The unpainted wooden guitar lying on Miles Salazar’s table was more than just a class assignment to him.
It’s been his dream to build his very own guitar, but it wasn’t until he had the creative freedom offered at Bay High, one of Lincoln Public Schools’ newest focus programs, that he was finally able to get started.
The senior has spent months putting the instrument together — he still has about another month of work to go before it’ll be ready to be played — and was more than ready to show off his progress at Bay High’s inaugural showcase Monday night.
“Being able to talk to people and tell people what I do and how I do it and how it works into my own life is super cool,” Salazar said.
Around 45 students displayed the creative projects they spent the semester working on at the event Monday, allowing family, friends and community members to see their art, music, business ideas, designs and photography.
The juniors and seniors enrolled in the focus program set up booths around The Bay where they had their projects on display and were able to talk about the process it took to create them.
“I think in most high school settings, they don't get that opportunity to really share their work. It's a vulnerable act to share your work. It takes a risk to do anything like that,” said Ethan Carlson, a teacher at Bay High. “And so now, they’re getting the chance to really display it and have someone ask questions about it.”
Students in their junior year, which is the first year students can join Bay High, created magazine-style pamphlets to promote their work. They had the ability to design the entire thing however they wanted and had to include two examples of work from each of their four classes along with photos.
Seniors, on the other hand, also displayed their “pillar projects,” a semester-long assignment to create something that ties back to one of the main pillars of Bay High: photo and video, graphic design, storytelling and coding and technologies.
Students created T-shirts, websites, go-karts, photography portfolios and more. Alongside their creations, seniors also made magazines with five journal prompts telling the story of their work.
“Miles was building a guitar, but as he built his guitar he created a portfolio that told the story of his band,” Carlson said. “That really showed his passion for music and the story of what he's building through his love for it.”
Kristi Molacek, whose son Joey attends Bay High, said the showcase not only provided a unique and beneficial opportunity to students, but to the parents, too.
“One thing I think that's great about it, it’s giving parents an opportunity to see what their kids can do. When it comes to regular schools, you just get the grades, you don't see how creative they are or what they accomplish,” Molacek said. “I just think it's such a great opportunity.”
Bay High senior William Latzel drives his home-built go-kart on Monday in the skate park on the Bay High campus. Latzel, 17, said he built the kart from a base frame he got for free. “(I) got a new motor, bought the seat — overcame a lot of problems, but it worked out,” he said. “Not a lot of people can say they built a go-kart in high school for a grade.”