By: Gowri Sunil

News Editor 

LGHS held its annual staff development day on Mar. 9, giving students a day’s break from school. While many enjoyed the chance to relax, around 300 students participated in LGHS’s JobCamp. Students shadowed a professional in a field of their choice, with a wide range of options including engineering, finance, and healthcare.

Heather LeRoy, the Job Shadow Day Chair of LGHS’s Home and School Club, organized the program and restarted it in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it has grown from about 150 students and 30 companies to 300 students and 45 companies. LeRoy pointed out that in addition to introducing students to potential careers, JobCamp allows them to “connect with other professional adults — have a firm handshake, make eye contact when talking, prepare good questions, and have a meaningful conversation.”

For many, the program offered a rare occasion to explore careers they might pursue. Freshman Aditi Anumula shadowed engineers at Amazon, where she toured labs and learned how they test popular devices like Kindle and Alexa during the design process. Anumula recounted the experience as “very eye-opening, because I had never been in a real engineering lab setup before.” Interested in space and engineering, sophomore Abigail Tsao had the exciting opportunity to tour NASA behind the scenes. Tsao observed vertical motion simulations and wind tunnels, learning how they draw in air to equalize airflow. Having gained a deeper understanding of space science and engineering, Tsao would definitely recommend JobCamp to other students. 

Additional participants, like junior Meredith Harris and sophomore Lumin Bae, explored careers relating to healthcare. Harris visited Intuitive Surgical, a biotechnology company that creates robots to more precisely replicate a surgeon’s hand movements. There, Harris received hands-on experience with the robots, helping her understand how surgeons interact with the technology. Meanwhile, Bae shadowed an optometrist at the local Los Gatos Eye Care, following in his sister’s footsteps, who had shadowed there years earlier and eventually started interning at the clinic. Under the guidance of the professional optometrist, Bae explored high-tech machines used to study the eye in great detail, allowing him to view the entire anatomy of an eye, including the cornea and optic nerve. He was surprised to learn that “you can know if you have diabetes or high blood pressure by looking at the back of the eye because it has really thin blood vessels.” 

Traditionally, LGHS holds JobCamp on its March staff development day, and 2026 marked its fourth successful year. The impact of the program would not be possible without many people, including Heather Leroy, the organizer, as well as Dave and Ryan LeRoy, Nadia Thompson, Lucia Thompson, Qing Wang, and Sherry Lee, who manage the website, social media, and recruit companies. By connecting students with professionals, JobCamp continues to provide LGHS students a glimpse into the future beyond high school. 

(Sources: JobCamp)