On January 19th, the 7th Annual Digital Safari Innovation Fair will take place at Centre Concord. The evening kicks off at 5pm with our annual Investor’s Fair during which all in attendance will receive $50,000 in “investment money” to invest in the companies on display, (the results of those investments will help determine the winning company!) and will continue with our finalist presentations, judged by members of the Contra Costa County business community. The evening is always fun and exciting. If you haven’t experienced the GreenBizz project before, you will be treated to an inspiring evening of what is RIGHT with our schools and our kids.
Winning companies will receive over $1000 in scholarship money as a reward for the hard work and dedication required to win this grueling semester long project.
For more information on the GreenBizz Project and the Innovation Fair, please visit our Digital Safari project wiki, our Innovation Fair site, or contact Randy Depew at 925-682-4030.
See you at the Fair!
Together at last
This year, after fifteen years as a multimedia design program, the DSA is getting a face lift of sorts. As part of a planned three year expansion, we have added a brand new Computer Science pathway to exist alongside our renowned multimedia program. Now students entering their 10th grade year will have twice as much awesomeness to choose from. The new pathway will focus on developing a solid foundation in Information Technology and Java programming with excursions into game design, mobile applications, system management and technical support. We are very excited about adding the new pathway and believe it will be a beautiful compliment to the good work we’ve been doing for so long.
Stay tuned for all of the new amazingness sure to bubble out of our new direction.
Zach, Jesus, Elizabeth, Alberto and Lucia accept their certificate of recognition for their work on the Pittsburg Criterion from Council Member Pete Longmire
Digital Safari 11th graders Jesus Sanchez, Zach Asuncion, Lucia Cruz, Elizabeth Atkinson, and Alberto Moreno were recognized Monday, May 16th by the Pittsburg City Council for their work promoting the Pittsburg Criterion.
For their spring project, students took on responsibilities for providing design services for clients throughout the area, including the Pittsburg Foundation, The Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay Area, the John Muir Association, The Willows Theatre, Candy Stripers of America, and the Northern California Family Center. Student teams worked with each of these organizations to develop graphic, web and video materials to meet their marketing, outreach and promotional needs. In all, DSA students worked with 12 different clients and all helped spread the word about the talent, good work and amazing people at MDHS to the greater community.
In their work for the Pittsburg Foundation, the team developed a series of healthy living posters that were displayed throughout the race. The brightly colored and original artwork promoted exercise, a healthy diet, and getting out and exploring nature around Pittsburg. The work was a hit with the Foundation and led to the recognition of the council.
The winners pose with Prodiance CEO Soheil Sadaat
Three groups of Digital Safari Seniors won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the 2011 Next Entrepreneurs Competition sponsored by Prodiance. The competition, open to high school students throughout California, brought over $2500 in scholarship money to the winners. The winning business plans were created as part of the DSA’s annual GreenBizz project which produced its own set of winners and scholarships this past January. However, the Next Entrepreneurs Competition allowed the students of the DSA to see where they stand against students on a regional and state level. We are very happy with the way things turned out, proving again that students at Mt. Diablo High and in the DSA can compete against anyone, anywhere.
The winners and their company summaries:
1st Place: Emerald Grow – Abegail Cariaso, Chelsea Latteri, Angelique Dawkins
Over time, the world has used up a significant portion of its oil supply with one third of it already depleted. Emerald Grow is a company that dedicates its efforts to decrease our dependency on foreign oil and increase the Earth’s sustainability. The biodiesel Emerald Grow produces is made from selectively bred algae grown in fertilizer runoffs – thereby contributing to pollution clean-up. Algae – it’s small enough to go unnoticed yet big enough to change the world.
2nd Place: Piezo Power – Daniel Walsh, Cesia Gomez, Jessemar Servida, Enrique Vazquez
Piezo Power believes in the viability and well being of future generations. There by Piezo Power created Electroturf™, a sub-flooring that harvests energy as it is walked on. By providing a simple and reliable alternative energy to lower the consumer’s electrical bill we can bring security from volatile energy prices. Piezo Power not only creates cleaner energy, but it also makes you money.
3rd Place: Husk Paper – Jazmine Wong, Alex Ramos, Louis Deleon
Husk Paper Products is proud to present paper products made from corn agripulp. Made using the same processes as wood-based paper, corn agripulp paper offers quality and performance that can wipe, swipe, and clean up any mess. It is an inexpensive and eco-friendly solution to the problems caused by heavy deforestation. Husk Paper Products: good for the Earth and good for your pocket!
Congratulations again to everyone in the Class of 2011, these awards belong to all of you and are a testament to the hard work you put in every day.
March definitely came in like a lion with a rousing and wonderful showcase by the class of 2012 on the 1st. And, now the Juniors have added their videos to the ever increasing list of awesomeness that is the Speaking of I.D.entity video archive. Please take some time to check out the newest DSA video album at Vimeo.
Anne Luong & Nina Tran “Believe” from Digital Safari Academy on Vimeo.
Bany Noguera “Turning Back” from Digital Safari Academy on Vimeo.
The 4th Annual Digital Safari Speaking of I.D.entity Showcase is Tuesday, March 1st at 6pm in Romaine Hall. It promises to be an amazing evening of original songs, spoken word, poetry and rap all performed by our own DSA juniors. Come and see why we this amazing night of entertainment is not to be missed.
The newest class of DSA Sophomores made their first official project presentations with their evening showcase of Digital Stories on Tuesday and Wednesday. The 7th Annual Histories of Our Families Digital Story Showcase was a marvelous success with 44 stories of love and loss and triumph and family. And, as tradition holds, having completed their first project gauntlet, they can now officially say they are part of the DSA.
Check out all of this years stories in our Vimeo Histories of Our Families Album.
Congratulations to everyone who presented. It was one of the best shows we’ve ever had.
Isela Gonzalez – “A Mother’s Love” from Digital Safari Academy on Vimeo.
Lorenz Miguel – “The Queen of the Navarro Family” from Digital Safari Academy on Vimeo.
The 6th Annual Digital Safari GreenBizz Competition and Innovation Fair is this Wednesday at Centre Concord (see details above). For the second consecutive year our seniors will be competing against MDHS’s International Hospitality and Tourism Academy (IHTA). Come and see the next generation of DSA students compete to be the best and who will join the long distinguished list of GreenBizz winners.
The class of 2012 just finished putting their spin on some popular music with the creation of 11 new music videos covering the artists from the Rural Alberta Advantage to the Blind Pilots to Ben Kweller. One of the first of many forays into the world of video for our juniors turned out to be a very nice warm-up for their official coming out party with Speaking of I.D.entity. Can’t wait to see what they have in store for us then.
All 11 of the new videos can be found in our Music Videos 2012 Album on Vimeo.
In The Summertime from Digital Safari Academy on Vimeo.
Sundress from Digital Safari Academy on Vimeo.