The Importance of Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day Partnerships

Monday, February 1, 2016

“When your Storytelling 101 class is taught by the Huffington Post, don’t be surprised if the topic of discussion in the school cafeteria is Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day.” –Carolyn McKecuen

Usual requirements for the classroom include pencils, paper and text books. On Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day (TODASTW), the classrooms require slightly different materials. Yoga mats, goggles, microphones and JavaScript programming tools are just a few of the necessities children will use on Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day, April 28. Large corporations like, AOL, tend to take this nationally recognized day pretty serious. In 2015, AOL partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to provide TODASTW Day to over 800 young people. During this event, children practiced yoga and meditation and even participated in a coding class taught by AOL Engineers. Children took on adult roles by moderating live interviews and even participated in tech workshops hosted by women’s leadership platform, MAKERS.

The activities that take place during some TODASTW Day events have the potential to make most adults envious. What’s even more awesome about this Day is that AOL not only invited the children of their employees, but also included youth in their local communities. We may not think about it daily, but there are children in our communities who may not have parents to take them to work on this special day. Luckily, there is a way to ensure that every child has an opportunity to become an engineer or talk show host for the day. The answer is simply: Partnership. Partnerships among school systems, parents, workplaces, mentors and the Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Foundation help to make TODASTW Day events epic.

Each fourth Thursday in April is recognized as the official Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day. We are expecting 40 million youth and adult participants in 2016. To ensure your child or workplace participates, be sure to do your part!

  • Contact your county school board to find out when they will be recognizing TODASTW Day
  • Find out if your workplace plans to participate and join the TODASTW Day Planning Committee
  • Connect your workplace with local youth empowerment groups in an effort to expand TODASTW Day events and include youth in the community who may not have parents to take them to work