Sunnylands Kicks Off Family Day Event Season

Sunnylands officially kicked off the 2014 Family Day Program on Sunday, January 19th and DATA DS students were on hand to document and take part in the fun, working in groups to tell the story of the day through photos, footage, and interviews. 

As hosts to meetings of world leaders, politicians, and celebrities, the Annenbergs knew a few things about etiquette and social customs. This Family Day event helped guests of all ages learn proper manners, from writing thank you cards to proper dining etiquette.

The Sunnylands Visitors Center also unveiled a new gallery collection of memorabilia from some of the most famous events hosted at the estate, including Frank Sinatra's wedding and President Obama's first visit in 2013.

DATA students worked in groups to tell the story of the day through photos, footage, and interviews. 

Visit our calendar page for more information on the upcoming April 20th and May 18th Family Day events, or visit sunnylands.org for more information.

Sunnylands officially kicked off the 2014 Family Day Program on Sunday, January 18th and DATA DS students were on hand to document and take part in the fun. As hosts to meetings of world leaders, politicians, and celebrities, the Annenbergs knew a few things about etiquette and social customs. This Family Day event helped guests of all ages learn proper manners, from writing thank you cards to proper dining etiquette. The Sunnylands Visitors Center also unveiled a new gallery collection of memorabilia from some of the most famous events hosted at the estate, including Frank Sinatra's wedding and President Obama's visit in 2013. DATA students worked in groups to tell the story of the day through photos, footage, and interviews.

DATA Student's Work Featured in Architectural Digest

In February 14th, two DATA students, Jenni Varela and Monico Casteneda, worked with independent filmmaker and former NYU instructor Vincent Sassone to help document the kickoff to Modernism Week at the Palm Springs Convention Center. 

Jenni shot still images of the vendor expos and displays while Monico shot video of the event also helped Vincent shoot interviews. Some of Jenni's work was selected to be featured by Architectural Digest  and the Hollywood Reporter in articles about Modernism Week in Palm Springs. 

Congratulations to Jenni and thank you to Vincent for helping to provide this opportunity!

Gnomon School of Visual Effects

Students pose for a group photo in front of the Science Center before heading home

On February 19th, potential DATA students (50 9th graders and 50 8th graders) toured the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood. Students viewed reels of work, toured the campus, observed students work in progress, and learned about the various programs offered by the Gnomon School. Gnomon graduates and current students have worked on countless films and television projects, from blockbusters to smaller independent films. 

Before heading home, students were able to have lunch at the nearby Science Center, home to the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Students were able to explore the museum center and see the shuttle up close.

This was our annual outreach trip, designed to encourage 9th grade students to apply for academy acceptance in their sophomore year, and to show 8th grade students the Arts, Media, and Entertainment career pathway offered exclusively at Cathedral City High School through the DATA program. Previous trips have taken students to schools, studios, and other high-interest locations.

Trips like this not only help students to begin thinking about life and careers after high school, but also how DATA can play a role in achieving whatever their individual goal may be. 

The Thirst Project

TP.jpg

On February 18th, Seth Maxwell, founder of The Thirst Project, presented a unique challenge and opportunity to DATA juniors and seniors.

At 26 years old, Seth has lead the Thirst Project in completing nearly 1,000 water projects, providing large amounts of sustainable fresh water to people in underdeveloped or impoverished nations. Seth brought with him facts and statistics showing the devastating effects that a lack of clean water can have on a community– everything from parasitic infections to AIDS. 

Students sign up to create a Thirst Project organization

More than 300 schools have worked with The Thirst Project, many participating in fundraising projects for provide permanent water wells to communities in need. A major role of The Thirst Project involves raising awareness of this issue that affects nearly 1 billion people worldwide.

Seth Maxwell speaks to DATA juniors and seniors

After hearing from Seth, more than 46 DATA students signed up to form a campus organization that utilizes the skills learned in DATA to raise awareness of this global issue and raise money for new water projects.

Working with The Thirst Project is a unique opportunity for DATA students to use the skills learned in class to create projects that will leave the classroom and have a lasting positive impact in the lives of others. 



Desert Town Hall Speaker Series

Ariana Davis working as a camera operator during the Ling sisters' Q&A session with local high school students

The Desert Town Hall Speaker Series allows valley residents to hear from prominent politicians, government officials, journalists, writers, and more. Over a series of 4 nights each year, speakers address an audience of more than 1,800. Past speakers have included President George W. Bush, Robert Ballard, and Fareed Zakaria.

DATA Junior Bonnie Vo being interviewed by Gitzel Puenta from KMIR 6

In an effort to better connect with teens in the Coachella Valley, guest speakers also participate in the Youth Town Hall program, where they spend an hour speaking only with students from local high schools in a much more intimate and candid environment. Students are able to participate in Q&A sessions with each speaker. 

DATA DS students were charged with the task of archiving each of this season's Youth Town Hall sessions. In years past, Youth Town Hall sessions were not documented, and therefore lost as soon as they finished. 

This opportunity gives DATA students valuable experience working in a professional, formal, and real-world environment, where they are responsible for creating work of true value for a specific audience/purpose. 

Champions at Work: DATA-SkillsUSA

Over two days, January 18th and 25th, DATA-SkillsUSA students competed against other schools for top honors at the SkillsUSA Regional Competition in Apple Valley and Ontario. Weeks of hard work paid off as DATA students dominated the competitions.

For the first time, 3 students from Nellie Coffman Middle School competed at regionals, two earning Silver medals in TV/Video Production and all advancing to the State Competition.

Gold:

Digital Cinema Production, TV/Video Production, Audio/Radio Production, Broadcast News Production, Quiz Bowl, Community Service, 20 Second Elevator Interview, Creed, Job Demonstration, Promotional Bulletin Board, Chapter Display, T-Shirt Design

Silver:

Prepared Speech, Broadcast News Production, Job Interview, 20 Second Elevator Interview, Creed, T-Shirt Design, Digital Cinema Production, TV/Video Production

Bronze:

Quiz Bowl, T-Shirt Design, Broadcast News Production, Digital Cinema Production, TV/Video Production (NCMS Students)

All students who earned medals will advance to the California SkillsUSA State Competition in San Diego this April. Many students who did not earn medals will also be able to advance 

Check out more photos!


2nd Annual Night of the Arts

On Friday, January 10th, The CCHS Visual and Performing Arts Department hosted the Second Annual Night of the Arts. The event gave students, staff, and the community an opportunity to see firsthand what the CCHS Art Department has been working on this academic year. 

In addition to performances from Band and Choir, student art galleries, and dance performances, DATA students were able to display their work to the public through an interactive display.

Seniors Jacob Janes, Anthony Ramirez, and Branden Joven demonstrated "Zombies of CC," video game they have been developing using the Unity game design engine. In the game, the player plays as a CCHS teacher who must battle zombies in a 3D-rendered version of the campus. 

In addition to the game demo, two projector screens along with several iPads allowed viewers to see a variety of student work, from photos and design pieces to promos and goofy short films. DATA senior and SkillsUSA President Jonathan Serna showed three short film pieces, two of which had never been seen before.

Turnout for the event was fantastic, and we look forward to displaying more student work for the 3rd Annual Night ofthe Arts next year!

HDSLR Filmmaking & DATA DS

"Story is the foundation, technology is the tool." This is the mantra under which DATA DS students create their work. No matter how advanced the technology or how proficient the technical skills, the ability to clearly and effectively communicate a story is what matters most. This is a skill that students will carry with them through college and careers. 

However, technology does play a major role in Digital Storytelling (it's hard to be digital without technology). The democratization of filmmaking in recent years has made it possible to create professional quality work without the budgets and resources of major studios. In 2008, when the first video-enabled DSLR cameras entered the market, professional filmmaking became much more accessible to the average consumer. These cameras, with large image sensors and interchangeable lenses, make it possible to get depth, color, and clarity that was previously only accessible to industry professionals.

And to put it simply, doesn't a great story deserve to be told in a visually appealing and effective way?

In the classroom, DATA DS students are building skills in filmmaking using DSLR cameras (sometimes referred to as "HDSLRs" when used for video) and a wide variety of lenses, supports, audio recorders, and lighting setups. Last school year, the DATA-DS lab was upgraded to include Final Cut Pro X, allowing students to create work using industry-standard software.

Learning to use the tools necessary to create high quality video and film projects not only equips DATA-DS students with skills for the Arts, Media, and Entertainment industries, it also improves problem-solving abilities while raising the level of technological literacy– something that is valuable in any career field

To better reflect this change, this year the capstone DATA-DS course has been changed from Journalism to Digital Media Production. The new course still allows for journalism to play a key role, but also opens the door to a wider variety of media projects, including creative short films (an option that students had been seeking for a number of years). Additionally, Digital Media Production is an A-G and CTE approved course, helping to ensure that our program follows the California Partnership Academy model.

New projects are always in production, but many pieces of student work are available on the DATA-DS Vimeo page.

CCNews App & Promo

Now in its third year, the CCNews smartphone application is again being transformed by DATA DS students. Expanding beyond school and community news stories, DATA DS students are helping to turn CCNews into a powerful platform of expression, and an outlet for student work of all kinds. In the upcoming weeks, students will be working with staff from The Desert Sun to redesign and rebuild CCNews from the ground up to deliver a more content-rich and customizable user experience tailored to the needs of the DATA program and our school community.

In addition to school and community stories, CCNews now features entertaining weekly columns, videos/short films, photos, and more. With nearly 2000 mobile downloads and hundreds of website visits each week (from all around the world!), CCNews allows DATA students to express themselves in a larger community beyond the classroom walls.

Download the CCNews app by searching for "CCNews" in the iTunes App Store or on Google Play.

DATA DS juniors Matt Donez, Jose Bermudez, Ryan Alvarez, Salvador Camino, and Alan Cabrera created a new promo for the 2013-2014 school year.

Created by Jose Bermudez, Salvador Camino, Matt Donez, Ryan Alvarez, and Alan Cabrera Now in its third year, the CCNews smartphone application is again being transformed by DATA DS students. Expanding beyond school and community news stories, DATA DS students are helping to turn CCNews into a powerful platform of expression, and an outlet for student work of all kinds. In the upcoming weeks, students will be working with staff from The Desert Sun to redesign and rebuild CCNews from the ground up to deliver a more content-rich and customizable user experience tailored to the needs of the DATA program and our school community. In addition to school and community stories, CCNews now features entertaining weekly columns, videos/short films, photos, and more. With nearly 2000 mobile downloads and hundreds of website visits each week (from all around the world!), CCNews allows DATA students to express themselves in a larger community beyond the classroom walls.

Helene Galen Performing Arts Center Dedication

In the control booth of the HGPAC

DATA DS students were called upon to document the dedication ceremony for the Helene Galen Performing Arts Center at Rancho Mirage High School.

Working alongside professional event producers and hired professionals, DATA DS students set up a multi camera shoot to capture the event attended by celebrities, politicians, and community leaders to thank Helene Galen for a 1.5 million dollar donation to support performing arts at the newly completed high school. 

8 hours (30 gigabytes) of footage was combined and edited by DATA senior Jonathan Serna to serve as the official historical record of the event. Not only was this a unique experience for students, it was a great for DATA students to demonstrate their skills and abilities in a public and professional setting.

On November 15, DATA DS students were called upon to document the dedication ceremony for the Helene Galen Performing Arts Center at Rancho Mirage High School. Working alongside professional event producers and hired professionals, DATA DS students set up a multi camera shoot to capture the event attended by celebrities, politicians, and community leaders to thank Helene Galen for a 1.5 million dollar donation to support performing arts at the newly completed high school. 8 hours (30 gigabytes) of footage was combined and edited by DATA senior Jonathan Serna to serve as the official historical record of the event. Not only was this a unique experience for students, it was a great for DATA students to demonstrate their skills and abilities in a public and professional setting.

 

 

DATA Named CPA Lighthouse Academy for Second Consecutive Year

Cathedral City High School’s Digital Arts Technology Academy (DATA) is has been selected for the second consecutive year as one of 15 California Partnership Lighthouse Academies.

The Digital Arts Technology Academy is an award-winning, grant-funded school-within-a-school that focuses on the Arts, Media, and Entertainment career pathway. DATA students are able to take advantage of unique opportunities and experiences that are not typically a part of a traditional high school education. The three-year academy program provides a college preparatory curriculum that incorporates digital arts elective courses at each grade level. Partnerships with local companies and organizations also play an integral part in the academy’s continued growth and success.

Students officially enter the Digital Arts Technology Academy in tenth grade, where they travel as a singular group (cohort) through core content classes and DATA electives until graduation. Academy teachers collaborate on a regular basis to create interdisciplinary, problem-based projects and industry-relevant experiences that build from one year to the next. Ninth grade students are able to take Contemporary Media, a pre-academy course designed to serve as an introduction to academy offerings and courses.

As a California Partnership Academy, the Digital Arts Technology Academy is part of a network of roughly 500 public school programs supported by competitive state grants. California Partnership Academies are designed to prepare students for both college and careers by relating academic subjects to a career pathway through a sequence of career-technical courses, linking students to the outside world and career paths of possible future interest. Academies form partnerships with employers in the selected career field, along with colleges and universities in the region.

California Partnership Academy programs target students who are under-performing or economically disadvantaged. Students enrolled in California Partnership Academy programs perform better than state averages in overall graduation rates, minority graduation rates, standardized tests, and university eligibility, despite their “at-risk” status.

The 15 Lighthouse Academies in California are recognized as leadership programs for correct implementation of the California Partnership Academy model. Lighthouse academies provide assistance to other CPA academies as well as schools interested in forming new academy programs.

First Lego League 2013

Chris Gutierrez and Juliana Suarez direct traffic and maintain order. 

For the second year in a row, DATA students volunteered their time to help teach the importance of science, math, and engineering to younger students between the ages of 9 and 14. 

DATA students spent two full days, November 2 at the Palm Springs Air Museum and November 16 at Desert Mirage High School, working in a variety of positions at a qualifying tournament for First Lego League through SMaRT Education.

Their specific job duties were only a small part of the day. Aside from helping to organize, maintain, and manage the event, DATA students acted as positive role models for the younger event participants, creating a genuine bond and helping to build excitement.

Thank you to all who volunteered! First Lego League helps to engage young students in science, engineering, and math by providing fun, real-world experience with the subjects, and we are proud that our students are willing to give so generously of their time!

Jose Bermudez and Alan Cabrera reset a competition table for a Lego robot tournament. 

DATA Digital Storytelling Teams Up With Desert Arc

Desert Arc has been providing opportunities for people with disabilities in the Coachella Valley for over 40 years, and we're happy to announce that DATA DS will now play a role in helping to tell this story.

Desert Arc Deputy Director Mitch Blumberg reached out to DATA students with opportunities to help them build their digital storytelling skills, earn community service hours, and most importantly, make a positive mark in the world around them.

Beginning with Desert Arc's 3rd Annual Italian Festival on November 2 and 3, DATA DS students are helping to document events and create promotional work to be used by Desert Arc.

This provides our students with real world applications of their skills in a meaningful way. We look forward to working on many more exciting projects with Desert Arc!

Created by Stephanie Suarez and Andrea Sabillon

DATA Visits the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus

On November 20th, as part of the 11th grade student mentoring program, 65 DATA juniors took a half-day field trip to the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus. 

Steve McAdams of CSUSB, and participating mentor, organized a trip that included a campus tour, admissions workshop, student and alumni speakers, and a presentation from Graphic Design and Marketing instructor, Dennis Johnson (a subject or high interest to a large number of DATA students). 

For many DATA students, this was their first exposure to CSUSB Palm Desert, and it quickly became obvious that the Palm Desert Campus will play a major role for DATA students who aspire to attend college. 

DATA DS & The Man Who Walked on the Moon

On Saturday November 16, NASA astronaut Ed Mitchell spoke during a Desert Arc sponsored event at the Palm Springs Air Museum.

As a crew member of Apollo 14, Mitchell walked on the moon in 1971 as the highlight of a long and notable career. During the November 16 event, Mitchell was interviewed for an hour by James Hansen, official biographer and close friend of Neil Armstrong.

Mitchell gave a detailed recollection of his childhood, the events that sparked his interest in flying, his military career, and his time spent as an astronaut.

The highlight of the evening was after the interview, when DATA DS students were able to speak with Mitchell, shake hands, and snap a quick photo. At the heart of Mitchell's talk was a theme of hard work a perseverance, which DATA students are continuously encouraged to apply to everything they do.

DATA DS students Stephania Populaca, Jason Bullen, Anthony Ramirez, Jarelle Balanzat, and instructor Tom Buck take a photo with NASA astronaut Ed Mitchell.

DATA DS students Stephania Populaca, Jason Bullen, Anthony Ramirez, Jarelle Balanzat, and instructor Tom Buck take a photo with NASA astronaut Ed Mitchell.

DATA DS Students Create CCHS Web Show

In an effort to expand the CCNews smartphone application into a media-rich platform for DATA students to express themselves and showcase their work, DATA DS seniors Clarisa Cisneros and Zaira Garcia brainstormed an idea for a weekly web show.

Both active members of ASB, Cisneros and Garcia wanted to develop a series that would both inform and entertain, giving students and the community insight into school events and issues.

A new episode of "Behind the Blue" is released bi-weekly and is 100% student written and produced. Cisneros and Garcia hope to create a legacy that will be taken up by future DATA DS classes.

Clarissa Cisneros and Zaira Garcia shoot an episode of Behind the Blue.
 

Community Service Through Palm Springs Rotary

The Rotary Club of Palm Springs, Evening Star, is an organization with a strong commitment to community service and assistance. 

In an effort to increase accessibility, The Palm Springs Rotary Club has taken on the challenge of becoming a Hybrid E-club, making meetings available to members unable to be physically present.

DATA DS and DI students have been asked to take help out their community by assisting with documenting weekly meetings, producing, cataloging, and distributing meeting videos to Hybrid E-club members. 

Along the way, DATA students learn to:

  • Work in a professional environment
  • Adhere to strict deadlines
  • Create videos in a variety of formats and prepare them for web distribution
  • Work collaboratively as a team

11th Grade DATA Mentoring Program

Digital Storytelling and Digital Imaging 11th grade DATA students are the first class to participate in the DATA Mentoring program.

More than 20 community and industry partners have volunteered their time to become mentors for students. Once a month, students meet with their mentors during an extended period. Mentors guide students on the path to becoming responsible, happy, and successful adults.

Student response to the program has been overwhelming, and from what we've heard, the mentors are getting as much from the experience as the students. Thanks to all who are participating and thank you to DATA Counselor/Coordinator Debbie Applebaum for making this possible!

On the Big Screen During Mayfield Graduation

Seniors Anthony Ramirez and Jacob Janes worked together as the brains behind "Mayfield Cares."

The DATA DS relationship with Mayfield College has been very rewarding. In April, Admissions Advisor Paul Kleinschmidt asked DATA students to write letters to local soldiers deployed overseas. Paul happened to pick up the letters on a day when students were showing and critiquing work in class.

After seeing a mockumentary created by Anthony Ramirez and Jacob Janes, Paul felt that their style would fit perfectly with an idea he had for the upcoming Mayfield graduation.

Anthony and Jacob recruited a crew of Digital Storytelling students to create a short film titled "Mayfield Cares." The film takes a look inside Mayfield College, all from the comedic, yet genuine perspective Paul originally saw in Anthony and Jacob's work.

On July 28, the 15 minute short film was shown to hundreds of people during the Mayfield graduation at Agua Caliente's The Show.

The Digital Storytelling crew was given VIP seating in a private box as they watched their work on screen in front of a massive crowd.

We look forward to many more creative and rewarding collaborations with Mayfield College in the future!

"Mayfield Cares" was shown on two massive screens located on either side of the main stage.