The 2011-2012 school year has officially ended, and most of you are enjoying your summer vacations. A BIG thank you is in order, to the students, faculty and supporters of the Communications Technology program for especially this past semester.

Special thanks especially to two of our Spring 2012 adjunct Professors, Najlah Hicks our Web Design 1 and 2 instructor, and Gary Russo our Television Studio Production instructor. Both brought new creative aspects to the program. Thanks also to Sergio Marquez, who helped make many things possible in the Television Studio. As usual, thanks to our awesome Faculty, Staff (College/Lab Assistants, Secretary…) and Students. Let’s also not forget to congratulate our GRADUATES, your hard work has paid off! We wish you health and success as you join the workforce.

This year we had 7 graduates: (Left to right in photo) Brandon Nix, Dhruv Kumar, Edwin Illoh, Katrina Arias, Aminul Islam, Jazmine Gonzalez-Colon, Joonmarie Roca-Brush. Check out the flickr stream on the main page to view more pictures of the graduates, and add your pictures to the yorkcommtech pool.

Much great work was produced this semester, here are a few of those pieces.

Daniel Phelps restructured the Advanced Documentary course, and has produced some interesting results, allowing students to see Documentary in a different light. Here are a few of the Final Productions of the course.

Subway Hustle is short documentary comparing the dangers and rewards of two common types of “Hustles” occurring in the NYC Subway system. A hustle is a quick way of making money, sometimes either considered to be gray area income or illegal. This piece reamins very objective, choosing not to say whether either form is right or wrong, but simply informing its viewers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXyJvt-MGc8

Drawing Lines compares the stories and points of view from several people of different cultures, nationalities and origins along with factual understanding of its origin to look at the lingering effects of racial separation and stereotyping. The personal stories shared come from several different situations. This film also talks about perception and gets several points of view (Law/policy maker, Sociologist, student, working class, teacher, immigrant). Its purpose is to talk briefly about what stereotyping and how a solution may be found.

You can view all of the final pieces from the Advanced documentary course here.

Najlah Hicks has taken the Web Design 2 course to the next level, giving her students real world clients to design for, while still being a student. Here are some of the finished products:

Katrina Arias design a website for a non-profit organization, Creative Aging Mid-South. The organization improves the quality of life for elders in the Mid-South area of the United States.

Najmul Suvo created a personal portfolio site for Dhruv Kumar. Check out his well designed resume as well.

Leeza Walkes put together a website for The Monastery of St. Mary of Egypt. Her personal website, which she uses to showcase and sell both her media and crochet work, is equally impressive.

Her Web Design 1 class also did some great work. This course teaches students modern web design techniques while building a personal/portfolio site.

Check out Shakira’s portfolio site. I really liked that she outlines her creative process: you can see her inspiration and how her site came together from an outline and wireframe to a full fledged design.

Gary Russo put his student’s abilities to the test, conducting the first LIVE TV stream done by the York College Communications Technology Students. It was an Awards Show called Reel Masters, where viewers voted in real time for their favorite video. It turned out to be a huge success with good viewing audience and many votes. Check out my previous post to see the winning video and the runner up.

Michael Smith as usual, spent a semester inspiring creativity in his students of the ds106 (CT 101) class. Students made so much work, that by the end of the course, they understood the basics of creating media. Click here to view the York ds106 section.

A driven group of our students set out to make a Fictional Film for their final project, one worthy enough to be a starting point for the careers they wish to pursue in filmmaking. The film, named “Black Rose,” will be officially released very soon, but while we wait, here is the trailer.