HOWLAND HIGH SCHOOL Interactive classroom cultivates expertise

Students look forward to using their multimedia skills after graduation.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- Eliott Acevedo is looking forward to a career in filmmaking.
Christina Marion wants to become a television news anchor.
They, and their classmates, are getting a head start in Howland High School's interactive multimedia class.
"I basically treat this class like its a job with an emphasis on responsibility," said their teacher, Brian O'Dell.
The studies include all aspects of television -- from producing, editing, lighting and using a video camera, to graphic design.
O'Dell, 30, has the background to teach the class. He has a bachelor's degree in telecommunications from Youngstown State University and was a producer at WKBN-TV Channel 27.
"You just don't pick up a camera and shoot it," O'Dell said, noting there are many other skills needed to put together any media production.
Planning ahead
Acevedo, a senior in the two-year program, plans to attend Pittsburgh Art Institute where he wants to study filmmaking.
He is a step ahead of his competition. He and three other students captured a second place in competition in Kansas City, Mo. Their DVD will be placed in libraries and other public access areas so people can watch a documentary of Warren's history.
They competed against 74 other teams.
Acevedo has also completed a short piece, demonstrating why gasoline prices are so high. It shows various film clips of high traffic volumes with a portion of President's Bush's State of the Union Address as background.
Marion want to be "on camera" on a TV news set.
Although a junior, she has produced a DVD of the school's tennis team, of which she is a member, and has photographed football games from the sidelines.
"It's exciting," said Marion, who intends to study broadcasting at the University of Akron.
Tools for future
Brendan Solarz, a senior, has an interest in graphic design.
Recently he was working on a multicolor montage of brightly colored trucks. Solarz hopes to use his high school work as a tool to get a college scholarship.
Solarz views the work as another part of his resume to take with him in competing for the scholarship.
Another senior, Jared Williams, has produced a video short on traffic safety during prom night. In cooperation with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, it will be shown at other high schools.
Williams plans to study film and video editing at Full Sail, a Winter Park, Fla., learning center that concentrates on such subjects as computer animation, film, game design and show production.
O'Dell said other high schools have classes in audio broadcasting and editing but not as comprehensive as Howland's classes.
In working on a project, O'Dell said, a plan must be followed.
"You have to know what you're doing and why you're doing it," he said. "I'm getting them ready for a job."
He explained that students will have many of the tools to get a job using their multimedia skills when they graduate from high school.
"Some of this stuff is unreal," O'Dell said of the outstanding work his students produce. "Some is better than when I was in college."
yovich@vindy.com