Lucerne Valley Middle/High School Photography Program Thrives as Student Work is Displayed in the Student Union

By Yesenia Cazales and Nathan Bhojwani

STARTING THIS SEMESTER, THE PHOTOGRAPHY

of Lucerne Valley Middle/High School students will be displayed on the walls of the site’s student union. The students are excited about the opportunity to start displaying their photography to a wider audience. The recently-introduced student union is a classroom that has been converted into a game/recreation room to reward students for doing well. The photographs that will be displayed in the student union were produced in the site’s photography class, which was reintroduced this school year. The class is taught by Mr. Wortham, who has been a part of the LVMHS team for 28 years. John Wortham is a history and photography teacher and has a passion for traveling the world and seeing it through a camera lens. In addition, he is the proud owner of a photo gallery in Big Bear called the Wild Coyote, which has been in operation for approximately three years. When asked about his students’ work being displayed in the student union he replied, “I am glad that my students’ photography is being displayed in the student union and it’s an amazing opportunity for other students to be exposed to the work their peers made; maybe they’ll be inspired to take the class in the future.”

The photography class is designed to make students better photographers and to expand their knowledge about things such as camera handling, composition, using light effectively, file management, digital image manipulation, and developing a photographic vision. Mr. Wortham takes his students out on a “backyard field trip” once or twice a week to explore the natural desert scenery of Lucerne Valley. When asked about the class, eleventh

Let grade student Thomas Grandjean said that he likes the desert scenery from the trips and likes taking pictures of all the cacti out in the wild. “All my classmates,” said Grandjean, “have enjoyed the class and we all want there to be a second photography class next year.”