Our school was founded by a group of parents, educators, and community members in Long Beach, California who are passionate about education. They felt that they had a unique educational vision and the opportunity to impact the local community through character-based learning.
Our students reflect the wide diversity of Long Beach, socially and ethnically.
We ask our students to care about how their minds work and in this way they are encouraged to question, be curious, and open-minded of the world around them. Students are celebrated in their struggle and know that through this they will not only understand content, but be able to grow in the way they approach learning. In many educational environments struggling is seen as an embarrassing experience. Our students embrace the risks involved in the expansion of their intellectual thinking, paving the way towards a conscientious and passionate community in the city of Long Beach. They are the embodiment of what it means to learn and live well.
My Project
Students will be using these cameras in order to learn about the technical skills and themes involved with the art of photography. As our students enter the digital age, their intimate relationship with technology, as well as their need for resources, grows. Creating this photography class has been the wish of not only parents and staff, but of our students as well. They have supported each other in creating a photography club on campus and have advocated for an actual class to be created. Over the next year we are supporting them in this wish and hope to create a program worthy of their exceptional tenacity and curiosity. Specifically, students will explore the technicalities of photography through lessons in aperture, shutter speed, framing, and more. They can expect to experiment in such photographic styles as portraiture, landscape, macro, action, and others.
With these cameras, students will be able to open their minds and take on the world from a new perspective.
The art of photography is an opportunity for students of this age group to express themselves in ways that were unknown to them previously. In order to properly prepare students for the skill set of documenting the world around them, they will be asked to reflect, to wonder, and to question what they see. How can a camera be used as a tool to view the world in a different way? What power can a single photograph have on our society? How can you as a photographer shape the world we all live in? As photographers, our students will be able to learn and teach us about new possibilities.
"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." - Dorothea Lange
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Fountain and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
