Students helping local biz
Students in the Penticton Secondary graphics and design program are getting real world experience while they help local businesses.
Star students Nick Conner, Winston Nguyn and Josh Mout developed the template for the Total Restoration and Castanet colouring contest, which is running until March 15.
But that isn’t their first real world project. They also helped local retailer, Big Blue Frog get online.
“They asked us if we could make their website for them,” Nguyn said, adding that they also developed a new logo for the store.
The students say they all have been interested in graphic design for years.
Josh Mout says he used to play around at home “doing personal stuff like image design”, in grade eight and nine, before following a friends recommendation to jump into the program themselves.
“The end project, what it looks like at the end,” Nick Conner said about his favourite part of the class, “Seeing the people happy at the end when they see the project, seeing the joy in their face.”
Teacher Patrick Belbin worked in marketing before becoming a teacher, and knows how valuable this experience can be. He says the school gets about six “opportunities” a semester from local businesses asking for help from the Penticton Secondary digital art department.
“It’s nice to teach abstract stuff and have students work on projects, but really they can learn more from going to work for real businesses… it’s great for the community, and great for the students so it’s a win-win.”
Small, local businesses that might need help on small graphics design projects are free to contact Belbin.
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