As a mom, I was really excited that Silverline was participating in Take Your Kids to Work Day 2016. I was even more excited that it aligned to my daughter’s spring break this year and she would have something fun and educational to do on April 28th.
The day started with breakfast in the office and the children interviewed their chaperones about working at Silverline. It spurred some great conversations about what, as parents, we wanted to be when we grew up, and how our career paths led us to Silverline. Katrina Lent, Silverline’s Operations Manager, led a discussion on what to expect for the day and how it aligned to Silverline’s core values. It was fun to hear some of the younger kids explain what their parents do: “my Dad works on computers,” “my Mom does Salesforce,” cloud technology is definitely tougher to understand than more visible professions like police officers, doctors, or firefighters.
Silverline uses a robot for remote employees to participate in “face-to-face” meetings, and the kids were more than happy to drive the robot around the office, or for some, to chase it around the office. Silverline offers employees twice weekly yoga classes in our office, so it was only natural to have an instructor come teach the kids yoga as a way to burn off some of their extra energy. All 20 kids participated and learned how to hold poses, connect with their breath, and why exercise is so important.
After a group lunch all the kids decorated “sweet cases” for children in foster care. Did you know that when most children enter into foster care they receive two trash bags? Together We Rise is a non-profit organization comprised of motivated young adults and former foster youth who are trying to change this. TWR works with hundreds of foster agencies, social workers, CASA advocates, and other partners to provide thousands of foster youth across the country with new bicycles, college supplies, and suitcases so that children do not have to travel from home to home with their belongings in a trash bag. The sweet cases are Duffel Bags that include a pillow pet, Hygiene Kit, Blanket, Coloring Books, Crayons, and other items to help ease the transition into foster care. Silverline is a proud supporter of the pledge 1% movement and we donated our bags to a local organization, Graham Windham.
Everyone involved had a really great day! There are lots of jokes that take your kids to work day is also national work from home day, and yes it is disruptive to an office to have 20+ kids there throughout the day. I am so proud to work for Silverline where not only were our children welcome, but our operations team created an amazing program for them all.
Our kids admire and look up to us, and taking at least this one day a year to allow them to see their moms and dads doing something they are proud of, I think, can make a big difference in the health of families and companies alike. Plus we had a lot of fun 🙂
Me and my daughter Summer during Take Your Kids to Work Day 2016
All photos taken by Silverline’s own Jonathan Snyder.