Joe Guillemette knows he wants to be an artist. The medium, however, he’s not so sure about.

But after spending Monday afternoon with Nathan Craven, a ceramic artist at the Archie Bray Foundation, Guillemette knows more about what his professional life would look like if that was his chosen aspect of artistry.

Guillemette, 16, was one of 45 students from the Project for Alternative Learning who spent part of Monday gaining some real-life experience by job shadowing professionals at businesses around Helena.

Marie Rauch, a teacher at PAL, organized the day for the students.

“It’s just a real-life setting that our kids can put their finger on,” she said. “As high school students they get suggestions about things to be working on if they want to go into that field. It’s a touchable kind of knowledge they can run with.”

Guillemette said he’s always enjoyed drawing, but isn’t sure that’s his forte.

“Making actual (three-dimensional) shapes is better,” the junior said.

He helped Craven mix glazes and make clay extrusions. He also spent time learning about the clay business, toured the grounds and visited the on-site gallery.

Craven didn’t seem to mind being shadowed for the morning and was happy telling a young person about the ceramics process.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else every day for the rest of my life beside ceramics,” Craven said.

The students’ interests varied, as did the participating businesses.

Some students worked with professionals at St. Peter’s Hospital, many worked with teachers and administrators throughout Helena schools, and others worked at construction companies and restaurants.

Owen Gunderson, a senior at PAL, spent time at the Commissioner of Higher Education office.

Gunderson knew before the job shadowing experience that he was interested in computers, but unsure about a specific area.

After the experience, he confidently said he’s going into Web design.

“It interests me because it has a huge variety,” Gunderson said. “There’s much you can gain from it and so much you can do with it.”

A grant from the Helena Education Foundation provided polo T-shirts for all the students, which the school is keeping for future job shadowing days.

Rauch said the money paid for the shirts with the PAL logo.

“They don’t have to worry about fitting in to the job culture because they have a nice shirt,” she said. “It helps build their confidence.”

Don Wood-Foucar, principal at PAL, said the experience is a bit like a short internship.

“For me it’s really to try to create something for young people to aspire to and create relevance for their educations,” he said. “It gives them the opportunity to explore something they are interested in and find out whether they really want to do that or not.”

Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com