Historically a center of innovation and excellence, Crater Campus recognized the need for small schools in the 1980s and ‘90s, and received widespread recognition for its implementation of the small schools model alongside its traditional comprehensive program. In the fall of 2007 the Crater Campus officially instituted a full “schools–within–a–chool” design for all students by formally restructuring the school around four new pathway programs.

As part of that launch lead teaching teams from each of the new academies took part in the Digital Storytelling Professional Development Program to create presentation and recruitment videos they could use to introduce students to their schools.

Teacher Video

Academy of Health and Public Services

Jeanie Camarillo, Brad Eaton, Karilu James

Participating teachers spent two days taping and assembling a short outreach video about their small school, its philosophy and design. This PD workshop models key aspects of a digital storytelling experience by asking teachers to take on the role of learners as they consider questions of audience, asset gathering, project planning and teaming while they assemble their own short video.

Student Spotlight Videos

Click below to view examples of exemplary student work. These products showcase how individual students and project teams responded to the digital storytelling design model, which incorporated familiar project-based learning criteria – the driving question, speaking and writing tasks, habits of mind, the notion of an authentic audience – as a framework for the project and the hands-on workshop.

Autism

by Jake, Emily, & Charlie

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Equilibrium

by Jennifer, Melinda, & Stephanie

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Alchemy

by Daniel

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Habia Una Vez

by Breyanna & Kaitlyn

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Canada & India

by Crystal & Kayla

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Class Projects

Click below to view work of the participating classes to see how each project team responded to the common question of Revolution.

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Equality Today

Ms. James
Grade 10

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Nuestro Mundo Latino

Ms. Rogers
Period 7

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International Marketing Project

Mr. Rogan
Grades 11 & 12

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Renaissance Life

Ms. Palmer
Period 4

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