College holds its annual Creative Careers event with Lancaster 5th-graders

Don’t let anyone tell you that young kids aren’t interested in creative careers.

PCA&D’s annual events that introduce School District of Lancaster 5th-graders to the possibilities of what an art degree and life as an artist can be like are always a flurry of activity and excited chatter. This year, those two sessions were no different, even though they were held online instead of in person.

Literally hundreds of questions flooded the Q&A box last week during two Creative Careers events held by the Center for Creative Exploration during the school day. From “Do you ever second-guess your work?” to “What did you study in college?” to “How have you been able to work during Covid?” (and approximately 200 more), the questions ran the gamut for members of the PCA&D community who talked about their work in photography, animation, illustration, writing, gaming concept art, fine art, and public art.

“In elementary school our (college- and career-prep) goal is exposure,” says Jeremy Raff, SDoL’s Coordinator of College & Career Services. “We want students to know what careers are out there, and that college is an option for them. Partnerships like this help us accomplish both of those goals.

“We aim to provide one college visit to every 5th-grade student. This is the first districtwide panel we’ve organized for elementary school students;  we offered some for middle and high school during (pandemic) school closures.”

Our thanks to these members of the PCA&D and greater Lancaster arts community who gave of their time this month to meet virtually with SDoL 5th-graders and talk about the possibilities available to them in building careers out of their creative spark:

Tyler Barton, author and Program Coordinator at the Center for Creative Exploration;

Josh Graupera, artist, activist, and educator;

Phil Kieffer (PCA&D ’19, Digital Media), faculty member and freelance illustrator and animator;

Jennifer Kraft (PCA&D ’14, Illustration), freelance concept artist, illustrator, and CCE faculty member;

Osmyn Oree (PCA&D ’11, Photography), fine art photographer and PCA&D Admissions Counselor;

Leah Limpert Walt (PCA&D ’19, Fine Art), painter, sculptor, and CCE faculty member.