TJ students experience beautification in the Center for Communication Technology Magnet hallway as Photojournalism Teachers Jeff Coleman and 3-D Teacher Jerry Esparza garnish the walls with their students’ work.
Students gaze at the new gallery showcases of the CCT. Photo by Mateo Rocha
As the year winds down, TJ experiences more and more improvements, one of which is the new display of student work in the CCT hallway, including photographs, art, and even video production.
The hallway is now covered in framed photographs that students have created, printed and mounted for photojournalism and 3-D projects, as well as a 52” flat screen T.V. in the main display case, showcasing top notch video productions edited by students. “It’s cool seeing your photos up there and knowing that people are actually admiring your work,” said Senior Photo Student Molly Fitzgerald.
The idea to beautify the walls with photographs taken by TJ students was Assistant Principal Scott Lessard’s. “I was inspired to encourage CCT to look for other ways to promote the program after I visited a high school in San Diego, California with a similar display,” said Lessard, who was able to fill in for Principal Sandra Just and take the trip to High Tech High School to observe the school. “When I got to High Tech High I realized they had nothing on TJ; however, we were not doing a good job displaying our successes. Once I realized what was possible, it became my mission to have all the great things our students do displayed; not just in the CCT Magnet, but all over the school,” said Lessard, who says he already has Teachers Michael Palmieri and Scott Thomas on board to develop displays for their areas of the school, drama and science.
Presented with each photograph is the title, the photographer, his or her’s instructor, the current class the photographer is taking, and the assigned project for which the student had to take the photo.
For now, the art displays will just reside in the CCT hallway, however there are plans to expand the displays throughout the school. “We’re hoping the displays will raise expectations for students, teachers, and parents. I think it will produce a much better product and build an environment that inspires creativity,” said Lessard.
The photographs are displayed in beautiful wooden frames, made out of none other than TJ’s old bleachers that had been torn out of the gym during the summer. CCT Teacher Matt Spampinato, Lessard, and others took the wood to specifically save for other upcoming projects. “The process was quite lengthy; first we had to mill the wood to the proper thickness, then cut it to the right dimensions, then make the correct joints for connecting, assemble it, stain it and finally paint it. It was a labor of love, and really cool to be putting original wood back into the building,” said Spampinato.
The current photographs displayed are those of Photojournalism 2 students. “We’re going to start with displaying photos from my more advanced photo class, then we will start using those from Photo 1, as well. All of my students will get to display at least one photograph as we rotate them out,” said Photojournalism Teacher Jeff Coleman. The photography teacher hopes to be able to update the photo displays about once each month to promote as much student work as possible.
“There’s just something different and more appealing about seeing a physical piece of art, as opposed to a digital representation of that piece,” said Spampinato. “We thought that it would be nice to show more physical examples of the work kids produce in CCT.”
Future plans for displays in the CCT Magnet hallway include freshman graphic design work, robotics displays, and other representation of the dynamic media art that is produced throughout the program.
