The rain was coming down hard in the children's DVD section of Martin Library.

Of course, it was all in their heads. But these two young guys, their heads kept dry by the hoods of their sweatshirts, were trying desperately to break into the imaginary home they'd been locked out of.

The improv scene - very similar to the popular "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" television show - was a hit at the Youth Empowerment Summit's acting workshop Thursday.

With slightly more than an hour to teach acting skills to high-school students, instructor Shannon Hallisey focused on the art of spontaneity.

It's an important skill both on stage and off, she said.

"Something always happens," Hallisey, director of education at DreamWrights Youth and Family Theatre, told a couple dozen students. "In all kinds of jobs, you need to be able to improv quickly."

The Youth Empowerment Summit, an annual event, has evolved into a giant career fair, said Kevin Leitzel, youth services coordinator at Martin Library in York City.

"At the same time, it's also to build skill and allow kids the chance to learn about a fun recreational topic that they wouldn't otherwise learn about," he said.

How it works: Now in its sixth year, the summit is funded by the Harley-Davidson Foundation and organized by the library's teen advisory board. A dozen area school districts and the York Homeschool Association send high-school students each year.

The selected students are usually high-achievers, Leitzel said.

Each student gets to attend three workshops and to learn about volunteer opportunities during the lunch break. On Thursday, students chose from a list of workshops on a range of topics. A few examples on the menu included culinary arts, engineering, public speaking, graphic design, poetry and photography.

She's not 100 percent sure, but, Nikkia Paul said, she's leaning toward a military career after high school.

The junior at Eastern High School attended a workshop Thursday where she could ask questions about everything from basic training to college financial aid to retirement benefits.

"It made me lean more toward going into it," Paul, 17, said.

There wasn't a workshop specifically for sports broadcasting.

So Maitece King, 17, settled for a talk on sports medicine instead, even though "I don't like blood at all," he said, lightly chuckling.

The 17-year-old Eastern student said he'd like to be the person who announces play-by-play accounts of football, basketball - really, any sport - games.

Reaching that goal will probably take at least four years of college and maybe a journalism degree, according to the sports medicine instructor.

"Whatever it takes," King said.

- Reach Erin James at 505-5439 or ejames@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter @ydcity.