Di Tours Ace Printing

On January 10th, a group of Di students visited Ace Printing in Palm Springs in preparation for the upcoming SkillsUSA Graphics Communications competition series and gain a peek into the work flow of local commercial printing. Students received a tour of the plant and spent the morning learning directly from owners Mark and Greg Lawrence and manager Sandy Miller as materials for Big Horn and The Humana Challenge were in full production.  This opportunity provided a great deal of practical information to students that simply could not be practiced in the classroom.

A huge thank you to 

We look forward to visiting again soon!

Di Masters Show at PSUSD Board

DATA Digital Imaging is pleased to announce that a master collection of student digital art is now on display in the Palm Springs Unified School District board room through the rest of the school year. A very special thank you to PSUSD Visual and Performing Arts Specialist Louisa Castrodale for this special opportunity to share CCHS student creativity with the district community.

Photographers Make the Cut

On Wednesday, Nov. 30th, fifteen Di student photographers waited up to 2 1/2 hours for an opportunity to interview for a spot to compete in the SkillsUSA Photography Regionals. Leading up to the interviews, students prepared resumes, selected their best photographs, and completed a location shoot in practice for what they might encounter at the state competitions in San Diego later this year. Individually, they presented their work and answered questions in front of a panel of judges that included Palm Springs/Laguna Beach wedding photographer Rick Nuffer, 2011 State Photography gold medal winner Spencer McQuinn, and Di instructor Mr. Cauthron. Getting feedback from a professional and contest perspective from an alumni helped to reinforce what students need to know in order to be successful as they move forward in the contest series.

Congratulations to the following students!

Senior Kimberlyn Gonzalez

Senior Jasmine Mikulak

Senior Denny Keat

Junior Crystal Zacarais

Junior Ella Ramirez

Sophomore Austyn Moreno
Sophomore Jennifer Varela
 Sophomore Aaron Jones

 Check out the DATA-SkillsUSA Photo Contest here!

New Work from Di Grad Brian Evans

Check out the new website from 2005 DATA-Di grad and Palm Springs Art Museum Purchase Award winner, Brian Evans!

Brian is a great example of a Cathedral City student who pursued his passion for photography, earned a business degree from Cal State Fullerton, and is carving out his own niche in the creative world.  His work now goes beyond the local familiarity of Epidemic Skateboard Shop and into a wonderful collection of portraits, lifestyle, commercial landscapes, and personal studies.

While in the DATA program, Brian's work was the very first set of digital images to be purchased into the student collection for the Palm Springs Art Museum's Fine Art Creativity Awards program. This honor is still considered the highest local award earned by a Coachella Valley arts student. 

Make sure to also peep his last visit

with Di students here!

Student2Student Photography at JWMS

How do you engage 35 high school and middle school students after a long week on a Friday afternoon? Engage them in a SkillsUSA Student2Student Mentoring photography workshop!

DATA-SkillsUSA photography students kicked off their first student-lead digital arts workshops at James Workman Middle School on November 18th and had some serious fun.

High school mentors introduced JWMS mentees to the elements of composition, the Digital Arts Education Ning, the DATA program at CCHS, and a collaborative sense of learning.

"This is a beautiful opportunity for digital arts students to process their own learning by teaching others and strengthen the creative educational community of Cathedral City schools." 

-M. Cauthron

Check out Photography Workshop 1 here!