Free Family Portraits

During the four weekends from Thanksgiving to Christmas break, DATA Digital Imaging students ran Free Family Portraits in partnership with the Cathedral City Library. This special community service project invited friends, families, and pet owners in for free portraits managed and operated entirely by DATA photography students for the second year in a row.

Small groups of students operated the mobile studio, handled appointments, edited on location, and delivered images to a wide variety of families in the community.

A very special thank you to 

Librarian Joshua Kunkle

for providing the studio space and supporting our students!

 

Student Design Runs in Desert Sun

As part of our ongoing relationship with the City of Cathedral, DATA Digital Imaging Junior Angela Inprom, had her ad selected to be published in the Desert Sun.

 

The half-page advertisement ran to promote the city's 35th anniversary and annual balloon festival and was made possible in collaboration with Chris Parman, Cathedral City Communications and Events Manager. 

Addicted to AdFed

On December 7th, members from the Desert Ad Fed lead a workshop in DATA's Digital Imaging lab at Cathedral City High School to assist students with their upcoming Addiction campaign scholarship contest.

The 2-hour workshop, conducted by professionals from Lamar Outdoor Advertising, Alpha Media Group, and the marketing team at Fantasy Springs Casino, were made available to the juniors and seniors to answer questions about the valley-wide competition as well as what it takes to build a career in marketing and advertisement.

Thank you again Desert Ad Fed!

Demonstrating Students Voices

Student designers Morgan Wash and Blanca Granados. 

On December 9th, the DATA program hosted another group of educators and community partners at their Winter Demonstration Day. This bi-annual event provides visitors a special look into the Academy's structure, classrooms, and unique approach to career technical education in design, media, arts, and SkillsUSA. As usual, it is always the student's voices that steal the show!

DATA Grad Showing at UCLA

Congratulations to DATA grad, Jarelle Balanzat, for her short film being selected to show as part of Focusing Techniques at UCLA's Broad Art Center! All films in the show were part of the still recently new Digital Media Arts degree program at the university.   

111 Music Rides Again!

On December 3rd, a handful of DATA students were given the unique opportunity of shooting the 2nd Annual 111 Music Festival. For the second year in a row, the student event photographers worked in partnership with the Coachella Valley Art Scene to document this "innovative combination of music and public transportation" to create awareness about the Sunline Transit Agency and local artists.

20+ bands hopped on and off 5 different buses as they traveled back and fourth between Palm Springs and the city of Coachella. The center stage this year was set near CVAS' new Palm Desert Community Gallery along Highway 111 to provide the center point of the event's entertainment.

Learn more about the

111 Music Festival Here!

Students Present to CAEA

On Friday, November 4th, The Digital Arts Technology Academy and the CCHS Art Department hosted 25 middle and high school teachers as part of the California Arts Education Association's Southern Region Conference 2016. The visiting visual arts educators learned about the DATA program, toured studio classrooms, and heard student's speak about their experiences in the CTE Design, Media, Arts pathway and SkillsUSA.

Studio Day 2016

On Friday, October 28th, 30 DATA Digital Imaging students returned to Palm Springs Grip and Lighting for Studio Day 2016. This was the 3rd Studio Day for DI over the years and, as usual, it provided a very special opportunity to work with local photographers in a professional environment.

This time around, students engaged with photographers Taylor Sherrill, Chris Miller, and Lani Garfield, who are all well known in the Coachella Valley and beyond. New and experienced students used a variety of high-end studio lighting to capture peers modeling DATA Gear in two distinct environments.

VIEW PHOTOS HERE!

2016 Teen Docent

Congratulations to DATA student Rebecca Wenger for earning a spot as a 2016 Teen Docent at the Palm Springs Art Museum!

Students from across the Coachella Valley are invited to apply and interview for one of the 15 spots.
After being 'hired', they train for 12 days during the summer to learn public speaking skills and about the Museum's fine art collection in preparation to lead tours for visiting elementary schools.

Learn more about the Teen Docent program here!

At Home with Monsters

On October 24th, 80 DATA students visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to view At Home with Monsters, an exhibition curated by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro. The show provided insight into his imagination through a personal collection of paintings, drawings, artifacts, and concept film art. It showcased the many facets of movie-making through a wide range of works by many artists. Students also took the Art of Many Cultures tour to gain a deeper understanding of how art and culture influence each other and get an up close look at masterpieces from the Romans to Pop Art.

Washington Leadership Institute

For four days in September, two DATA students attended the Washington Leadership Training Institute (WLTI) in Washington, DC as part of their role as SkillsUSA state officers.

State Secretary Shan Vo and State Reporter Guadalupe Cortez went through intensive training with their fellow officers from across the United States. While in D.C., they also visited historical monuments and met with representatives from California and the Coachella Valley to share their thoughts on SkillsUSA and the value of Career Technical Education.

Learn more about DATA-SkillsUSA

2016-17 Syllabus

- VIEW IT HERE - 

[ Abstract ] @ CSMF

Congratulations to DATA animation students for their collaboration [ Abstract ] being selected for Best use of Music at the 50th Annual California Student Media Festival! The event took place on Saturday, June 11th at the Colburn School for performing arts in Los Angeles.

[ Abstract ] was an experimental piece focusing on the use color, shape, and form set to Imaginary Landscape No. 5 the by Avant-garde composer John Cage.

Watch [ Abstract ] Here!

A Decade of Grads

Congratulations to the 10th graduating class

of the

Digital Arts Technology Academy

at Cathedral City High School

View DATA graduate photos here!

DATA@RAM 2016

Congratulations to the following DATA Digital Imaging seniors whose work was awarded on June 2nd at the 54th Annual Riverside County High School Art Show! Their work was selected out of 426 students from 34 high schools throughout Riverside County and exhibited at the Riverside Art Museum.

Mariafernanda Salazar
Madame Trixie
1st Place Photography

Ambriel Styve-Hector

The Light of Everything

2nd Place Graphics

This was the first year CCHS entered the show and was honored to be part of such an amazing collection of high school student work.

View the Virtual Gallery here!

Riverside City Prep

On May 26th, four DATA sophomores visited the Applied Digital Media & Printing department at Riverside City College in preparation for SkillsUSA Graphic Communications competitions.

They were able to get hands-on with color printers and automated equipment used in the national competitions not available at local high schools. A special stop was also made for lunch on the patio at the famous Tio's Tacos.

Good luck to Sadrac Camacho as he represents CCHS and California this June at the 2016 National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Kentucky!

Junior Mentor Success

Congratulations to the students and local professionals for the time and energy that they put into the 2015-16 DATA Mentor Program! The program runs September through May with an awards luncheon at the Classic Club in Palm Desert sponsored by the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Learn more about the program here!

Celebrating Creativity in Cathedral City

On Saturday, May 14th DATA students were honored by the Cathedral City Public Arts Commission at the 3rd Annual DATA Visual Arts Awards. The event celebrated the creative talents of both photography and filmmaking on the "big screen" at the Mary Pickford Theater. The 11 photography submissions will be on display at the Commission's new gallery space at city hall through summer.

Manny Perla, $300 1st Place Photography

Jessica Carrillo, $200 2nd Place Photography

Guadalupe Cortez, $100 3rd Place Photography

Gone Mad, $300 1st Place Video

River's Diary, $200 2nd Place Video
To My Love, $100 3rd Place Video

A huge thank you to
Alan Carvalho and the Public Arts Commission 
for supporting digital arts at Cathedral City High School!

Demonstrating DATA

Above: 9th grade game design team. 

On Friday the 13th, The Digital Arts Technology Academy hosted teachers and administrators from several school districts that included Calexico, Porterville, and Hesperia as part of their California Partnership Lighthouse Academy/Apple Distinguished Program status. Twice a year, the DATA team of teachers and students share what makes them one of the truly unique community-based arts and technology programs in the country.

The students themselves stole the show as usual providing authentic experiences and demonstrations of their creative talents in:

Video Game Design

Photography 

Animation
Graphics

Audio

&

Video

In case you missed it,

you can view the slides here!

Glo-tastic Health 2016

The 2016 Health Glo Run on May 7th was go-tastic and DATA Digital Imaging was there again to capture the action!

Not only did The Foundation design an exceptional fundraising opportunity to support arts and technology in Palm Springs USD schools, but it also offered a super-challenging environment for DATA photographers to shoot motion in low-light and run a photo booth in the middle of a live event.

Check the Photography Here!

X Marks the Spot!

On May 5th, DATA Digital Imaging and SkillsUSA students assited the The City of Cathedral City and the Public Arts Commission at the Cathedral City Library for the dedication of X Marks the Place, a metal sculpture by renowned artist Simi Dabah.

Students greeted guests from Coachella Valley arts organizations, photographed the event, and were part of the dedication ceremony. A collection of best work in digital art from DI creatives is also on display through June.

View the event photography here!

Digicom 2016

Congratulations to the 15 DATA students who were awarded at the 2016 Digicom Student Film Festival on May 3rd at the Palm Springs Convention Center! More then $12,000 in scholarships and cash awards were earned by students for their efforts in English curriculum, Animation, and Digital Storytelling.

Make sure to check out

The Light of Everything by Ambriel Styve-Hector

 and

[ Abstract ] A collaborative animation inspired by John Cage edited by Jonas Engelmann

- View the Event Photography Here -

A huge thank you to David Vogel and the rest of the Digicom staff for supporting PSUSD students!

Bah'Roke @UCR

The 2016 Palm Springs Unified School District Showcase Art Exhibition is more impressive then ever! Collaborative works, in a variety of media from all five PSUSD high schools, are on display through June 17th at UC Riverside, Palm Desert.

For this year's exhibit, DATA Digital Imaging aimed to go beyond the standard display of prints in frames. Students were asked to contrast the qualities of Baroque art with a reality of life far from the opulance of the European movement. The 8 contemporary photographs (above) were set in large gold frames and arranged to sample a Baroque-style gallery.

A very special thank you to PSUSD VAPA Coordinator Louisa Castrodale for making this annual event happen and the Coda Gallery for donating the frames to Cathedral City High School!

- View our Bah'Roke collection here -

Cat Center (Re)Designed

Congratulations to the following DATA sophomores for being selected by the Cathedral Center for their logo re-designs! The 1st place winner's work will be used by the Center for years to come.

$260 1st Place

Morgan Wash

(Center)

$150 2nd Place

Angela Inprom

(Left)

$100 3rd Place

Sadrac Camacho

(Right)

Fashion+Art = Spring Break

in addition to the 68 competitors that attended the 2016 SkillsUSA California Skill and Leadership Conference, many additional DATA students worked during spring break to shoot annual events such as the Indian Wells Arts Festival in partnership w/Hot Purple Energy and Fashion Week El Paseo.

Both Fashion Week and the IWAF events continue to provide work-based learning experiences with in the local arts community for students to apply skills learned throughout the Academy.

At IWAF, DI students work directly with local company, Hot Purple Energy, to operate a photo-booth run entirely on solar energy and act as official photographers for the 3-day arts event.

At Fashion Week, both DATA Digital Imaging and Digital Storytelling students are the only school given access to the exclusive media platform for the entire 7 nights. This provides an extremely rare opportunity for deserving students to exercise pro-skills and rub elbows with likely mentors.

View IWAF images here

View Fashion Week images here

2016 SkillsUSA California

Congratulations to the following DATA students for their efforts at the SkillsUSA California 49th Annual State Leadership and Skill Conference in San Diego, Ca!

Gold 

Graphic Communications - Sadrac Camacho 

20 Second Elevator - Rosalina Rogel 

Silver 

 Screen Printing Technology - Jeanette Gonzalez 

Audio/Radio Production - Tinity Walker & Mariah Vega 

Creed - Disneiruby Parra 

Bronze 

3D Visualization and Animation - Jordan Lazalde & Antonio Arce 

Interactive Game Design - Jonas Engelmann, Miguel Platero, Diana Mejia, & Sebastian Gomez 

Creed - Andrea Rojas 

State Officer Elect 

Secretary - Shan Vo 

Reporter - Guadalupe Cortez 

Regional Officer Elect 

Hillary Rivera & Jennifer Reynoso 

Statesman Awards 

Diana Nguyen, Melissa Diaz, Shan Vo, Guadalupe Cortez, Hillary Rivera, & Jennifer Reynoso

- Gold and officers will advance to Nationals in Kentucky this June -

View Photos here!

DI Rocking the ADDYs

Congratulations to the following DI students for their work being recognized at the 2016 Desert Advertising Federation's ADDY Awards! Each student was challenged to create an electronic/print advertising campaign based on the theme Be True to Your School. The students and Mr. Cauthron were recognized on Saturday, March 19th at the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown Palm Springs.

Senior Jetzabel Villaescusa

1st Place - $2,000

Junior Rebecca Wenger

3rd Place - $1,250

DATA Digital Imaging
$1,850 Classroom Grant



Learn more about the ADDYs here!

Create Day 2016

On March 2nd, the Digital Arts Technology Academy launched its second Create Day. 80 Students from three local middle schools were invited to come to Cathedral City High School to participate in full-day workshops in studio classrooms lead be current DATA students. Workshops included:

Digital Photography 
Game Design 
T-shirt Design 
Digital Cinema 
TV Video Production 
Audio/Radio Production

8th graders were taught professional tools emphasizing creativity and became familiar with the CCHS campus. The day concluded with a student showcase and raffle items. Participating students also took home the student-designed shirt for the day.

- View photos here - 

Watch the video here

Live from the Coconut Grove

On Saturday, Feb. 27th, 5 DATA Digital Imaging photographers were hired by the premier Palm Springs event planning, design and production firm, Momentus to shoot red carpet paparazzi-style at the Mizell Center's Coconut Grove gala fundraiser. Students matched the 1930's Hollywood theme with old school garb to assist in their travel efforts for the upcoming SkillsUSA California competitions in San Diego.

Opposite James Franco

Pictured right are DI seniors Ambriel Styve-

In the February 2016 issue of California Educator, the DATA Digital Imaging/Rio Vista Elementary multi-age collaboration On My Way was highlighted as part of Media Teachers in the Headlines. The larger article focuses on the story of actor James Franco teaming up with his high school journalism teacher to lead a filmmaking workshop for teenage students in Palo Alto.

Catch the Article Here!

Launching MAKE

Over the weekend of February 18th-20th, DI students photographed the opening of the Coachella Valley's newest unique creative space at the Westfield Mall-Palm Desert. MAKE, the current project from the Coachella Valley Art Scence brings locally-made art, music, and prose to the public in a store front centered around creativity and interaction. Advanced Photographers were provide this special event opportunity to cover Lounge: A night of art and music, Selfie-Examination: An artist's reception, and Connected: An open mic night.

Catch the Photos Here!

DATA Grad Publishes at UC Berkeley

2014 DATA grad, Sara Lopez, published her first article in the Triple Helix, UC Berkeley's re-established Science in Society journal. Colonizing Mars: The second space race is part of the Berkley chapter collection in collaboration with 25 universtities from around the world. The aim of the organization is to promote interdisciplinary discussion on current scientific topics.

Read the article here!

DATA Dominates Region 6 Skills

Despite increased competition from both the skill and leadership events held the last two Saturdays in January, a total of 68 DATA students earned spots to compete in 23 events at the SkillsUSA California 49th Annual State Leadership and Skill Conference this April in San Diego. 

Congratulations to the following DATA students for dominating the 2016 SkillsUSA Region 6 arts, media, and design industry skill events at San Bernardino Valley and Riverside City colleges on Saturday, January 30th! 

3D Visualization

Gold Jordan Lazalde & Antonio Arce

Silver Armando Perez & Javier Pardo

Advertising Design

Gold Blanca Granados

Silver Morgan Wash

Audio/Radio Production

Gold Trinity Walker & Mariah Vega

AME Career Pathway Showcase

Gold Guadalupe Cortez, Rosalina Rogel & Andrea Rojas

Crime Scene Investigation

Silver Michelle Velasquez, Citlally Alvarez-Sanchez & Elsa Delacruz

Digital Cinema

Silver Jebari Wooten & Manuel Aramburo

Game Design

Gold Sebastian Gomez, Miguel Platero, Diana Mejia & Jonas Engelman

Silver Redmyn Lee, Long Vay, Eduardo Rojas & Kimberly Vu

Bronze Conner Robles, Natalie Arce, AJ Burke & Leon Pena

Graphic Communications

Gold Sadrac Camacho

Graphic Imaging Sublimation

Gold Damian Jimenez

Bronze Andrew Russell

Page Layout

Gold Daniel Alvarado

Silver Ashley Chaldez

Photography

Gold Manuel Perla

Silver Mariafernanda Salazar

Screen Printing Technology

Gold Christian Suarez

Silver Jeanette Gonzalez

TV Video Production

Silver Jadin Wash & Juvan Hackett

Advancing to State

Game Design - Sebastian Gonzalez, Juan Martinez, Daniel Rodriguez, & Luis Galindo

Erick Inzunza, Jelani Wooten, Memorie Maglinti & Kevin Lopez

Miguel Covarrubias, Andrew Liza & Randy Avina

Crime Scene Investigation - Sebastian Garcia, Estefany Zavala & Aldair Pacheco

Digital Cinema - Citlali Vazquez & Karen Meza

SkillsUSA Region 6 Leadership

Congratulations to the following DATA students for medaling at the 
2016 SkillsUSA California Region 6 Leadership competitions at Granite Hills High School!

20 Second Elevator

Gold - Rosalina Rogel

Chapter Display

Gold - Karen Meza & Citlali Vazquez

Bronze - Makayla Coor & Lisa Rojas

Creed

Gold - Andrea Rojas

Bronze - Disneyruby Parra

Community Service

Bronze - Guadalupe Cortez, Jennifer Reynoso & Shan Vo

Extemporaneous Speaking

Gold - Michael Bowman

Pin Design

Bronze - Blanca Granados

Promotional Bulletinboard

Silver - Diana Mejia & Rosa Rodriguez

T-Shirt Design

Gold - Jeanette Gonzalez

Bronze - Sadrac Camacho

Quiz Bowl

Gold - Eric Diaz, Miguel Platero, Mariafernanda Salazar, Alexis Cruz & Sebastian Gomez

Silver - Jebari Wooten, Manuel Aramburo, Sebastian Miller, Jelani Wooten & Kevin Lopez

Advancing to State

Gina Milanovich - Creed

Ryan Culbertson - Pin Design

Shan Vo - Prepared Speech

Additional Recognition to our Nellie Coffman Middle School Chapter

Team Engineering - Gold & Silver

Chapter Display - Gold