North Carolina High School Pioneers Graphic Design Mentorship Program
Student reviews are in. Art in Technology, a new class offered to tenth through twelfth graders at West Columbus High School, has received accolades from both students and teachers.

Larry Hewett, the art technology teacher, was fittingly selected to facilitate the class, which utilizes Ulead PhotoImpact to teach students the basics of graphic design.

"A friend turned me on to PhotoImpact a few years ago. I started using it, fell in love with it, and have been using it ever since," says Larry.

About Mr. Hewett
In 1996, Larry was the first art teacher chosen as a Milken Family Foundation educator.

Each year, Milken awards an unrestricted $25,000 to 100 exceptional, but unsuspecting, teachers. Milken’s mission is to honor outstanding educators to "attract, retain and motivate talented people" to effectively and innovatively meet the challenges of teaching. Larry personifies this mission.

The selected educators must maintain regular contact with Milken headquarters for many reasons, including continued teacher development. Because of the distance between Milken and its educators, email and the Internet are the favored means of communication.

These both served as Larry’s springboard into the complex world of computers. He was hungry to learn more, and eventually mastered digital graphics creation.

As a believer in using multimedia and technology in the classroom, Larry was quick to discover how his class could benefit from his new found knowledge. Combining his background in graphic design and his Internet savvy, he helped create the class, Art in Technology.

For Larry, it's all about engaging the kids. He says, "I'm an advocate for any technology that will make learning more exciting, and keep the kids interested. Using technology is more effective than simply having them listen to a lecture."

The Class - Art in Technology
Art in Technology uniquely integrates Internet technology and graphic design with a new idea: remote mentorship.

Four seasoned graphics and computer professionals accepted an invitation to guide and challenge a group of four to six students via an online bulletin board, www.ezboard.com. Given one semester, students are required to finish 72 assignments and three multiple choice tests, all of which are created by the mentors, in order to pass the course.

Assignments begin by introducing the young designers to the interface of PhotoImpact. Once they get acclimated to the program, they can move on to graphic design and finally into animation.

Since this is the first time the class has been offered, standard teaching manuals are not yet available. Therefore, Larry keeps ahead of the students by doing the assignments first so he can answer any questions that might arise. Mentors are on hand as well -- just a click away.

Grace Farquhar, one of the current mentors says, "I think it is a wonderful supplement to the traditional art program, as many of today's schools don't have the manpower to give one-on-one instruction."

With only 23 school days left, students are feverishly working to finish their long list of assignments. Extra credit, called Challenges, is available to those students who are ahead.

Students are encouraged to take these Challenges and use their creative talents and new skills to design unique images and graphics.

"I give this class an A+ because I can use computer graphic skills to make up for my lack of drawing skills," says eleventh grader, Demonte.

Mentorship Background
MaryLou White is the inspiration for this PhotoImpact high school graphics mentorship program. Her Beginner’s Workshop, a tutorial site for interested beginning PhotoImpact users, provided the groundwork for creating the curriculum.

“I had this idea that if beginners knew where to start and learned just the basics of a tool, it would put them on the right track," she says of her decision to implement the high school program.

With help from other avid PhotoImpact users, including Debbie Hardisty, who manages the Beginner’s Workshop, Grace, Merlene, Virginia Price and Cyndi Papia, MaryLou reformatted her tutorials and teaching guidelines to meet the unique requirements of high school curriculum.

Besides preparing students to enter today's competitive job market, MaryLou feels that the class curriculum, "also allows them to express their feelings such as anger and happiness, and it instills confidence in their abilities to be creative.”

The school principal recently sat in to audit the class. Amazed at the students, she gushed about how Larry’s class had the least behavioral problems of any classes in the school.

These students are a testimony to the fact that children who are engaged, challenged and encouraged, will excel.

Ryan, a sophomore, says this class is "by far my favorite class in all my years of school."

The mentors benefit from this experience almost as much as the students. Mentor Merlene says, "I have learned a lot from the Art Students and they have inspired my own graphics work."

The Future
Laura, a tenth grade student, is considering attending an art college in Charlotte, NC because of her success in this class. And, like the rest of her classmates, she is already looking forward to the next level of the Art in Technology class.

She says, "Advanced class!? Absolutely! Positively! I sure would!"

With peer guidance, and the guidance of their online mentors, this class is destined to be a shining example of the benefits that come from cooperative learning.