Grace McCormack works on a Huion tablet in her Digital Multimedia class.
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Instead, Clemente-Milne produced
the pinback button maker, the kind that
makes round buttons students typically
pin to jackets, backpacks, and lunch
bags. She asked him if he’d like to help
her make some. DJ got to work and the
very first button he created had a simple
message on it: We are strong as one.
“I liked the message because
it was something that worked for
everyone,” says DJ. “You could give
it to a staff member, you could give it
to a friend, you could give it to your
mom. Because everything you do in
life, you have to do as one team.”
A few buttons later, DJ had another
idea. He asked Clemente-Milne if
he could make buttons to sell at the
Woodbury WPBS store, a lunchtime
store that sells prizes in exchange for
tickets students earn by displaying
positive behaviors. Clemente-Milne
loved the idea, and, in fact, it was
precisely what the Woodbury i3 team
had hoped would happen.
“We wanted to get the button
maker because it’s an accessible
entry point for kids to test their
entrepreneurial skills,” says Woodbury
Librarian Rob Kaminski. Kaminski is also
part of the team that leads the school’s
new Makerspace. “It’s something that
kids can pick up on pretty easily and,
if they connect the dots on what’s
possible when they make a button, then
they can go even further.”
In DJ’s case, he created a
Google Slides presentation and
shared his idea with the Woodbury
WPBS committee (an “all grown ups”
committee, he notes). He explained
his idea, shared his pricing structure,
did a product demo, and earned the
green light to move his idea forward.
Today, DJ says he’s more than a
student. “I’m an entrepreneur,” he
says proudly. “That means that I’m
a risk-taker, but I’m also a thinker, a
communicator, and I’m responsible.”
The Tools for Today
and Tomorrow
This year, thanks to i3 investments in advanced art equipment at Shaker
Heights High School – specifically Huion Tablets, camera and video
equipment, and a programmable sewing and embroidery machine – students
in digital design and portfolio classes say they now have the classroom
experiences and industry-standard tools that will give them the skills they
need to compete in the workforce.
“The emphasis on entrepreneurial skills is very serious now,” says High School
Digital Design Teacher Keaf Holliday. “We’re trying to teach kids that if they can
start honing in on their graphic and digital design skills here, then they’ll be one
step ahead of everyone else.”
Shaker Heights High School junior and Digital Design student Abigail Walicke
took Holliday’s advice to heart. Last year, during Holliday’s unit on branding, in which
students have the opportunity to redesign logos and branding materials for local
businesses, Walicke worked with a local yoga studio.
“It was great to have this experience where I met with the owner and she
told me what colors she liked and what design elements she wanted,” Walicke
remembers. “I was able to learn more about what it’s like to design for a client and
what that process would be like in the real world. I’m literally learning in class and
getting work experience at the same time.”
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