There seems to be a generational divide when it comes to the day referred to as “Take Your Kid To Work Day.”  I love that over the last few years it’s grown into a really important day that parents, schools, kids and employers take seriously.  I feel really sorry for the places of work that think it’s dumb or not important and don’t allow their employees to experience it in one way or another.

When I was a kid– it seemed like all the people I knew about in my town were office workers or something blue collar.  That offered perilously little information for an active imagination like mine to go on.  For the longest time I wanted to be a teacher, because in that narrow understanding, that’s the only job I could even begin to comprehend.

Flash forward a generation or two– and “Take Your Kid to Work” is a thriving day that I participate in as much as I can.  It’s so important to show our kids not just what we do all day, but to show them there’s a profession out there no matter what your skills are.   Last two years I have taken my nephew to PHL17 where I work and dozens of people I work with stop their day and show what they do.  My niece went with her grandmother and experienced the same thing.  One of my good friends took his kid on a police chopper. Another friend’s kid was an assistant principal for the day.  Lots of my other friends kids were teachers and nurses.  My old employer actually has a super-hero themed empowerment fair for Take Your Kid Day. — As much fun as all these kids have just to be around us and away from school, every one of these little minds is being expanded in ways ours might not have been when we were their age.  To me, that’s why this day is so, so important.

Thanks to all that took their kids today and special thanks to those at PHL17 and on Facebook that made Nick’s day even more special than I could have on my own.  Here is a taste of his day at WPHL.

First up, a video we shot together on the set and later edited.  It’s got a little Pg-13 moment in there, but if you know how much my nephew loves Back to the Future, you can easily excuse the ‘bleep.’

Here are some pics from the day.

And lastly, I let Nick try his hand at the Social Media part of my job and he did really, really great.  (Using some “nerd words” his post had 4x the “engagement’ of a normal post at that time.)  I’d like to thank those FB friends of mine that came in and participated in Nick’s first post.  Class Acts that totally “get it.”  Read the comments, they are hilarious and for us as a station, it’s some pretty adorable branding.