MADISON, Va. - Students in the 2022-2023 school year's seventh grade career investigations classes had the opportunity to connect with an expert graphic designer and creative director on their way to a design competition for the morning announcement show, "Wake Up Wetsel."

Teachers are facilitating a unique module for the marketing cluster in their career investigations courses, which focuses on leveraging creativity and business acumen to pursue a career in advertising, public relations, sales, merchandising or market research. Training in this career cluster prepares students to work on promotional campaigns, research market conditions and trends and develop new sales techniques.

To kick off the journey through this specific cluster, they hosted a virtual discussion with an expert.

Roman Shuman, Washington Commanders senior creative director, spoke virtually with students and answered questions about his career path, including his collegiate journey, internship and day-to-day work for a professional football organization.

As the students continued to develop their capacity and understanding of what works and doesn't work in terms of advertising and marketing, they then took part in a "real world" marketing competition. In teams, they were tasked with designing a logo to be used on the school's morning announcement show, "Wake Up Wetsel." The show is watched every morning and the winning logo will become the trademark symbol for the show for the remainder of the school year.