High schools from across Contra Costa County gathered at Los Medanos College Friday, April 10, for Media Day, an event intended for students to learn more about what the college offers in journalism, film, media and the arts.
LMC’s College Complex Building was decorated with booths, food and informational displays at each table. Media Day allowed students to explore whether a path in journalism and other majors were a right fit for them.
Media Day started out with a panel discussion in the Recital Hall featuring Dan Kopf, a data editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, Jose Carlos Fajardo, a staff photographer for the Bay Area News Group, Vivienne Aguilar, a health equity reporter for The Intersection, Larena Baldazo, web producer for the Contra Costa Employment & Human Services department, Scott Linesburgh, executive editor for Stocktonia and Don Batista, a broadcast traffic reporting influencer at the KCBS Radio. The panelists answered questions about what it is like to work in the industry.
After the panel discussion, each high school was given a tour through various departments, including the art, journalism, and film classrooms on campus.
Journalism professor Cassie Dickman coordinated the event and organized activities for attendees, including a bingo card that encouraged students to visit tables and interact with faculty and members of the programs.
Dickman said, “I think it was a big success, we changed some things up, made it more interactive and it got a lot of good feedback.”
Additionally adding how she feels that the event was beneficial for high schoolers to realize that there are plenty of opinions out there for them after graduating high school and LMC is one of them. “It shows them that you don’t have to go to a 4-year, that 2-year colleges like LMC and community colleges are a great alternative. They offer great education and it shows them the facility and the possibilities are good for them,” Dickman said.
Student attendee, Ariana Black said her favorite part of the event was visiting the ceramics room. “The ceramics room, because I’m a ceramics student at Antioch. It was really awesome to see that they offer it here because most community colleges don’t offer something like that,” Black said.
Timothy Dupree, a Deer Valley High School yearbook and journalism teacher, said he encourages his students to find out what they’re interested in. “In our intro to journalism class, we push students to learn the different modes of writing. Students tend to find a lane that they’re interested in. We develop that within the publications class where they learn how to use InDesign.”
InDesign is one of the software programs that journalism students tend to work with when designing pages, similarly such as Adobe Acrobat and Photoshop are also frequent tools that graphic arts majors use.
Eric Sanchez, a 2D specialist and Professor at LMC, helped lead the event. His classroom, filled with student artwork, was a major attraction for the attendees. As groups entered, the room quickly filled with excitement and curiosity.
Sanchez describes the experience as “oversensitizing, but in a good way, in other words it was very energetic, I was a talking drain, but for me that’s a good thing because it means there’s lots of interaction.”
Student worker Jordan Castro also emphasized the importance of Media Day.“It gives students a chance to see what we have to offer. It’s about setting the next person up for success,” Castro said.
After a day of tours and networking, lunch and snacks were available for students to enjoy and relax with friends before heading back. The engagement from students turned into the success of Media Day, additionally enhancing their knowledge on what a community college campus is like and what options are available for their academic futures.
