It was no ordinary workday at the Franklin Building. On April 26, Franklin’s hallways and conference rooms teemed with children clad in UC T-shirts and eager to catch a glimpse of what happens at UCOP.

More than 90 children learned more about where their parents work, what they do and the critical role that UCOP plays in serving the public, during the return of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

After a group breakfast in Franklin Lobby 1 in which President Janet Napolitano greeted staff and the children, Chief Operating Officer Rachael Nava kicked off the day’s activities with a warm welcome and encouraged the kids to ask as many questions as they wanted.

And they did. The children, ages 5 to 18, chimed in with plenty of questions throughout the day as they attended sessions led by UCOP staff volunteers on a range of topics.

A group of children learned how Institutional Research and Academic Planning (IRAP) uses data to convey the value and impact of UC to a wide audience, while in another conference room, second and third graders estimated the amount of added sugar in soda, fruit juice and other popular beverages.

Elsewhere, a room full of first graders were introduced to UC’s Lab Safety protocol, donning UC lab coats and protective goggles as they created “non-Newtonian” fluid, a liquid you can turn into a solid by tapping on it. The children mixed corn starch and water together, which acts like a liquid when stirred slowly but becomes hard when you tap it with your finger. The session was full of a lot of “eewww, it’s gross, it’s so slimy” and “it melts!”

Meanwhile, in a Diversity and Engagement session, children were asked “what does diversity mean?” Answers included “diversity means different things” and “it’s when people look and act differently, and say different things.” Each child then took a square of construction paper and created an exhibit of what was important to their families – from playing music to holiday traditions to other things that were traditions for their families. When the individual pieces of artwork were put together to form a “diversity quilt,” it showed how different we all are but how we still fit together.

Chief Building Engineer Matt Leet led groups of children on a tour of the Franklin Building, from its rooftop to its basement and to floors in between, including the president’s office.

RASC benefits analyst Angela Yip’s first-grader, who had asked about the event months before, was so excited on the day of the event that he chatted nonstop on the BART ride to UCOP.

“It was like going to Disneyland to him!” she said. April 26 “was a fun-filled day full of excitement, new experiences and fascinations. Among the many activities, he became a junior scientist with a lab coat and goggles, made slime, played bingo, went on a building tour and learned about recycling to help the planet. I asked him what he enjoyed about the day and he said, ‘everything!’ Kudos to the countless staff members and volunteers who worked hard to make this event such a huge success!”

The UCPath Center will host 70 children for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day on Wednesday, May 2. Organized by Cierra Covarrubias, Mindy Matthews and Mylo Stine, the day’s activities will include UC mascot bingo, call center role playing and an IT top secret tour.

Click through the photo slideshow above for a recap of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at UCOP. (Photos courtesy of event organizers and escorts, and the Link team.)

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2018 Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day organizers and volunteers

Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day at UCOP is made possible through the hard work and organization of these UCOP staff members:

Planning committee: Candace Jones, Barbara Heilmann, Emma Sebastian, Rebecca Stanek-Rykoff, Patricia Osorio-O’Dea, and Darin Jensen.

Event Services Group: Margie David, Berni Fitzsimmons, Barbara Heilmann, Beth Kellman, Paul Lechner and volunteer Joyce Price.

Escorts for the children: Sharon Adesokan, Paul Atwood, Ezra Babbitt, Nehemiah Babbitt, Tanita Benson, Mai Cao, Angela Cervantes, Jennifer Chin, Donna Collins, Bobby Cook, Kisha Cunningham, Sam Davis, Jaime Espinosa, Sally Gelini, Rhonda Goldstein, William Guinto, Laura Hardy, Erika Henderson, Kelly Howard, Sylvia Jiang, Candace Jones, Mike Kusiak, Rosario Mendoza, Cathy O’Sullivan, Margarita Parkin, Crystal Peters, Neil Ramos, Emma Sebastian, Rebecca Stanek-Rykoff, Sujit Thapa, Connie Tremblay, Amy Vrizuela, Sierra Warshawsky, Angelique Warren, Hubert Wong, Jasmine Ye, Angela Yip and Xiaohui Zheng.

Academic Personnel and Programs: Lisa Ha and Patricia Osoro-O’dea

Agriculture and National Resources: Danielle Lee and Lorrene Ritchie

Building Services: Matthew Leet and Roman Starno

Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB): Melissa Horst and Liz Texeira

Diversity and Engagement: Alexandra Lozanoff

Energy and Sustainability: Kiara Hermann

Engagement Employee and Diversity Group: Joanna Trammell

Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services: Sylvia Jiang and Brian Warshawsky

Event Services Group: Barbara Heilmann

Information Technology Services: Candace Jones

Institutional Research and Academic Planning: Darin Jensen and Charles Masten

Office of the Chief Investment Officer: David Dow and Philomel Pena

Retirement Administration Services Center: Myrna Davis and Steve Ong

Risk Services: Melissa Burley and Allison Hill

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