With an increased emphasis on career learning in K-5, the Consortium this year organized employer site visits for elementary students with community partners ranging from the Pittsburgh Opera and Urban Design Associates, to the Green Building Alliance, DMI Companies, and the Moonshot Museum/Astrobotic.
Clairton Elementary School Music Teacher Kevin Danchik called the visit to the Pittsburgh Opera “truly enriching.” Students in his elementary chorus had opportunities to “discover the possibilities of careers in the creative arts” as they met and talked with the opera’s Costume Director as well as a young Mezzo Soprano and pianist who performed together for them.
“I can’t even describe how excited elementary students are on these site visits,” said Partnerships Director Gina Barrett, who organized the events. “They’re so open to listening and learning about everything at their age. It’s really the perfect time to start sparking their interests in jobs people do that they may know nothing about.”
“The site visits also have been really engaging for students because our community partners have made them so interactive,” Barrett added.
At the Moonshot Museum, following an introductory video, for example, groups of South Allegheny Elementary School students crowded around several interactive stations, including a desk for creating messages to be taken into space when NASA launches Astrobotic’s Griffin One to carry a lunar landing vehicle to the moon later this year. Several girls drew unicorns because, of course “Everybody likes unicorns,” said one. Later, an Astrobotic representative answered questions about his company and the kinds of jobs there are in space technology.
At Urban Design Associates (UDA), students from East Allegheny School District’s Logan Elementary School tried their hands at reimagining PPG Place and Market Square and learned about jobs in urban planning. DMI helped students from Laurel Highlands School District learn about manufacturing jobs, and the Green Building Alliance hosted students from McKeesport Area School District’s Francis McClure Elementary School to learn about applying environmentally friendly materials and designs in construction.
In an email representative of others from teachers whose classes went on the site visits, South Allegheny Elementary’s Jen Rea said her students “had a spectacular time.” For more insight into the site experiences, take a minute to watch a video Rae shared, or page through a slide deck from UDA.
