Career Engagement: 5th Grade Hands-On Programming
In 2019 the School District of Lancaster reached out to my office at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design about providing career exploration experiences for their 5th graders. At the time I was was the Director of Admissions Marketing & Recruitment. I worked with our Dean of Students to assemble a collection of degree students, student life staff, and youth education staff to help deliver the programming.
Art is rarely completed as a solo project and I wanted students to understand all of the ways that creatives shape and touch things they interact with every day. To accomplish this I created a curriculum that took them through the process of creating their own cereal. They were charged with establishing the name, flavor, a mascot, and shapes. They then became “animators” who developed maquettes of their mascot, “graphic designers” that designed the cereal box fronts, “photographers and art directors” that ran a photo shoot, and “writers” that developed a commercial script.
Below are some photos, worksheets, and sample schedules of the events which have continued every year since.
