RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - Schools and businesses across North Carolina are partnering for the job-shadowing initiative known as Students@Work Week, with the goal of connecting students to the real-world application of what they're learning in school.

More than 22,000 middle school students will participate in the effort to help keep them in school and guide them toward careers.

"The Students@Work initiative focuses its efforts on middle school students because middle school is a crucial time for dropout prevention. We need our middle school students to be exposed to as many career possibilities as they can be at this point in their lives,” said Gov. Pat McCrory in a statement.

Through North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI), more than 100 businesses will provide job shadowing or job mentoring opportunities in fields ranging from finance, health care, hospitality, pharmaceuticals and technology, to energy production, the legal system, education and manufacturing.