was really fun.”