California's First Lady Sharon Davis Helps Launch Nation's Largest Groundhog Job Shadowing Day Los Angeles, California - First Lady Sharon Davis will officially launch the nation's largest Groundhog Job Shadowing Day kickoff on Friday, February 1, 2002. Reading to children at O'Melveny Elementary School, 728 Woodworth Street in San Fernando at 9:30 a.m., Davis's visit will be documented by student journalists.  The day-long event is sponsored, in part, by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. The Economic Alliance, in its on-going efforts to improve K-12 education across all five of the San Fernando Valley's public school districts, promotes strategic, business-education partnerships.  More than 100 Valley businesses and 15 Valley schools are participating in Friday's kickoff. In addition to Davis, the day's many events include a Technofest involving mobile trailers and more than twenty businesses, providing students with hands-on learning in areas as diverse as robotics, geography, and fire-fighting; Shadow Golf at the El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana for female high school students and San Fernando Valley business women; 'Gopher Lunch' with Nancy Daly Riordan and several top area female business leaders who will discuss high paying, non-traditional careers with students; and a Los Angeles Times tour for students from Valley photojournalism classes. Student reporters will also have the opportunity of interviewing the VIP's from each Groundhog event.  The day concludes with a reception at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC). Dr. Tyree Wieder, LAVC president, will introduce a surprise celebrity guest - a popular local radio disc jockey. Groundhog Job Shadowing Day is the start of a nation-wide, two-month long event in which businesses invest in students through mentoring. Students are encouraged to spend a day on the job with engineers, insurance agents, doctors, educators and hundreds of other professionals to obtain first-hand knowledge of the world of work.  In addition to the Economic Alliance, other key business sponsors are City of Hope, The Community College Foundation, The Hogan Foundation, Ladies Professional Golf Association, McDonalds Corporation Van Nuys - Store 2228, Small Manufacturing Association of California, Verizon, and Wells Fargo Bank. The education partners for this Valley-wide event are: Burbank Unified School District, Conejo Unified School District, Glendale Unified School District, Las Virgenes Unified School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, Santa Clarita William Hart School District, Simi Valley Unified School District, Glendale Community College, Mission Community College, Pierce Community College, Valley Community College, Los Angeles County Office of Education, Junior Achievement, Project GRAD-LA, LAUSD Partnership Office and UNITE-LA. Learn more:  Unite-LA Link