success_richard_hannafordRichard, a senior at Oak Hill High School, received school services from WOU, that included Customized Career Planning, resume, applications and interview preparation, job shadows, job assessment and job placement. When Richard’s Career Resource Specialist completed a Customized Career Plan with him, he told WOU that he wanted to be a “weather man”, he also said his number one interest is meteorology. When WOU staff met with his parents, they told us that Richard has been interested in weather since he was a little boy, and his dream has always been to meet a meteorologist and see how they do their job. Richard was also currently working on a senior project that had to be completed as part of his high school gradation requirements, and of course, the topic he chose to do his presentation on was meteorology. Another school service WOU provided Richard was to develop several job shadows so he may learn about different careers. WOU really wanted to help this young man achieve his dream of shadowing a meteorologist, so we researched this possibility. WOU contacted Channel 6 News in Portland, and they agreed to make this happen for him. During his job shadow, Richard met Kelly, one of their seasoned Meteorologists, and she took him behind the scenes, showing him all the equipment the weather team uses, and she also explained how the weather report is put together and presented. Kelly also provided Richard a lot of good information he could use for his senior project on meteorology, including an autographed picture. After the tour of the news station, Richard was a guest of the studio, where he got to watch Kelly deliver the weather report live on the air. After the news aired, Richard was allowed to sit at the weather desk and try his hand at delivering the weather, and then they showed Richard the television screen so he could see himself doing the weather. This job shadow was a great experience for Richard, and it not only helped him achieve his dream, WOU’s services increased his confidence in himself. Richard went on to do other job shadows, create a resume and learn interviewing skills, and was hired in his first ever paid job as a Front End Associate at Hannaford Supermarket.