Our Future Workforce

By Maria Angeles Linares

On February 2, Miami-Dade County public schools celebrated Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The nation celebrates this educational experience on the fourth Thursday of April. However, because of FCAT testing, Miami-Dade County public schools have been celebrating this important day either before or after April to encourage a maximum number of students to participate in this incredible experience and to do well on the FCAT.

This year, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities Southern Region was proud to participate in this very special event, with 12 children joining their parents at work.

On the surface, it was just another Thursday, but the pitter-patter of little feet was everywhere. The children were introduced to everyone in the office by their parents. When the serious work began, the children got an up close and personal glimpse of what their mothers and fathers do every day. Children know their parents go to work and hear them talk about their days, but do they really know what their parents do and the lives they impact each and every day? This was an experience that certainly left an impression and got some of the children thinking of what they could do when they become adults.

Sherab Chodron, Southern Region Deputy ROM, provided refreshments for the honored guests. There were juice boxes, fresh mandarins, chocolate kisses, raisins, and other treats to help the children get through the rough work day. A miniature lounge for the kids was set up in an empty office by Diana Flores, Regional Program Supervisor for the Wait List/Community Affairs Work Stream.

As the day drew to a close, the children and their parents were gathered in the conference room, and Evelyn Alvarez, Southern Region ROM, presented each of them with a certificate of appreciation, thanking them for coming and spending a wonderful day with their parents and the agency staff. It was a winning experience for the staff, the parents, and especially the kids.

Take Our Daughters to Work Day was created in New York in the summer of 1992 by the Ms. Foundation for Women through efforts by its president, Marie C. Wilson, and treasurer, Ms. Daren Ball, with support from Ms. Foundation founder Gloria Steinem. The first celebration took place on April 22, 1993, and the holiday has since been celebrated on the fourth Thursday in April every year to allow the more than 37 million children, parents, and schools in over 3.5 million workplaces across the country, in addition to participants in over 200 countries around the world, to plan ahead for the annual event.

The program was officially expanded in 2003 to include boys, despite the fact that since the beginning, most companies participating in the program had permitted boys and girls to participate equally.


When the serious work began, the children got an up close and personal glimpse of what their mothers and fathers do every day.