As part of the WashUCity Design Partnership, 19 University City High School students recently visited five creative firms in St. Louis to learn more about design-centric career paths.

The trip included stops at Momentum Worldwide, 2e Creative, Coolfire Media, Atomicdust, and TOKY Branding + Design. Principals and designers from each of the firms discussed various aspects of their daily work and creative process with students and gave a tour of their facilities. Lunch at Vito's Sicilian Pizzeria & Ristorante, funded by TALX Corporation, capped off the day. Photos from the field trip are featured below.

"Anna Shafer-Skelton, our lead Sam Fox School student mentor, suggested the field trip after she participated in the New York City Road Show that Jen Meyer from Career Services led at the beginning of the year," says senior lecturer Traci Moore Clay, co-founder of WashUCity with associate professor Heather Corcoran. "We felt that seeing the day-to-day life of designers and programmers in their environment would be inspiring and promote a future in the design field to our participating students. It was also a way to reach out to the design community for future connections with the WashUCity Partnership."

Created during the 2002-03 school year, WashUCity is a partnership between the Sam Fox School and University City High School that is focused on teaching high school students to use the principles of communication design to solve problems. The emphasis is on helping the students develop communications skills and explore areas of specialization suited to their particular interests and skills.

WashUCity students will also participate in a summer institute at the Sam Fox School June 11-15. To learn more about the program, click here or contact Moore Clay at info@washucity.org.

Students watch a presentation at Momentum Worldwide given by Scott Gericke, director of design and a former lecturer in the Sam Fox School.

Scott Gericke describes the work process at Momentum Worldwide.

At the conclusion of their tour of Momentum, students pose with Scott Gericke, their teachers (Todd Yancy and Marnie Claunch), and WU student mentors.

Anna Shafer-Skelton—a former WashUCity student, UCHS graduate, and 2012 Sam Fox School graduate—poses with Alex Winters, also a former WashUCity participant and UCHS graduate. Winters currently works at 2e Creative, one of the stops on the WashUCity field trip. Shafer-Skelton has been a primary mentor on the WU side of the program since entering the Communication Design major.

Designers at 2e Creative teach students about their work process and typical clients.

Students pose with Ross Toohey, principal of 2e, in the firm's offices.

Students are awed by the work done at Coolfire Media.

Students learn about sound work at Coolfire Media.

Students pose with two principals at Coolfire Media.

Students pose with Mike Spakowski, principal and creative director of Atomicdust.

Mary Thoelke, CFO and operations director of TOKY Branding + Design, explains the firm's process for creating award-winning work.

Students pose with Mary Thoelke in the TOKY offices.

After working up an appetite visiting firms, students enjoy lunch at Vito's.