Nordhoff High School - Digital Media Academy CTE Pathway

The Digital Media Academy is a combination of pathways designed to cultivate students interest and post-high school, college and career goals involving creative tools and skills that are under the umbrella of “Digital Media”. Digital Media is essentially anything stimulating any of our senses that is created digitally. Students experiment with photo, video, animation, illustration, sound, graphic and 3D design. We want our students have fun learning these skills and projects are designed to build interest and focus around self expression. As they grow within the academy students choose more specific pathways that develop and encourage advanced skills and self responsibility. In the third year of the academy students focus on developing a portfolio that showcases their skills. Internship opportunities are sought, examined and perused. Portfolio students also have the ability to take themselves on a co-navigated, self-learning deep dive into any subject they did not have the opportunity to yet explore within the Academy. At all levels of this journey students are learning real life skills that will aide in their future educational and academic lives wherever their path takes them.  

Students in the Digital Media Academy take:

  • A: The Visual Toolbox P or Intro to Photography and Yearbook P or Creative Language and Design P

  • B: Visual Communication P or Advanced Photography and Yearbook P or Video Production H

  • C: Portfolio

The Visual Toolbox P  (A-G approved) Length: 1 year; grades 9, 10, 11, 12. Prerequisite: None.  Students learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro and other creative applications that provide an environment for experimenting in digital visual creative projects. This course fosters creating images from drawings and photographs as well as video including moving and still pictures with an emphasis on the basic technical tools and artistic concepts that have evolved in this modern craft.  Teachers: JH, AU

Intro to Photography and Yearbook P (A-G approved) Length: 1 year; grades 9, 10, 11, 12. Prerequisite: None. Learn the basics of photography, page layouts and yearbook creation. Using DSLR Cameras, correcting photos and preparing them for publication is the primary focus of this class. Creating the pages for the yearbook and attending school events to obtain coverage is a majority of the class assignments. The year ends with learning the basics of photoshop and Adobe Premiere! Teacher: JH

Creative Language and Design P (A-G approved) Length: 1 year; grade 10.  Prerequisite: English 9P. This year-long course teaches students to act as purveyors of change in the world-at-large. Throughout the course students will analyze a variety of print and digital texts in order to identify and interpret an author’s, artist’s, and/or designer’s message, and to determine how a specific audience drives a creator’s decision-making process. Students will evaluate and successfully use visual design principles and elements to enhance, distribute and increase visibility of a message or cause. This process will lead students to use writing and the principles of design to create texts and visuals that tell stories and convey effective messages for the purposes of effecting change; this also leads students to be critical thinkers and active receivers of messages. Students will read fiction and nonfiction as sources of inspiration and discovery and then write to learn with an emphasis on how choices of diction and syntax shape a message. Throughout the course, students will use collaboration processes, oral communication, presentation and creative problem solving to strengthen and apply their knowledge of written and visual messaging. Teachers: JH, KS

 Visual Communication P (A-G approved) Length: 1 year; grades 9, 10, 11, 12.  Prerequisite: The Visual Toolbox P or Intro to Photography and Yearbook P or Creative Language and Design P. Further explore the practice of using visual elements to communicate information or ideas including concepts and practices of graphic design, photo manipulation/enhancement and sound. Students will experiment with color, typeset and layout as well as some basic animation, soundscape and electronic music production. This course focuses on the cultivation of student expression. Teacher: JH

Video Production H (A-G approved ) Length: 1 year; grades 9, 10, 11, 12.  Prerequisite: The Visual Toolbox P or Intro to Photography and Yearbook P or Creative Language and Design P. Further explore the craft of video production from script to screen to visual and special effects. Advanced lighting and editing techniques will push  the students' filmmaking skills beyond the basics. Working in groups and individual projects, students will explore different genres in more depth and work with equipment that are staples of the video production industry. Students may choose to also work on the NHS News or to take the screenwriter's journey and work on a feature length script throughout the entire school year. Teacher: JH

Advanced Photography and Yearbook P (A-G approved) Length: 1 year; grades 9, 10, 11, 12.  Prerequisite: Intro to Photography and Yearbook P.Students can take photography further by branching out into experimentation with different genres of photography and the tools used to create professional images. Students will take on leadership roles by guiding other students in the introductory course while supervising and editing the creation of yearbook pages with an in-depth look into project workflows. The year ends with a focus on developing the student’s own personal style which reflects their artistic nature in the world of photography! Teacher: JH

Digital Media Portfolio (A-G approval pending) Length: 1 year; grades 11, 12.  Prerequisite: Visual Communication or Video Production H or Advanced Photography and Yearbook.In this section the student will be entrusted with the responsibilities of an industry professional. Through creating and managing content for local clients and the school district, students will begin building their professional resume and possibly engage in internships that will navigate them closer to success in their chosen career path. A mix of guided instruction, self learning and independence in their work will prepare them for pursuing their professional interests. Teacher: JH

Teachers Names/Emails/Phone Extensions:

Jake Hansen, jhansen@ojaiusd.org, 1840

Alex Uvari, auvari@ojaiusd.org, 1839

Katie Stock, kstock@ojaiusd.org, 1936