(May 24, 2013) — Four years later and we still walk the halls with the same students we walked into our very first Technology Literacy class with. Whether they were new or old acquaintances, students were able to relate to one another through Judith Craemer’s Photoshop class, Frank Wyatt’s Flash Animation class, William Reyna’s Microsoft class and Roger Smith’s technology class. For Arin Arakelian, each of those classes was a new way to make new friends.

Arakelian still laughs when he remembers the day Smith found him too talkative for the class and sent him outside. Unlike other students, Arakelian wasn’t worried and simply followed Smith’s directions. However, after having stood outside for over an hour, Arakelian grew curious. “I walked back in the class after the bell rang and he was shocked because he realized he forgot that he kicked me out,” laughed the former freshman.

When it came time for a freshmen group to transfer to Smith’s class, the angst among students grew after hearing funny stories from students previously in the class. “I remember during one lesson, Mr. Smith brought out one of the computer parts and differentiated the male and female parts,” Ciria Saavedra said. “Everyone found that extremely funny.” But after four years, it seems as if the idea of laughing at that lesson becomes funnier than the actual lesson itself. “Looking back at it, it’s so embarrassing,” Saavedra laughed. “We were all so little!”

However, these Tech Lit classes weren’t all fun and games. Many of Craemer’s, Wyatt’s, Reyna’s and Smith’s students left their classrooms with enough knowledge and experience that they were able to apply to another class or task. After weeks of Photoshopping different people and characters to put on an advertisement poster, Arakelian admitted that he actually did use photoshop in real life situations. “Her class helped a lot,” he said. Along with new Photoshop skills, Arakelian was able to use skills he learned in Reyna’s class in several class projects throughout the rest of high school.

Similar to Arakelian, Karen Wong finished freshman year with a new sense of creativity. Through the lessons and activities in Craemer’s class, Wong was able to design posters from scratch. “Being able to create different pieces on Photoshop was somewhat liberating,” Wong said. “Given that freedom to create pretty much anything I wanted gave me the opportunity to explore my creative side.”