Two days before the groundhog looked for its shadow, elementary teachers throughout the Wantagh School District had their own shadows. The annual event allowed high school students the opportunity to spend a few hours exploring the teaching profession.

This year, 41 students participated in Shadow Day, and were paired with teachers at Forest Lake, Mandalay and Wantagh elementary schools. It is always held on or around Groundhog’s Day and had been a tradition for more than a decade. Business education teacher Christine Compagnino, who organizes the event, said it is a great experience for students who want to work in child-centered professions.

“They get to see the behind the scenes of what teachers have to do,” she said. “They get a great experience. This is the beginning if they want to work with children.”

The tasks of the shadows were up to the participating teachers, and ranged from conducting read-alouds to helping with small-group instruction. High school students worked in a variety of spaces including grade-level classrooms and special-area classes like physical education and STEAM.

Ninth grader Michael Arteca spent the day in the classroom of his kindergarten teacher, Christina Basedow. He enjoyed returning to his roots at Wantagh Elementary School and said the classroom was almost exactly how he remembered it.

“I wanted to come back, see the old memories and see the new kids that are here,” he said, adding that he spent time playing with the kindergartners and helping them with math. Michael was also joined by his sister, Gianna, who participated in Shadow Day because she wants to be a teacher. 

That was also why junior Sabrina Asadurian was a shadow in Wantagh Elementary School’s physical education classes.

“I like working with kids,” she said. “Since I want to be a teacher, I can get the experience now to prepare me for the future.”

Senior Ava Tomeo said she has long considered being a teacher, and spending the day in Kaitlin Humphrey’s STEAM classroom validated that. Ava remembered Ms. Humphrey from elementary school and was glad to be paired with a familiar face.

“I thought this would be a good experience to learn how things work,” she said.