Donated cameras inspire yearbook students

  • Published
  • By Rebecca Amber
  • Staff writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Desert Jr.-Sr. High School yearbook instructor Emilia Henry was excited to bring 10 still cameras and eight video cameras to her classes Sept. 9. The equipment was given to the school by the 412th Test Wing Public Affairs Office where it was once used to support the base multimedia services contractor Media Fusion.

The photo gear was first placed into the Plant Clearance Automated Reutilization Screening System to be screened by the Department of Defense where some of the equipment was picked up by the Navy. Then it was submitted to the General Services Administration for non-government entities to look at. Some of the equipment was picked up by a university and the rest was sent to the students at DHS and will be shared with the yearbook class at Boron High School. In all there were 24 items including two lenses and three small monitors that will allow students to see what they are filming.

"We are an educational institution and any donations that are here to help our students are amazing because they want so many real world, real life projects," said Henry. "The first thing the students said was, 'It's real life equipment' and I think that makes them feel more motivated and it makes them feel like there's actually that connection between high school and real life."

In its former life, the equipment was used to support official Air Force events on Edwards like test missions, emergency documentation, official photos and ceremonies.

"Because media moves so quickly, it doesn't take long for it to be outdated for us," said Joy Munoz, Media Fusion property manager. "For the school though, they are still perfectly workable and usable. They are still beautiful cameras for their purposes."

According to 11th grade student Jennifer Phan, yearbook president, the class has already started raising funds to purchase the additional equipment needed to use the cameras like lenses and batteries.

Their previous equipment included two still and two video cameras that were shared between the high school, junior high school and Boron High. The students are hopeful that the new equipment will resolve scheduling conflicts and assist them in creating a more interactive yearbook.

This year, the students will utilize QR codes placed in the yearbook to incorporate videos in the yearbook. The codes can be scanned using a QR reader app that will link back to the school's "Time Capsule" located on the "Replay It" site hosted by the yearbook publisher, Jostens.

"If they scored a touchdown and we filmed it, they would be able to see that football player making that touchdown," said Henry.

The videos can also be used in yearbook ads. For instance, a parent could include a video of the graduate's first steps in their senior ad.

"It's a new part of the yearbook, bringing it to a newer generation, and at the same time, keeping the original aspects of the yearbook. We're trying to spice it up and add something new," said senior Emily Vernon, yearbook vice president. "We had the idea and then [these cameras] fell into our lap and it was just magical, it was a gift. We weren't expecting this at all and we were trying to figure out how we were going to do it and then suddenly we received the donations and we were set."

Eleventh grade student Aric Springer, class treasurer, believes this interactive yearbook will let the students remember more than the average yearbook.

"If you look at a video, you get to watch it happen, you get to relive in the moment and go, 'I remember that exactly.' It brings it to life," said Springer.

"This is what I'm going to look back at, in who knows how many years, and say, 'I helped with this, these are my memories,'" said Vernon. "That's the most important part to me, it shows school pride, it shows that we are one unit, we are a school. We're not just a bunch of classes at the same place. You see friendship, you see group activities, you see clubs; you see everything the school has to offer at once. And all it is you just got to flip through the pages."