PITTSBURGH — The Fred Rogers Scholars at Saint Vincent College can be chosen from any major, but they have two things in common:

—They are interested in pursuing careers that serve children.

—They look good in red cardigans.

As they do each year, the group is putting on a month-long exhibition at the Latrobe Art Center. This year’s free, public edition, entitled “Puppets, Puppets Everywhere: The Evolution of Fred Rogers’ Television Career,” opens Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.

The exhibit focuses on Rogers’ start in television on the WQED-TV children’s show “The Children’s Corner,” and his use of puppetry to encourage communication and creativity in children as he became famous on his iconic show, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Twenty Fred Rogers Scholars worked in two teams to choose artifacts to display and develop the exhibit’s narrative touching on those topics. Fred Rogers Institute senior archivist Emily Uhrin selected a number of artifacts to share with students as they created an exhibit that has a way of teaching both those who created it and those who see it.

“I have learned to connect a variety of artifacts across several mediums in a way that tells a meaningful story,” said freshman history major Nora Kudis of Clairton. “While at first glance they may seem to have little connection other than their relation to Fred Rogers, it is much deeper. The exhibit can teach others what Fred's goal was with his puppets: to give children a way of exploring their emotions and interacting with the world around them.”

Kudis plans to become a secondary teacher, and several of the Scholars are pursuing careers in education. But there’s a range of majors involved in this extracurricular activity.

Junior Nick Gasper, 21, of Bethel Park, who has been a Fred Rogers Scholar since he started, is a business data analytics major.

He’s too young to know Rogers from watching him on TV — for him, it would have been spinoffs such as “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” — but he’s come to appreciate what he represents, which includes creating community. And that’s something he believes applies in his career field, too.

Gasper likes being part of the Scholars because he enjoys its sense of community and its undertaking of service projects such as collecting supplies for babies and raking leaves for seniors.

“To be kind. I know it’s simple, but that’s my main thing,” he says.

This week, he’ll be helping the Scholars man informational tables on campus during “Fred Forever Week,” and he’ll be present at Saturday’s opening.

For the exhibit, he researched a photo of “Mister Rogers” character Lady Aberlin (Betty Aberlin) with puppet Lady Elaine.

Hope Farley, a senior marketing major from St. Marys who leads the “Children’s Corner” group, and fellow team leader Rachel Zgurich, a junior early childhood education major from Pittsburgh, will offer their respective group’s findings and answer questions about the overall process on Saturday.

The Fred Rogers Scholars will also host hands-on activities related to the exhibition, including Daniel Tiger mask and puppet-making activities for children and their families.

The event is produced in cooperation with the Be My Neighbor Committee, which includes the college, the city and school district, Independence Health System, the Latrobe Community Revitalization Program and the Latrobe Foundation. And it’s all backed by a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Sarah Goehring, the director of programs for the college’s Fred Rogers Institute, says the 32 scholars “connect their particular field of study with the work of Fred Rogers to develop specialized knowledge in how Fred’s legacy integrates with their future career paths and extend Fred’s practice and principles in a variety of professions.”

The Scholars each get a red cardigan like the ones Rogers wore on TV to wear and to keep. But there are other takeaways.

“As a marketing major, it can be easy to become engulfed in the rigidness of corporate thinking, but within the Scholars program I have a creative outlet that teaches and encourages meaningful engagement with audiences,” Farley says. “It emphasizes not simply transactional or business-minded engagement, but true compassion for different audiences and understanding how messages and media influence people.”

While this exhibition is mostly comprised of images and words, some of the items required special permission from Fred Rogers Productions to be displayed. If you go to Latrobe to get your “Mister Rogers’” on during weekday business hours, be sure to also visit the institute’s standing exhibit, which features original cardigans, puppets and more.

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