• CTE (Career Technical Education) at EHS:1 Video and Photography

In the past it was known as ROP or vocational training, but today's CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs are so much more than what the past generations were offered.

With the aid of Stacy Styrcula, EHS's College and Career Center Technician, I had the opportunity to chat with the instructors of various CTE classes.

This will be a series that touches on eight different CTE courses at Elsinore High School. This blog covers Video and Photography. 

The others will include: Ag Science, Screen Printing, Graphic Design, ROTC Airforce, Sports Medicine and Automotive.

Some students will be capturing images of the school's sporting events.

Ron Kusayanagi has been teaching at EHS since 2003. He's the instructor for Digital Photography/Video and Computer Science. "My heart is all about our students and preparing them for a college and career path," is part of his Video Production Class webpage.

Students use high end gear. They have good working relations with Canon and Sony

If your child loves photography and/or video, and they are in the LEUSD, they should consider this series of classes at Elsinore High School.

I asked: What should parents know about these courses?

"For our digital media classes, the kids are learning skills that are relevant and important if they want to get into these fields. It also applies to college. If they go to college they will put together a nonlinear presentation; that's video, photos, music, voice overs."

— Ron Kusayanagi

Video editing work stations.

I learned that the classes can be worth college credits too, "We're in the process of getting all of our classes articulated, which is college credit... they just have to earn a B or better, and they will get three units per class through either MSJC or RCC." 

I asked if there were additional costs to the students, and Mr. K let me know that there are no additional costs. The school supplies all the equipment, workshops, field trips. They're funded by the school's CTE grants. The programs are "well funded" and well connected with the outside industries.

If you're a photographer, this is the place to feed your creativity.

Mr. K shared with me the many opportunities that advanced students have to work as interns for some pretty high profile companies. He mentioned some well known company names to me, but I'm choosing to leave those out of the blog... but I bet he'd be willing to chat with you about specifics when you catch up with him. ☺ 

A small portion of their studio. You can see their green screen to the right.

His goal is to get the top students at the professional level before they graduate

In video 1, the new students learn the basics, how to put things together, and then getting it out on the web. The advanced classes produce projects for the public to see. 

Examples include the E-1 News (bi-weekly news channel), promos for all the school athletic teams and pep rallies, "how to" videos for the school's administration. The advanced group did five short films for Sony last semester (they are the first high school to get that gig). 

Adobe products such as Premiere Pro and After Effects are staples in video production.

"We're teaching kids skills that they can use in the outside industry. The top kids in our school are in all of our CTE classes. The teachers here are very passionate about what we do and we want our kids to be top notch. We don't want them just to get through."

— Ron Kusayanagi

The students that are in video and photography class range from beginner with few preconceptions, to those that know they want to work as professionals when they hit the workforce.

Interested students can get into this program several different ways

Seniors get first preference when it comes spots in this course, but the way to get into the program is to sign up on the course selection sheet.

For more information, Mr. Kusayanagi's webpage encourages email.

ron.kusayanagi@leusd.k12.ca.us

Link to blog 2: Graphic Design

Link to blog 3: Sports Medicine
Link to blog 4: Screen Printing
Link to blog 5: ROTC

•                •                •

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
— Ansel Adams

Wildomar Rap is often unclear but rarely is content with silence.

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