LM Students are Wildly Talented!
With a new school year quickly approaching, we wanted to take the time to reflect on some of the great work done by creative & talented Panthers during the 2020-2021 school year. In Mr. DeSanctis’s Digital Media Arts 1 (DMA 1) class, LMHS students were encouraged to develop their own passion projects to practice and hone their skills using Adobe products.
Wild About Design!
Rising senior Alyssa Meyer chose to create a coloring book inspired by wildlife animals using the tools she learned in Adobe Illustrator. Once Alyssa completed her project, Mr. DeSanctis worked with his colleague, Warren County Career Center (WCCC) Graphic Design teacher, Mr. Howard Norris, to have the project developed and printed. Mr. Norris enlisted the help of Little Miami rising Senior and WCCC student, Callum Dalraine, to handle the layout and printing of the coloring book. It is so encouraging to see Panther students using their talents to work together to create a wonderful finished product! Alyssa’s coloring book will be distributed to LM Counselors to use for play therapy and to give students an outlet to refocus and regroup.
Mr. DeSanctis notes that, "Alyssa went above and beyond what instruction was covered in class to create something truly special. She did a fantastic job on her coloring book and I'm looking forward to helping her distribute it around the district when we come back to school this Fall!"
Natural Talent
Rising senior Annie Casper enlisted her passion for wildlife, conservation, and nature to help her create designs for a National Parks-themed deck of playing cards. Annie used a geometric theme to pay homage to signature elements of various National Parks- including inspiration by the dynamic colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone National Park, the signature Double Arch rock formation at Arches National Park, and the unique color layers of the rock formations at Badlands National Park.
With guidance from Mr. DeSanctis, Annie created enough designs to produce a set of playing cards, featuring a unique park design on each card. This massive and creative undertaking required an extensive amount of research, so that she could accurately depict the signature elements of each park. After her designs were completed and cards were developed, Annie and Mr. DeSanctis sold 23 decks of cards to Little Miami staff members throughout the district!
While adventuring across the United States this summer, Mr. DeSanctis and his wife visited a total of nine National Parks, and were sure to bring a deck of Annie's cards with them. At each park they visited, Mr. DeSanctis grabbed a picture of Annie’s card & the natural feature that inspired it.
"Annie spent a lot of time on the playing card project and I think it really shows. I love how unique her designs are and, as a lover of National Parks myself, I really appreciate how each design ties into the park. It's so cool to see her designs 'in real life' by having them printed and I'm so glad Annie gets to take something tangible from this project," said DeSanctis.
"I'm really thankful to work in such a supportive district where so many staff come forward to be a part of this project. I appreciate all of the staff who reached out to purchase one of the decks of Annie's cards and show their support for all of her hard work."
Little Miami celebrates the creative work of these students, as well as the encouraging teachers who boost them to reach new heights!
