Source: Orlando Sentinel
Work may be a four-letter word to many adults, but to kids across Central Florida, going to work with Mom or Dad is a chance to check out the world of grown-ups — and sneak a peek at what their parents do all day long.
At Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control Unit, 850 kids went to work with their parents on Thursday in honor of the 18th annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
At Lockheed’s sprawling south Orlando site, the kids got to climb inside two helicopters, make rockets out of film canisters and Alka-Seltzer, and experiment with some high-tech robots built by Orlando high-school students.
Madison Callaway, 9, tried operating one of the robots, using a remote-control to drive it and drop a tennis ball into a bowl. Maneuvering the robot wasn’t as easy as it looked, Madison said. “It was hard to know which buttons to push,” she said.
In Central Florida, Lockheed puts on one of the biggest events for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, a national event originally created by the Ms. Foundation for Women, aimed at introducing girls into the work force.
Despite the recession, participation in the annual event has risen in the past two years.
“It’s the strangest thing,” said George McKecuen of the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation. “Because companies have not been doing bigger things like company picnics and holiday parties, they are doing the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work as a morale booster — because it is very inexpensive to do and families can participate.”
To read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-take-kids-to-work-day-20100422,0,4476063.story