By: Maria Allard | Warren Weekly | Published November 25, 2024
CENTER LINE — The new sixth grade Academy Explorer class at Wolfe Middle School is giving students the opportunity to strengthen their computer skills, sharpen their creativity and better understand the meaning of teamwork.
Students are learning about careers in digital design and communication. Educators have partnered with the Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development’s marketing and communications team, which is meeting several times with the students this year. Wolfe is part of Center Line Public Schools.
As an ongoing class assignment, the students are working in teams to develop a digital design campaign for two clients: Forgotten Harvest, located at 15000 W. Eight Mile Road in Oak Park, and Gleaners Community Food Bank, headquartered at 2131 Beaufait St., in Detroit.
The second- and third-hour students are “working” for Forgotten Harvest, and the fifth-hour students are “working” for Gleaners. The campaigns will not be used by nonprofits, but the assignment is giving the students a real-world experience.
Forgotten Harvest delivers food to local charities five days a week that in turn provides families in need with fresh and nutritious food free of charge. Gleaners serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties by providing food to nearly 400 partner soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, schools and other agencies across the region.
Using Google apps and software from the Canva company, the students’ digital campaigns must include three components: a blog, a flyer and a social media post. Before meeting their “clients” Oct. 8, the students conducted research on the nonprofit organizations. On Oct. 21, they visited Forgotten Harvest and Gleaners on Oct. 22.
A digital design campaign is used to visually communicate and market a brand’s message through social media, websites and emails. The students are using various graphics, designs, color schemes, texts, various fonts and facts to promote Forgotten Harvest and Gleaners.
On Nov. 14, Megan Ochmanek, a marketing and communication project manager; Rachel Dearing, a communication specialist; and Jennifer Valente, a graphic designer — all from the Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development’s marketing and communications team — visited Wolfe to give the students feedback on their projects thus far. Also present were classroom teachers Chengu Jiang and Genevieve Gelle, district career readiness coach Kelli Phillips-Herrick, and district 6-12 instructional/career coach Jordan Reeves.
“This was fabulous. Your blog was fantastic. It’s clear you worked together,” Ochmanek told the group she worked with during third hour. “You talked about dignity, transportation, helping neighbors and ways to get involved.”
Valente said the group she worked with helped each other out.
“They did great, great use of colors,” she added.
When at the table with several students, Dearing suggested the team simplify its wording a bit. Other than that, “This looks good,” she told the students.
Gelle said that for the past two years a group of teachers, administrators and counselors brainstormed ideas about how to establish a career pathways curriculum at each grade level that focused on inquiry-based learning. They also contacted local businesses and organizations to donate their time, money or expertise to the program.
The students are taking the project seriously. Jannat Ridema said she has enjoyed the digital design campaign experience and could see herself doing this type of work in the future. While creating a campaign for Forgotten Harvest with her team, “I used bright colors and bolded words to make readers see it,” Ridema said. “Forgotten Harvest’s main goal was to provide families with food they need.”
Christopher Simmons said when making his team’s campaign, he kept in mind what he saw when visiting Forgotten Harvest.
“We have to know a lot of facts about it,” Simmons said. “You need interesting topics and titles. You want it to be eye-catching.”
Something that stood out for Davione Love was Forgotten Harvest’s Client Community Choice Market, where clients who register in advance can pick out their own food.
“For people who don’t have food, that’s a great place for them to go,” he said.
“It’s fresh food they can take,” Simmons said.
While working on the Gleaners campaign, Graydin Ogles created a video game using coding.
“I made it so people will want to see it,” said Ogles, who learned a lot about digital design. “You try to have good stuff on your blog. You have to do color.”
The students will present their final digital design campaign presentations on the morning of Dec. 18 at the district’s administration building.
In Center Line Public Schools, K-7 students are assigned a career pathway class. This year, all Wolfe sixth graders take Academy Explorer 6, Digital Design and Communication. The seventh graders take Academy Explorer 7: Law and Justice, and Academy Explorer 8: Career Exploration classes are elective at this time.