>>Gallery (21 images)

Text by Cyndi Vickers

Walden School is a private middle school in Gulfport.  I thought a photography project about our school neighborhood - the sights and sounds that say "Gulfport" - would be a great way for the students to connect with the city, its businesses and residents. So after a week of learning basic photography techniques and some handy-dandy pointers, I armed the students with point-and-shoot digital cameras and we took to the streets.  Bill Moree, a commercial photographer and Walden parent, generously donated his time and talent to work with the students.  We shot every day for two weeks.  The final edit yielded us 40 beautiful and unique views of the Gulfport community. We are sharing these images with the public at the Art Walk on May 21, 6-9 p.m., in downtown Gulfport. 

What:  Walden middle school student photography exhibit.

When:  During Art Walk on Saturday, May 21, 6-9 p.m.

Where:  Downtown Gulfport

Recently, Tampa Bay area based photographer James Branaman taught a photo class at the Morean Arts Center titled Visual Narratives. He describes the class below, and shares a few of the students' projects. For more information on classes offered at the Morean Arts Center, visit their website.

"Visual narratives go beyond telling a story in one photograph, giving a more in-depth experience. Don't show viewers what it looks like. Show them what it feels like. Students learned about photo stories and essays and how to choose which is best for their subject. We discussed the flow of visual storytelling, what makes a good opening, establishes a sense of place, captures character and how to bring closure to the story. In this 6 week course students developed a project idea and worked on their project outside of class. Weekly class time consisted of coaching and editing from professional photojournalists. Students participated in group critique and discussion of weekly success and challenges. By the end of class each student created a complete photo essay / story or established the groundwork of a long-term project. " - James Branaman ... Read more

Photojournalists are outside the classroom looking for the right shot. Reporters are in the newsroom working on stories to put in the upcoming paper. Students in Lakewood High School’s newspaper class produce SNN, the Spartan News Network. It is a print newspaper created monthly by teens and read by teens. It is also a web site that is updated online daily. The Lakewood program is part of a larger program called Journeys in Journalism. It is in three St. Petersburg schools: Melrose Elementary, John Hopkins Middle School and Lakewood High School. In each school students apply for jobs and work as reporters, photojournalists, advertising salespeople, marketing managers, web editors and videographers. The program, which started at Lakewood in August 2009, is unique in that all of the teachers are former journalism professionals. Besides the daily newsroom class, ninth- and 10th-grade students at Lakewood also get a taste of journalism once a week through their English classes, rotating in and out of the two-room journalism suite and working on special projects.

Visit the Spartan News Network website to see more of the students' photos and videos.

Sophomore Bernard Marger, right, cheers on Lakewood robotics team Dynasty during the robotics state competition at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Two of Lakewood's robotics teams took part in the competition. (MADELINE GLASSMAN/SNN) 2/27/10 ... Read more

The journalism program at John Hopkins is part of the Journeys in Journalism program model, which began in November 2001 with a kindergarten through 5th grade program at Melrose Elementary, a Title I school in an impoverished area of St. Petersburg, Fla. The program expanded to John Hopkins Middle School in 2003 and to Lakewood High School in August 2009.

At John Hopkins, students in the Literary Arts strand are exposed to journalism in two ways: through a co-teach model in geography in the 6th and 7th grades and through a newsroom elective class. In the newsrooms, students have a hands-on, real-life learning experience in a program led by journalists-in-residence who have extensive experience in journalism.

The newsroom students’ goal is to cover their school community by discovering news through beat checks, and documenting it by writing stories and taking photographs. They decide what stories go into the newspaper. They sell ads, market the newspaper, and deliver it to the students at John Hopkins and contacts in the community.

The students publish a newspaper, the JHop Times, four times a year, and maintain and update a website twice a month. They have been named the best Middle School newspaper in the nation four times (2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009) by Time magazine/Time for Kids (2004) and Weekly Reader (2007, 2008, 2009) in a national student publishing contest.

Students also can delve into their neighborhood community by participating in a free three-week summer journalism camp. During that experience, student journalists go on a series of 30 plus field trips in Midtown, documenting the community in stories and photos for an annual Midtown magazine and a 100-photo exhibit in October at studio@620 in St. Petersburg.

Take a look at a small sample of the wonderful photos the students made during the first semester of the 2009-2010 school year. [Cynda Mort, Journeys in Journalism program coordinator]

Click on "See more photos" below to see all 24 images.

On Jan.11 the sun shines on the leaves of a plant in the John Hopkins Middle School courtyard. [Photo by KELLY DUONG] ... Read more

Photojournalists are outside the classroom looking for the right shot. Reporters are in the newsroom working on stories to put in the upcoming paper. Students in Lakewood High School’s newspaper class produce SNN, the Spartan News Network. It is a print newspaper created monthly by teens and read by teens. It is also a web site that is updated online daily. The Lakewood program is part of a larger program called Journeys in Journalism. It is in three St. Petersburg schools: Melrose Elementary, John Hopkins Middle School and Lakewood High School. In each school students apply for jobs and work as reporters, photojournalists, advertising salespeople, marketing managers, web editors and videographers. The program, which started at Lakewood in August 2009, is unique in that all of the teachers are former journalism professionals. Besides the daily newsroom class, ninth- and 10th-grade students at Lakewood also get a taste of journalism once a week through their English classes, rotating in and out of the two-room journalism suite and working on special projects.

Visit the Spartan News Network website to see more of the students' photos and videos.

See a sample of the students' photographs from the Lakewood High School program's first semester below.

Freshman Aaron Gilmore, a bass drummer, waits for his cue from the band director during a pep rally at Lakewood High School on Nov 20, 2009. (REBEKAH ATKISSON/SNN) ... Read more

The Intermediate Photography class from the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in Tampa was developed for students who already have a working knowledge of their camera. It is somewhat of a unique class, as it is a "Whitman's Sampler" of photography genres. The class consists of four Saturdays in different environments and settings where students are challenged to shoot cityscapes, action photography (sports), portraits (studio), and flora and fauna using macro photography and strobist style lighting techniques. Composition, exposure, white balance, and depth of field are all challenges in these differing genres.

Upcoming class at the Museum: Photography 101 - January 5, 2010 through February 2, 2010

Visit the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts website for more information.

[Text by class instructor Chip Weiner]

Photo by Mike Comstock ... Read more

Midtown Through Our Eyes

An advance peek at a few of the 100 student photographs in the upcoming public exhibit from

Oct. 2 - 9 at the Studio@620 gallery in St. Petersburg, 620 First Avenue S.

With cameras and notebooks in hand, 43 student journalists from Melrose Elementary, John Hopkins Middle and Lakewood High school spent three weeks in June documenting St. Petersburg's Midtown neighborhood. Ever heard of the two-dollar Holla breakfast? Ever seen a bunch of kids rope-climbing a giant oak? What is it like inside the Coast Guard station? See Midtown through their eyes.

The students will also distribute this summer's edition of Midtown Magazine, featuring their stories and photos about the community, which includes profiles of new neighborhood businesses, stories about youth programs and interviews with Mayor Baker and the superintendent for Pinellas County schools, Julie Janssen. This is the sixth year for the Midtown Journalism Summer Camp.

Special Exhibit Events

• Opening Reception, Friday Oct. 2, 5-8 p.m. - Opening night will include student-guided tours of the exhibit, a performance by the Mount Zion Drum line and other student performances and talks. Free!

• Midtown Poetry Night Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6-8 p.m. - Student poets perform poems about their experiences in Midtown and share poems inspired by the exhibit photos. Free!

• Taste of Midtown Friday, Oct. 9, 5-8 p.m. - A sampling of food from Midtown restaurants at The Studio@620 and a performance by the Melrose drum circle. Free!

The Midtown Journalism Summer Camp and exhibit are sponsored by Eckerd College’s Center for the Applied Liberal Arts.

[Photo by James Pugh] ... Read more

The Photo Assignments class at the Morean Arts Center gives students the opportunity to get outside of the classroom to make photographs with a group under instructor guidance. Students are also given assignments to complete outside of scheduled class time and bring in for group critiques. The one night per week, six-week course is traditionally offered in the spring. Students in the Spring 2009 course provided the work seen here under the instruction of faculty member James Branaman. For more information, contact The Morean Arts Center, 719 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 or by phone at (727) 822-7872.

[Photo by Shaun Drinkard] ... Read more

For 14 weeks this spring, four Academy Prep middle-school age students were partnered with four Morean Arts Center mentor photographers. The program put digital cameras in the hands of the students who then documented events at their school and explored and photographed the downtown St. Petersburg community. The student photographs, 40 of them, are on display at the Morean Arts Center through August 16.

Lily Saengthong, grade 8 ... Read more