At Burrowes Elementary School, fourth and fifth grade students recently spent the day exploring who they are now and who they are becoming.
This year’s Career Day was built around a theme that felt especially fitting, Building Your Brand. With the school recently renovated, the idea of construction was everywhere. But the message went beyond bricks and beams. Students were reminded that they are constructing something even more important every single day. Their reputation. Their character. Their work ethic. Their brand.
Community School Director Alex Rohrer explained that Career Day is an annual tradition designed to connect students with real professionals from their own community. This year, 15 community partners staffed 14 interactive stations throughout the building. The focus was on engagement.
Students stretched into yoga poses with a wellness professional. They collaborated to design their own town, thinking through infrastructure, community needs, and problem solving. They examined equipment, asked thoughtful questions, and listened closely as presenters shared how they got started in their fields. Every station invited participation. Every station encouraged curiosity.
School Counselor Lauren Clemens helped shape the vision behind the day. Leaning into the construction theme, she introduced students to the idea that their brand begins long before adulthood. Through mini lessons leading up to the event, she taught that attendance matters. Effort matters. Attitude matters. The way they treat others matters. Those daily choices lay the foundation for future opportunities.
Importantly, the presenters reflected Lancaster’s diversity and the wide range of pathways available after high school. Not every career requires a four-year degree. Some require technical training. Some grow from two-year programs. Some begin immediately after graduation. The goal was to show students careers that are both inspiring and attainable. Careers represented by people who live in their neighborhoods and genuinely love what they do.
When elementary students are asked what they want to be, the answers often follow a familiar script: doctor, lawyer, firefighter. Career Day expanded that list. It introduced professions students may not have considered and gave them the chance to see adults who look like them succeeding in meaningful roles across the community.
Among the presenters was Magistrate Judge Andy Lefever, “visiting the new and improved Burrowes Elementary School for Career Day was inspiring,” Lefever shared. “It’s always a little humbling trying to explain your job to fourth and fifth graders, but their curiosity and insight always surprises me. I hope the students walk away with a different, and hopefully positive, idea about what a judge does and the purpose of the courts.”
Throughout the day, students rotated from station to station, asking thoughtful questions, listening carefully, and imagining new possibilities for their futures.
Career Day at Burrowes Elementary directly reflects the School District of Lancaster’s commitment to expanding educational programs that offer students exposure to a wide range of skills and opportunities tailored to their diverse interests and talents. It also embodies our focus on Family and Community Engagement by strengthening partnerships between schools and local professionals who are invested in student success.
For Lauren Clemens, it remains her favorite day of the year. For students, it’s a day that stretches their thinking. And for the community partners who volunteer their time, it’ss a reminder that investing in young learners today strengthens Lancaster tomorrow.
At Burrowes Elementary, students aren’t waiting for the future to arrive. They are actively building it. For more photos, visit us on Facebook.