On Tuesday, September 24, the LA Galaxy hosted 17 well-deserving high school seniors from Centennial High School in Compton, California, for a job shadowing experience aimed to provide real-world work experience and career advice for post-graduation. The program was a collaboration between the LA Galaxy, Junior Achievement of Southern California, and Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). The program, called “Rompe Las Barreras” (“Breakthrough the Barriers”) is an initiative supported by SNHU during Latinx Heritage Month.
Centennial high school students arrived in the morning to Dignity Health Sports Park and enjoyed hearing from various LA Galaxy front office departments including Game Operations, LA Galaxy Foundation, Corporate Partnerships, Marketing, Communications, Ticketing, and Merchandising. The students then took a behind the scenes tour of the stadium, getting to visit the press box, field, tunnel, and Galaxy Garden.
Lunch was a highlight of the day for these 17 high school students. The group ate in the American Express Stadium Club while listening to LA Galaxy Club President, Chris Klein. Chris shared with the students his career path, offered advice, discussed the difficult role of overseeing a sports team, and fielded questions from the students.
The two main goals for the day were: (1) for students to understand all the jobs that make up a sports organization, and (2) for students to see different employee’s paths to their jobs.
This is one part of a larger partnership between The LA Galaxy Foundation, SNHU, and Junior Achievement of Southern California. Throughout the 2019-2020 school year, Junior Achievement will provide 100 seniors from Centennial High School with tools to navigate the college application process, provide information to explore careers in sports and other industries, give opportunities to apply to summer employment and teach students soft skills they need to get a job and keep a job.
Southern New Hampshire University is a private university in Manchester, New Hampshire. SNHU is a proud partner of the LA Galaxy and Major League Soccer. SNHU promotes higher education through year-long programming with local students, military members, MLS players & staff, and others.
The LA Galaxy Foundation (LAGF), the 501(C)(3) organization associated with the LA Galaxy, is dedicated to assisting the community in which the team lives, works and plays. Through soccer programming that promotes inclusion for all athletes, education opportunities, and a strong spirit of volunteerism, LAGF is proud to facilitate over 150 events annually and has donated over $5 million dollars to support the local Los Angeles community.
