the portfolio of elena berisha
May 13, 2016
e: elenaberisha@yahoo.com
Joshua Jackson Band Director Sound of the Braves 1000 E. Kaley St. Orlando, FL 32806 Dear Mr. Jackson, The Sound of the Braves is a band that has come so far in the last four years and has advanced far beyond what was expected of us. With the hard work and determination of the students, we made FMBC state finals, finishing the season with the fifth place trophy. This feat would not have been possible without the help of the techs and staff who led countless rehearsals, constantly creating new ways to improve our marchers. I am applying to become the woodwind tech for the 2016-2017 season in order to aid in the success of this band. I believe this organization will continue to grow and can place even higher in state rankings. With band camp just around the corner, it is important to start planning and practicing for the upcoming soon now. Due to my involvement in the Sound of the Braves myself for four years, I have an intimate knowledge of the program which gives me a unique perspective as a tech. I am familiar with most of the students currently enrolled in the program, guaranteeing my respect and closeness to the students. My dedication is another asset that I can bring to the staff because of the last three years which I spent on the leadership team while I was marching for the Sound of the Braves. As a member of All-County Band for four years, my knowledge of music that is specific to woodwinds is broad and will allow me to teach the woodwinds to the highest standards in the county. I know an interview would allow me to show you my potential as a member of the Sound of the Braves staff and I thank you for considering me for the position. I will call back in a week to see what the next step is for my application. Respectfully yours, Elena Berisha
Objective:
e: elenaberisha@yahoo.com
To provide my skills and experience to the Sound of the Braves marching band in order to aid in their success at competitions by being their tech during the 2016-2017 season.
Education:
-Completed three years at William R. Boone High School -Graduation date: May 2016 -Unweighted G.P.A.: 3.87
Experience:
Sound of the Braves, William R. Boone High School Marching Band, 2012-2016 -Aug 2015-2016: Drum Major and Band Captain, second in command to the band director. -Aug 2014-2015: Woodwind Captain, head of the woodwinds (54 students), leading practices and always the first to arrive or last to leave, first junior captain in band history. Piccolo player. -Aug 2013-2014: Uniform officer, in charge of the whole band’s uniforms and presentation, piccolo player in the band -Aug 2012-2013: Flute player and marcher
Relevant High School Studies:
Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble Honors
Honors, Awards, and Memberships:
All County Band: 2011-2014, 2016, audition to be a part of county’s top musicians. 2014, only piccolo player. Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra: 2011-2014, piccolo player and part of the Philharmonic orchestra. Most Outstanding Musician, Class of 2016: 2012-2015, won the award for best musician every single year. Best Drum Major: 2016, Clearwater Competition for best tempo upkeep and style, along with leadership as drum major. Legend Yearbook Staff: 2013-2014, 2015-2016, staffer. 2014 Yearbook Pacemaker from National Scholastic Press Association and 2014 Yearbook Gold Crown from Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
References:
Stephen Cook: associate band director, stephen.cook@ocps.net p: 407-893-7200 x. 6012809 Renée Burke: yearbook advisor, renee.burke@ocps.net p: 407-893-7200 x. 6014614 Ryan Lastrapes: band tech, rklastrapes@bellsouth.net p: 904-866-5141
a dream is a wish your heart makes
Being on yearbook staff in high school was a goal of mine since the end of sixth grade, when I picked up the Howard Middle School yearbook and flipped through the pages, gazing at the pictures and wishing I was in more of them. Yearbook seemed to have the whole package for me: writing, photography, design, and putting so much energy into a project with the rewarding feeling of seeing all the hard work pay off. Reality seemed to hit sophomore year as I became an official staffer of the Legend 2014 yearbook, with tough deadlines and band practice every other day. Balancing multiple extracurricular activities has become almost an art form for me. Over the last four years of high school, my various degrees of involvement in yearbook have taught me so much about time management and real life situations in which I must learn to prioritize. Dedication seems to be a very important factor in success and making sure I am always focused on the goal of making deadline is something I have learned from being on staff. Being on yearbook staff has taught me how to use many different programs and equipments that many people do not get the chance to use. Photoshop and InDesign are not terrifying to me anymore; they have become a part of my regular routine at school in fourth period. While I used to find cameras confusing, I can now manage all the basics of a camera such as changing the ISO and shutter speed. These production skills that I have picked up will be an enormous asset in the workforce as they show that I am capable of doing many things involving digital media and show my well-rounded nature. Three out of my seven deadlines were with a partner in another class period, really teaching me the importance of teamwork and communication when being dependent on someone else. Although I rarely saw my partner, we were a great team due to our determination to meet our deadlines on time and to have quality spreads. Part of being on a team is being able to compromise and sharing the burden of work. My partner and I never had any problems with each other, as we each shared the work equally. My first year on staff I had such a hard time selling things and I was always so scared to speak to people about the yearbook. This year, I sold my first full page color ad. Looking back at my 2014 portfolio, the amount of growth I have shown is massive. My insecurity in using InDesign showed as I had scanned in multiple design elements and then proceeded to put them in my portfolio instead of creating them through the program itself. This immature design did not showcase my talent. Also, with the new system in yearbook this year, I designed much more than in 2014 so my design talents have really expanded. Knowing that, because of yearbook, I am capable of being successful in multiple areas, and can balance multiple activities, has helped shape my future plans as I decide on which college major(s) to pursue. Scholastic journalism has enriched my life and taught me so many valuable life lessons, which I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
so this is love...
Walking into my fourth period one day, I was told that I had been assigned one of the “harder” pages- the “Gender Bender” page. Confused as to what this meant, I texted my partner and asked her to explain the deadline we shared together. Beginning with that text, my third deadline was the deadline which changed the most from start to the finished piece. The purpose of the gender bender page was to portray dual enrollment in a nontraditional way, profiling kids who were attending tech schools for careers outside of their gender norm. While there were many male nurses to choose from, the females were very limited. In fact, there was only one female who was in a stereotypically male-dominated field of study, and she had withdrawn from Boone right before this deadline. As my partner and I got further into our discussion, we decided to go with a normal dual enrollment spread but try to feature the tech programs which aren’t normally focused on, mainly because of how hard they are to photograph. Taking a field trip one day, my partner and I drove out to a nearby tech school and took pictures of as many different programs as possible. Our advisor told us before we went that she had always wanted a picture of a tech student welding as the dominant photo because of how intriguing the sparks would look. I made it my goal to take a picture good enough to fulfill this wish. Upon arriving at the tech school, I headed to the welding class and managed to take one of the best pictures I’ve ever taken which is now the dominant picture on the dual enrollment page. This deadline was definitely the most interesting one I’ve had because of the many changes it underwent and the unique situation of having to go off campus for quality pictures. This was also the first deadline which I designed my own layout and I’m proud of it. My favorite thing about this page is how inclusive it is of the technical programs which are not the normal ones you hear of, such as film or cooking. We included welding, electric, and automotive studies. It covers all the bases. Overall, I am really proud of this spread because of how hard my partner and I worked. Despite the setbacks of having our deadline changed from gender bender, to just being dual enrollment, we still made it and the page ended up looking really good.
First Draft
Published Piece
why it’s like a dream
a wonderful dream come true
Y18. Academic photo Academics, 80-81, deadline 3 I want this picture to represent me because I am very proud of the artistic value of it. The orb of light coming from the sparks makes the light pop out. I love the darkness of the photo which frames the spot of light. Overall, the colors in this photo make it one of my favorite pictures. It’s also an academic photo because it’s a tech program so it’s unique. Y30. Sports spread: one spread Sports, 102-103, deadline 4 I want this spread to represent me because I think that it’s a very simple but effective sports spread. The design is interesting and I worked hard on making the pictures something more than just straight action shots, to create diversity. The story was hard to write because their record was bad but they weren’t bad players. It is one of my favorite sports spreads that I’ve done. DM13. Sports news http://teacherpress.ocps.net/ hilights/2016/01/14/82310/ I want this sports story to represent me because I think I did a good job of turning a very average game into something interesting for a reader. It is a simple game play-by-play. It was a challenge to write because the boys soccer team were good but their record didn’t show it, so I had to portray that in the story.
oh, well. what’s a royal ball?
Clips
Writing
This is the best story I wrote this year and it had minimal edits. It was in a very limited amount of space but I managed to fit everything in.
what’s mine:
body, secondary coverage
Index, 405, Deadline 5
Writing
This story was a challenge to write because it was a very broad area to cover, the entirety of Florida, and each district had different regulations for bear hunts but it came together at the end.
what’s mine:
body, secondary coverage
Index, 403, Deadline 5
Writing
This was an emotional story that was challenging to write because I had to convey that emotion in such a short space. I made deadline early for deadline 5.
what’s mine:
body, secondary coverage
Index, 402, Deadline 5
Writing
Sports, 102-103, Deadline 4
This was the hardest sports story for me to write because I needed to show that their record did not reflect their skill level but I found the perfect balance.
what’s mine:
body, alternative coverage, photography
Writing
I did all of the captions since the pictures were taken for us.
what’s mine:
Secondary coverage
Sports, 391, Deadline 4
Design
Sports, 28-29, Deadline 7
This was the first deadline I designed successfully and it did not have many changes made to it.
what’s mine:
design,, alternative coverage
Design
Academics, 80-81, Deadline 3
This was another design I made which had some simple edits to it but the main concept was there. This was my favorite deadline.
what’s mine:
design, photography, alternative coverage
Photography
Student Life, 39, Deadline 2
This page underwent a lot of changes because the dominant used to be Sydney Van Hook but she was used as a profile after we had finished the deadline so a lot of the revisions fell into our section editor’s hands.
what’s mine:
photography, alternative coverage
Photography
Sports, 38, Deadline 7
This page had to be redesigned because of how many games both teams played but I took the team picture.
what’s mine:
photography, alternative coverage
Photography
Faculty, 204-205, Deadline 1
It was hard to coordinate getting all of these teachers for their pictures but we made deadline.
what’s mine:
photography, alternative coverage
Web
Click here to read this story.
what’s mine:
photography, body, caption
Web
Click here to see this photo gallery.
what’s mine:
photography
it’s midnight
Color Page
CONTENT AND DESIGN BY ELENA BERISHA
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students strive for place in state finals
BOX OR BUST
Color - Size 9 - 5-03445: Boone High School
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PAGE TOPIC “What’s something that most people don’t know about you?,” grade name said.
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SENIOR NAME HERE
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what’s this?
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Color - Size 9 - 5-03445: Boone High School
Color Page
the one who lost her slipper at the ball last night.
they say he’s madly in love with her.