More than 400 young people gain a closer glimpse of Temple and their parents’ workplace during Bring Your Child to Work Day, which was held Thursday, April 23.
Jonathan Reiter, vice president for business affairs and administration, helped coordinate activities for Bring Your Child to Work Day. He also took time to enjoy the day as a Temple parent, as well.
Photo by Betsy Manning
“It’s not a rock! It’s a diamond!” yelled Nora DuBoff excitedly just after she had cracked open a circular, stone-like object with the help of a hammer. The 6-year-old proceeded to show the object to her mother, Temple University employee Katie DuBoff, before receiving what was likely her first lesson in geology.
“It’s a geode,” Ventsi Ivanoff said with a smile. “We do not have precious metals here, nothing valuable.”
A data analyst at Temple’s College of Science and Technology (CST), Ivanoff was facilitating a science activity as part of Temple’s Bring Your Child to Work Day, where attendees had the chance to crack open an amethyst geode. In total, more than 400 young people attended the event, which was held on Thursday, April 23.
Throughout the course of the day, attendees took part in a variety of educational activities and received a closer look at their parents, grandparents or close relatives’ workplace while also gaining a broader understanding of the university and its operations.
“This is now the second year in a row that we have hosted Bring Your Child to Work Day activities here at Temple, and it’s already grown into one of my favorite days of our calendar year,” said Jonathan Reiter, vice president for business affairs and administration. “My own children have a great deal of Temple pride, and that is part of what we hope to build through a day like this. It is just a great way for our employees and their families to build a stronger connection to Temple, and a fun opportunity to be with our colleagues not just in their roles as Temple employees, but also as parents.
“Beyond that, it is also important for young people to be introduced to institutions of higher education like Temple,” added Reiter, whose office planned and coordinated the day’s festivities. “On days like this, these young people start to see themselves here at Temple, and they are then more likely to eventually become future Owls.”
Last year marked the first time that Temple hosted activities for Bring Your Child to Work Day, and the response from attendees has grown considerably from year one to year two; total registration among employees’ children jumped by more than 100 from 2025 to 2026.
Geodes were just one of the topics that young people explored throughout the day as CST hosted several other science activities. For instance, attendees had the chance to maneuver app-controlled robots, and they got to design T-shirts that paid homage to several iconic scientists.
“I’ll take that one there, the one with the woman and the monkey together,” one attendee said as she grabbed a shirt that featured Jane Goodall and the groundbreaking work she had done around primate ethology.
In addition to the science activities, attendees also took part in a photographic scavenger hunt to capture images of some of the university’s well-known landmarks. And, of course, no Bring Your Child to Work Day would be complete with an appearance by Hooter the Owl. The day’s festivities kicked off with a fair in the Aramark STAR (Student Training and Recreation) Complex where guests could participate in football, basketball, arts and crafts, and enjoy a photo opportunity with Hooter. The day ended with a pep rally at the campus store where the children also received prizes for participating in the scavenger hunt.
“It is wonderful to host this event each year,” Reiter said. “We have seen tremendous growth from year one to year two, and I am excited to see this event continue to grow when it returns next year.”
