Juliana Schafer graduated from Clayton High School in 2005, and now pursues a career in architecture. She works as a project architect at FGM Architecture, a company specializing in the development of school facilities for safety and improved learning.

“We have worked with Parkway Schools and the Northwest School District. We meet with the administrators and designers and plan facilities to improve their schools,” Schafer said. “It’s a combination of everything, and you get to use a lot of different skills.”

But Schaefer wasn’t always interested in the field. She attributes her passion for architecture to an experience she had at Clayton.

“The art classes taught me a lot and definitely prepared me well for my profession now,” she said. “There was also an opportunity where we got to shadow a profession we were interested in for a week, which really allowed me to become interested in architecture and art.” From there, other skills from her high school experience helped Schafer actually fulfill her dream of pursuing an architecture career.

“[Clayton] taught me work ethic and [the ability to] challenge myself,” Schafer said. “In order to pursue a license, you need to do a lot of studying and loads of work. CHS prepared me well for that.”

During her time at CHS, Schafer was also involved in tennis for all four years and soccer for three. With her developed interest for art and architecture, she also began to participate in the weekly art club meetings during her senior year.

Outside of her profession, CHS taught Schafer many values and morals. The importance of having an open mind, diversity and accepting others were just a few. “You have to serve everybody in a community in order to be successful.”