Jacks returns to South Fayette to promote RIASEC
Steve Jacks signs autographs for seventh-grade students in the South Fayette School District.
Steve Jacks poses with his former teacher, David Taylor. Taylor is the Media Arts class instructor in the South Fayette School District.
Some of the projects that Steve Jacks worked on as a video effects editor
Steve Jacks has had many achievements already in his career in film editing, including Emmys and Oscars.
Steve Jacks works at a computer during his South Fayette school days.
Steve Jacks speaks to the seventh-grade students at South Fayette Middle School.
Seventh-grade students from South Fayette Middle School pose for a photo with Steve Jacks after his recent presentation.
South Fayette alumnus Steve Jacks returned to his now very different stomping grounds to help introduce RIASEC to the seventh-grade class and discuss his career.
Jacks, who graduated from South Fayette in 2002, is a Visual Effects Editor working with companies like Lucas Films and Disney. His most recently completed projects include “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett,” and “Ahsoka.” He has also worked on major films such as “Deepwater Horizon” and “I, Tonya.”
The students were eager to hear about how his initial experiences with video production in David Taylor’s Media Arts class at South Fayette have grown into his career successes, which include being part of Emmy and Oscar-award winning editing teams.
Jacks shared his personal journey from high school, through college at Point Park University, to internships and taking any job opportunity he could get as long as it was part of the movie or TV industry. Jacks said he served as an accounting clerk for a TV show just to get his foot in the door.
Jack added that by being kind and helpful and by maintaining connections he was able to find work in New York City. Eventually, he moved to Los Angeles, where he has lived for the past five years.
“There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than what I’m doing right now,” Jacks said. He went on to explain, “All this time, I never really had a Plan B.”
Though the seventh-grade class is just beginning to explore career possibilities, Jacks encouraged them to think about what they love to learn and do, and try to find ways to get involved in that field as early as possible.
He shared that in high school and college he worked at a local movie theater, seeing 80 films in one year, and at a Blockbuster Video store just to be part of the movie industry.
Jacks also recalled that after viewing some of the videos, complete with special effects, that he made in high school, Taylor told him to “go to California and never come back” – words that have motivated him throughout his career.
After Jacks’ presentation, the students returned to the classroom to begin exploration of RIASEC, an acronym for six personality types that can help students gain a better understanding of their own work style preferences, strengths, and interests, and ultimately determine the career fields for which they may be best suited.
Standing for Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional, students take a short assessment which helps to identify their top three most aligned letters of RIASEC, understanding that there is potential for these letters to change over time.
Through this rich and diverse program, students will continue to be exposed to a variety of careers and learning experiences that represent the different characteristics of RIASEC with the intent that this personal understanding will guide them in making the most informed decisions about their future upon graduation from the district.