Pens scratch against paper. Erasers take away the minute mistakes of earlier concepts. Characters are created from pixels, animated to create short films. Students and teachers collaborate in the classroom to soak up valuable information about the ever-growing art industry.

Over the summer, seniors Michael Williams and Maggie Frederick travelled 185 miles to Kansas City, Missouri where they participated in the Kansas City Art Institute pre-college program. The program was two weeks long and consisted of over nine hours of class time daily. Each student chose a respective concentration; Williams selected animation while Frederick picked illustration. 

Williams discovered the summer program through a meeting held in the Excellence Center last spring. He knew immediately that it was something he wanted to participate in.

“The fact that it was college credit, it gave you an extra $2,000 in scholarships to KCAI, and being able to go experience college life as a high school senior on your own for two weeks was a great learning and growing experience,” Williams said.

Right off the bat, the students were thrown into long days and tedious weekends, forcing them to flex the creative part of their brain 24/7.

“I had seven and a half hours of illustration-based classes during the day and workshops during the evening and weekends,” Frederick said. “Within my illustration classes I had perspective art, comic book art, and screenprinting art.” 

Even though the schedule was rigorous, Williams found a way to soak up as much information as possible. 

“I learned a lot about the fundamentals of animation and about human anatomy through live posing,” Williams said.

Frederick and Williams both really enjoyed their classes, but the highlight of their experiences was the friendships they created. 

“I met a lot of people as far away as southern Missouri and Arkansas and as close as Bellevue, Nebraska.” Williams said. “I made five solid friends and we’re currently all talking about making a TVpilot someday.”

“I enjoyed my experience very much; I learned a lot and I made some really great friends,” Frederick said. “It definitely improved my art skills, I began drawing a lot more once I came home too.”

The program ended with a showcase that displayed all of the students’ creations over the two weeks. It featured artwork from every concentration, and the students could invite anyone to come see their work.

For Frederick, leaving felt bittersweet, but instilled hope in her for the future.

 “It got me excited to do more art and just see what I can create,” Frederick said.