DEARBORN – Their parents work with colleagues across the globe, and finally it was the kids turn to learn about life in other countries.
It was part of the annual Take Your Child to Work Day experience in Ford Export and Growth (E&G), which provides support to dealers and distributors in the Middle East, Caribbean and Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific.
Don Conroy, director of E&G’s Ford Customer Service Division, welcomed the 110 kids participating and explained how schoolwork, particularly math and geography, turned out to be useful skills for their parents to know and will carry through to their jobs as well.
The day featured several learning centers, with the Coins and Stamps of E&G session giving kids the chance to handle money and stamps used around the world. Another session provided them with an up-close look at some of the vehicles sold in E&G markets – the Lincoln MKZ, the Shelby GT500 and the Ford Fusion Hybrid, F-250, the Thailand-produced Ranger and the Escape.
The Escape was also the focus of one of the crafts, with kids making a model version of the SUV that they could take home with them.
Janet Dutkewych and Rhonda Yoder, both product marketing analysts, chaired Take Your Kids to Work Day for E&G and organized the day’s activities, adding in public service and health components. They invited Dearborn Fire Captain Steve Worden, who arrived on a fire truck with three other firefighters. The four gave the kids an inside look into being a firefighter, including what it’s like to live at a fire station and to have to be ready to go as soon as a call comes in.
Worden offered fire safety tips, including the importance of smoke detectors and of having an escape plan, but also discussed the physical demands of being a firefighter and the importance of staying in shape. The kids were able to use the fire hose, which gave them a sense of the strength needed to operate it. They also learned about having to be able to run upstairs while carrying heavy equipment and having to carry children and adults out of their homes. Worden told them that firefighters who are in shape can stay in buildings longer than those who aren’t because the oxygen in their tanks lasts longer.
Worden’s physical fitness discussion provided a natural tie-in with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the beneficiary of the day’s public service component. A raffle raised $180 for the organization, while an ice cream social raised another $241.
In addition to the model Escape and coins, the kids were given a Ford gift bag to take home that included a full-size football and a water bottle, gliders they can assemble and, in keeping with Ford’s global footprint, bookmarks and flags from around the world.