As Web Design phases out as an individual program, incoming freshmen have the opportunity to enroll in the new Multimedia Communications program. 

“Multimedia Communications is a class that we’re hoping students will have an interest in,” Assistant Principal Donna Besser said. “There’s a lot in today’s industry and workforce where this can fit in. It’s very open as far as the pathways you can take in multimedia.” 

Multimedia Communications will be a two-year program, a structure that all programs will eventually transfer into throughout the next few years. As of right now, most programs are built on a four-year completion track schedule.

“The state did it so that kids could take more than one program area, but it’s what we already do,” Besser said. “Most other tech schools don’t offer that secondary program, like graphic design or hospitality. Students will be able to take one program for two years, and the next for another two years. It won’t be a huge change, more sequencing rather than overlapping.”

Possible career opportunities for Multimedia Communications students include: AV technology & communications, journalism, broadcasting, social media management and more. 

“There’s a lot of different pathways you can take, and that’s what we’re going to have the kids do as well,” Besser said. “They’ll be able to take a secondary CTE class with multimedia, but have different options as to what they want. They could take journalism, video production, or graphic design, and leave a lot of openings to give students more choice.”

Students will have the chance to individually create digital projects, and even cultivate their own social media presence. Collaborative projects will potentially be publicly published in the coming years of the program. 

“A couple things I’m really excited about are student created podcasts, and the foundations for student created YouTube channels,” Animation Teacher Monte Carman said. “It’s something kids tend to be interested in, but beyond that, some front end web development and marketing on social media could be very interesting. I want to get to the point where we can have a website to publish things, but I don’t think that can be done in year one. It’s definitely on my list.”

Carman is already brainstorming plans to make Multimedia Communications a unique and distinct program that caters to each student.

“It depends on what they [students] want to do, but I do tend to steer my program into where their interests lie,” Carman said. “Whatever they’re excited about is what they’ll create great content for, and that’s ultimately my goal. I was up for a challenge, but I’m excited for so much. It gives me a lot of opportunity to present different things, and is much less confining than areas that are more specialized.”