CTE Showcase

This year Palm Springs Unified School District hosted a CTE showcase and our students took first place with their integrated project that focused on creating awareness about addictions that affect teenagers. This year’s showcase was an outstanding highlight of all nine academies in the district.  It is a great honor to be chosen and to represent our school with pride.

 

Short Fest

This year seems to be full of a lot of firsts.  For the first time, DATA hosted Short Fest which is a film festival comprised of short films created by students in film school or professionals.  This Festival creates an opportunity for students to be exposed to unique and dynamic films, as well as start a dialogue with the filmmakers after the films are shown.  This event was truly an enriching, inspiring opportunity for our academy.  We are looking forward to hosting this again next year.

 

SkillsUSA State Competition

This year at SkillsUSA state competition history was made.  For the first time, DATA students took first place in Game Design and, they took second place in Digital Cinema. Altogether, DATA brought over 60 students and took home over a dozen medals.  Now the students that won Gold are preparing for their national competition which will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. We wish them the best of luck and will keep you posted on their progress.

 

KMIR

On Friday, March 24th, students at DATA had the opportunity to go to KMIR Studios and had a wonderful time learning about the studio and job opportunities.  The students were given the chance to have some airtime and they were pretty excited about that!    

 

Accepted into California Institute of the Arts

Jennifer Reynoso just learned that she got accepted into California Institute of the Arts (Calarts) in the Film/video program.  Jennifer was able to participate in Calarts summer program, CSSSA.  Through her experience she realized that Calarts was the school for her.  She later put together a portfolio and artist statement that were strong enough to get accepted.  This school was her first choice and she is very excited to attend in September.  Calarts is a small art community of about 1,400 students in Valencia, California.  Calarts is known for its innovative approach to arts education in 6 disciplines:  Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater.

Skills USA Regional competition (Region 6).

This past weekend, January 28th, DATA students had the opportunity to compete at the Skills USA  Regional competition (Region 6).  Over the past five years, Region 6 has doubled in competitors and now has over a thousand students competing in competitions.  Even with this new growth, Cathedral City High School DATA students were able to bring home 24 medals.  A total of 57 students will be moving on to the state competition.  This does not include the upcoming Skills USA Leadership Conference.

 

A few highlights from our successful Skills USA competition

Jebari Wooten and Manuel Aramburo are Juniors in the DATA Academy and have participated in Skills USA and competed in Digital Cinema Production for the past two years.  This year their film, “Metathisophobia,” took second place and they will be moving on to the state competition in April. Jose Aguirre and Marcos Correa, Seniors in the DATA Academy, also competed in the Digital Cinema Production contest and placed third for their film, “What’s Your Name?”  They will be moving on to the state competition as well.  Sedona Cruz and Alexandra Magnusson are Freshman in the DATA Academy and competed in the TV Video Production competition and they, too, will be moving on to the state competition

Below are two of the award-winning films

 

 

Palm Springs International Film Festival for Student Day

On January 9th we took 200 excited students to the Palm Springs International Film Festival for Student Day.  We saw two amazing films, “The Eagle Huntress,” directed by Otto Bell and, “A Man Called Ove.” Students even got to meet the Director of “A Man Called Ove,” Hannes Holm, and ask him questions.  Between the films, students were served a nice lunch.  Students were extremely captivated and moved by both films.  The energy enjoyed by the students at the film festival resounded for days.  



 

CC Public Arts Commission Hosts DATA Awards

On Saturday May 14th, the Cathedral City Public Arts Commision held the Third Annual DATA Visual Arts Awards at the Mary Pickford Theatre. The event showcased student photos and films, with the top 3 in each category taking home cash prizes!

Film
1st Place: Gone Mad, created by Jose Aguirre and Marcos Correa
2nd Place: River's Diary, created by River Gibbs
3rd Place: To My Love, created by Jessica Ramos and Norma Vazquez

Photo
1st Place: Manuel Perla
2nd Place: Jessica Carillo
3rd Place: Guadalupe Cortez

All of the student projects can be viewed in their entirety at discovercathedralcity.com 

Thank you to Alan Carvalho and the Cathedral City Public Arts Commission for your generous support of our program.

Digicom Film Festival

Once again, DATA students earned major recognition at the annual Digicom Film Festival. In addition to having work showcased at the Palm Springs Convention Center on May 3rd, DATA seniors took home scholarships and cash awards. 

Congratulations to the following students who received Digicom Scholarships:

Antonio Arce - $1,000
Rio Chacon - $1,000
Simi Chacon - $1,000
Jonas Englemann - $1,000
Jordan Lazalde - $1,000
Camille Manalato - $1,000
Erik Medina - $3,000
Ambriel Styve-Hector - $2,000
Josue Valle - $1,000
Jadin Wash - $1,000

And congratulations to the following students who received cash awards:

Julia Angulo
Marissa Cruz
Adrian Hernandez
Diana Mejia
Janet Mosqueda
Manuel Perla
Darric Wilson

In total, Cathedral City High School students took home more than $15,000 in scholarships and awards. We'd like to offer a sincere thank you to the Digicom team for their continued kindness and support. 

Based on the overwhelming number of narratives submitted from PSUSD high schools, Digicom announced the Digicom X High School Film Festival, a new festival aimed specifically at narrative films created by high school students. Digicom X will take place at the Camelot Theatre in Palm Springs in June, where students will have their films shown on the big screen.

DATA Studio Day

On April 18th, DATA students were given the opportunity to participate in a live multi-camera studio broadcast workshop hosted by Leanna Bonamici and CV Studios. 

Bonamici and her professional production crew transformed an empty room on cmapus into a working studio, complete with everything from sets and lights to switchers and intercoms. Over the course of 2 workshop sessions, students were trained in specific production areas, including directing, audio, camera, floor directing, set managing, switching, and more. 

After a few practice run throughs, students filmed a short talk show format interview, live to tape with no post production– students had to work collaboratively to call shots, meet timing cues, and produce a well-run show. 

Students were then able to switch positions and gain hands on experience in another production role. All students were treated as working professionals– they were held to the same standards and expectations that would be found on a job site. 

Thank you very much to Leanna Bonamici and CV Studios for helping to orchestrate an awesome experience!

DATA at Youth Town Hall 2016

March 24th marked the final event in the 2016 Desert Town Hall Speaker Series. For the third consecutive year, DATA DS students were charged with the responsibility of archiving the Youth Town Hall portion of the program at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort in Indian Wells. The four speaking engagements took place on separate evenings from January through March. 

Prior to the main event each night, speakers attend a Youth Town Hall forum with more than 100 total students from all high schools in the Coachella Valley. Students in attendance are given the chance to ask questions directly to the speakers and gain insight into the unique experiences and knowledge of each speaker. 

DATA Junior Jennifer Reynoso operates the main camera for David Petraeus' Youth Town Hall. 

In addition to attending each event, DATA DS students film and edit the Youth Town Hall series for archival and promotional purposes. DATA students must then spend 10-12 hours editing together a final cut for distribution. This year's speakers included Bill O'Reilly, Nando Parrado, Felipe Calderon, and David Petraeus. 

We'd like to thank Desert Town Hall for providing our students with this awesome experience, and we look forward to a terrific 2017 Speaker Series!

Create Day 2016!

Students from Nellie Coffman, James Workman, and Raymond Cree Middle Schools join students in the Digital Arts Technology Academy at Cathedral City High School to create original work in a single day.

On March 2nd, nearly 80 middle school students from Nellie Coffman, James Workman, and Raymond Cree Middle Schools joined students from the Digital Arts Technology Academy to learn about the program and create original work in a single day.

DATA students lead workshops in Photography, Digital Cinema, Game Design, T-Shirt Design, Audio/Radio Broadcasting, and TV/Video production. The high school students guided middle school students through the entire production process, giving them an idea of just some of the opportunities available to them in the DATA program. 

The day wrapped up with a showcase of student work, including a mini-film festival and galley walk. Middle school students also left with a custom t-shirt designed by an 8th grade students and printed on the same day.

After attending Create Day, middle school students are able to enter high school with a familiar and a sense of belonging that helps them to be successful members of the DATA family. 

DATA-SkillsUSA Regional Skills Competition

Congratulations to the following students who earned recognition in the final weekend of SkillsUSA Regional Competitions! Good luck preparing for the State Conference in San Diego this March!

3D Visualization

Gold Jordan Lazalde & Antonio Arce

Silver Armando Perez & Javier Pardo

Advertising Design

Gold Blanca Granados

Silver Morgan Wash

Audio/Radio Production

Gold Trinity Walker & Mariah Vega

AME Career Pathway Showcase

Gold Guadalupe Cortez, Rosalina Rogel & Andrea Rojas

Crime Scene Investigation

Silver Michelle Velasquez, Citlally Alvarez-Sanchez & Elsa Delacruz

Digital Cinema

Silver Jebari Wooten & Manuel Aramburo

Game Design

Gold Sebastian Gomez, Miguel Platero, Diana Mejia & Jonas Engelman

Silver Redmyn Lee, Long Vay, Eduardo Rojas & Kimberly Vu

Bronze Conner Robles, Natalie Arce, AJ Burke & Leon Pena

Graphic Communications

Gold Sadrac Camacho

Graphic Imaging Sublimation

Gold Damian Jimenez

Bronze Andrew Russell

Page Layout

Gold Daniel Alvarado

Silver Ashley Chaldez

Photography

Gold Manuel Perla

Silver Mariafernanda Salazar

Screen Printing Technology

Gold Christian Suarez

Silver Jeanette Gonzalez

TV Video Production

Silver Jadin Wash & Juvan Hackett

Advancing to State

Game Design - Sebastian Gonzalez, Juan Martinez, Daniel Rodriguez, & Luis Galindo

Erick Inzunza, Jelani Wooten, Memorie Maglinti & Kevin Lopez

Miguel Covarrubias, Andrew Liza & Randy Avina

Crime Scene Investigation - Sebastian Garcia, Estefany Zavala & Aldair Zavala

Digital Cinema - Citlali Vazquez & Karen Meza

DATA SkillsUSA Leadership Regionals

Congratulations to the following DATA students for medaling at the 2016 SkillsUSA California Region 6 Leadership competitions at Granite Hills High School!

20 Second Elevator
Gold - Rosalina Rogel

Chapter Display
Gold - Karen Meza & Citlali Vazquez
Bronze - Makayla Coor & Lisa Rojas

Creed
Gold - Andrea Rojas
Bronze - Disneyruby Parra

Community Service
Bronze - Guadalupe Cortez, Jennifer Reynoso & Shan Vo

Extemporaneous Speaking
Gold - Michael Bowman

Pin Design
Bronze - Blanca Granados

Promotional Bulletinboard
Silver - Diana Mejia & Rosa Rodriguez

T-Shirt Design
Gold - Jeanette Gonzalez
Bronze - Sadrac Camacho

Quiz Bowl
Gold - Eric Diaz, Miguel Platero, Mariafernanda Salazar, Alexis Cruz & Sebastian Gomez
Silver - Jebari Wooten, Manuel Aramburo, Sebastian Miller, Jelani Wooten & Kevin Lopez

Advancing to State
Gina Milanovich - Creed
Ryan Culbertson - Pin Design
Shan Vo - Prepared Speech

Good luck to all students competing in the Skills competitions this upcoming weekend!