What does an architect do?
What does an architect wear to work?
Those questions and more were pondered by children in the Warren County YMCA's Day Camp program last week.
According to YMCA Child Care Coordinator Kathy Lindsey, the YMCA celebrated its Leaders of Tomorrow Week by visiting local businesses and even having some business people visit the YMCA.
The children in grades first through sixth spent the week learning about technology from Steve French of Volt Vision, how radio stations work, what television stations do and what trucks at Crossett Trucking can haul.
"The focus of this was to show them what our community has," Lindsey said.
The three- and four-year-old group had separate activities that included a mock trial at the Warren County Courthouse and visits from the City of Warren Fire Department, Warren Police, a K-9 unit from the Warren County Sheriff's Department, an optometrist and a nurse.
"They got to see the fire truck and a fireman in full gear because that can be scary and it teaches to them to not be afraid if a fireman is in their house," she said.
On Friday, campers in grade three through sixth made their way to Inscale Architects P.C. where owners Donna and Jeff Zariczny talked about their profession.
"We design the stuff that gets built," Donna told the group as she show different types of drawings of the same building. She showed a floor plan, an elevation drawing and a three-dimensional sky view.
She asked the campers what type of clothing an architect would wear to work.
"Steel-toed boots," Maxx Davis answered in a questioning tone.
Donna said boots may be appropriate if the architect was visiting a construction site, but added that dress attire would be more appropriate if the architect was presenting designs to a client.
The Zaricznys planned activities for both the first- and second-grade group and the third- through sixth-grade group. The younger students had the opportunity to "build" a house out of a paper bag, while the older kids drew floor plans for a bedroom.
The floor plans varied from camper to camper. Some had decks while others were split into two sections. John Bortz drew a bowling alley in his room while Eli Punsky had more than one television.
"They were several people who took consideration for their pets today and I thought that was very nice," Donna told the campers.
The coordination between the YMCA and the businesses was aided by Heidi Powley, workforce development director for the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry.
"The YMCA day camp program is a great way to show kids all that is in their own backyard," Powley said. "In this week's case, we really wanted to show off local businesses and to give the business owners a chance to meet with the kids, show them what they do and most importantly to have them talk about soft skills or employability skills."
Soft skills include responsibility, reliability, timeliness, hygiene, proper grammar, working well under pressure, having a positive attitude and problem solving, she said.
"The school district does a great job at working those soft skills into the curriculum during school hours, but we thought this would be another great way to put it in front of the kids, especially if they see how it relates to a particular job," she added.