A second week of Pre-College Programs, providing an absorbing midmonth bill of fare, winningly delivered eight more options for teenagers looking for purposeful summer diversion. Attracting both the well-traveled and the close-to-home, the latest Penn College sessions covered a range of career-focused opportunity: Automotive Restoration; Design, Build & Grow (landscape and horticulture); Diesel Truck & Heavy Equipment; Fundamentals of Emergency Response; Graphic Design Summer Studio; the first-time offerings of Have Your Cake & Decorate It, Too and Non-Destructive Testing; and Thingamajig Fabricators. This photo gallery provides a sampling of the visitors’ enlightening encounters with their potential futures, with a slightly heavier dose of the inaugural cake-decorating camp … because who doesn’t want an extra helping of cake? (Readers can also relive the first round of Pre-College Programs, published elsewhere on PCToday.)

– Photos by Jennifer A. Cline, writer/magazine editor; Larry D. Kauffman, digital publishing specialist/photographer; Cindy Davis Meixel, writer/photo editor; Tom Wilson, writer/editor-PCToday; and faculty/staff from the Schneebeli Earth Science Center

Collision repair instructor Roy H. Klinger (right) helps a camper replicate the detail-oriented world of automotive restoration.

Concentration is but one of the essential tools in a spacious, well-equipped instructional lab.

College Avenue Labs provides plenty of room for career exploration.

Automotive instructor Eric D. Pruden (center) provides individualized attention as a hands-on project takes shape.

Taking time for finishing touches

Justin Shelinski, horticulture instructor and business owner, explains the basics of hardscaping ...

... before turning his students loose on a backyard creation.

Learning the fundamentals of safe equipment operation

Aboard a utility tractor, a camper signals "all is well."

Carl J. Bower Jr., assistant professor of horticulture, assists a tree-climbing exercise ...

... that continued when Shelinski safely reached his leafy "branch office."

A girl uses foot power to enhance her carabinered rise up the tree trunk.

A horticulture camper, whose ESC visit coincided with his family's move from Cuba to Carlisle, finds the experience to his liking.

Karen R. Ruhl, a florist and part-time member of the college's horticulture faculty, introduces the building blocks ...

... through which participants would express their unique artistry.

Self-confidence and satisfaction in full bloom!

Joseph C. Straw, assistant professor of diesel equipment technology, draws upon more than 20 years of teaching (and substantial experience in the heavy equipment industry) in explaining a variety of hydraulic couplings.

The faculty member then turned the tables, inviting a participant to lead the class in a recitation of what he learned.

Chris S. Weaver, assistant professor of diesel equipment technology, delivers an up-close primer on torque, speed and the inner workings of gears.

During an electrical safety session, diesel equipment technology instructor Bill J. Bashista Jr. discusses precautions when working with automotive batteries ...

... and displays the aftermath of an acid-spewing explosion.

A camper signals his thumbs-up after successfully piloting a Caterpillar excavator.

The 125-acre operations site south of Allenwood lends ample elbow room to a fleet of equipment, representing several of the college's corporate partners.

Safety first, with vests and hard hats!

Participants in Fundamentals of Emergency Response practice applying tourniquets to each other as part of “stop the bleed” training.

A boy follows the easy-to-recall rule of thumb to using tourniquets: Place it “high and tight.” (Although, in this simulation, tourniquets were applied much more loosely.)

Katie Kieser, a 2018 grad of the college’s paramedic program now employed as a paramedic by Susquehanna Regional Emergency Medical Services, guides participants through packing a wound with combat gauze – a technique used when a cut is not on a limb and won’t benefit from a tourniquet.

With encouragement from Kathy Kling, ’15, who, along with Kieser, is a Susquehanna Regional EMS paramedic, a participant packs gauze into a manikin’s “gunshot wound.” Both Kling and Kieser are also part-time noncredit instructors at Penn College.

A participant practices a life-saving “stop the bleed” measure.

The Graphic Design Summer Studio offers ample opportunity to reflect ...

... and explore the creative career field.

Escaping summer heat in the cool creative space of a graphic design computer lab with instruction led by college faculty Kathryn M. Anderson (facing class) and Mark W. Wilson (standing in background at right).

Student assistant Alexis M. Burrell, a graphic design senior from Danville, lines up completed work for an end-of-program exhibit. The studio assignment challenged students to create a logo and label for a flavorful LiveWire Energy drink, printed and mounted to black presentation board.

Making friends is another outcome – beyond the new skills that empower futures.

Program participants delight in each other’s creative designs.

Graphic design instructor Nicholas L. Stephenson (facing the crowd at left in blue shirt) shares praise for the novice designers with their families and friends at the final exhibit.

Adding gum paste flowers to a fondant-covered creation.

Participants’ impressive first cakes, decorated in buttercream frosting.

Among cake creations: Carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting …

Chef Todd M. Keeley, assistant professor of baking and pastry arts/culinary arts, offers guidance for placing delicate gum paste flowers.

Putting the finishing touches on a chocolate-lover’s dream: Piped chocolate decorations atop a rich, chocolate ganache-covered chocolate cake.

A participant makes a final adjustment to one of the six cakes produced during the four-day camp.

Putting everything in its place for a final display for families.

A first-time cake decorator’s impressive gum paste cake topper.

Capturing the photo-worthy edible artwork.

Families fill the baking lab to pick up their teenage cake stars – and their stunning work.

Students learn about magnetic particle testing and inspection with the assistance of Mark N. Hurd (third from right), instructor of non-destructive testing and welding.

Getting hands-on with an electromagnetic yoke

A non-destructive testing “camper” engages in calibrating ultrasonic equipment ...

... as instructor Michael J. Nau (far left) and Hurd (background center) offer guidance in a dedicated lab within the college’s expansive welding facility.

Mark A. Sneidman, instructor of plastics technology, leads a Thingamajig group through the Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence.

Michael R. Allen, whose two Penn College degrees and industrial experience led him to a full-time position as a welding instructor, shares his know-how in the Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center.

Learning travels full-circle, as items designed in a CAD lab earlier in the week are fabricated in the welding lab.

Newswatch 16 reporter Chris Keating and videographer Tom Durant record an interview with a rising ninth grader in the welding lab.

Busy hands in "Pipe Alley"

Seemingly lined up for review, toolboxes pass muster during inspection.

A trilogy of takeaways crafted by Thingamajig participants – a toolbox, a machinist's hammer and a nail punch – are admired during the week-ending showcase.

A family talks with Howard W. Troup (right), assistant professor of automated manufacturing/machine tool technology.

Kathy D. Chesmel (left), assistant dean of materials science and engineering technologies, shares her STEM passion with the day's guests.

One College Avenue Williamsport, PA 17701