As Las Vegas Academy (LVA) students are fully aware the 2023-2024 school year is in full swing, and many of them have noticed there have been some significant changes. One of these is the new Multimedia Arts and Communications major that is offered under Visual and Media Arts at LVA. Though many don’t know about this new major, the classes
that comprise the major can be taken as electives for all students, who may have an interest in them.Included below are brief introductions to some of the new staff members, as well as discussions of their other interests besides multimedia.
Freshman Orchestra major Cameron Brian has been involved with orchestra since he was in sixth grade. “I thought this would be a really good school for continuing orchestra, because I thought it was really fun in middle school,” said Brian.
Junior Vocal major Lily Crawford-Abeita didn’t know what to expect when entering multimedia. Influenced by her friends’ enjoyment, she took the class with low expectations, but since then has learned to love the work she does.
Sophomore Piano major Emily Dunbar joined the new multimedia class out of curiosity. “I honestly was curious to see what’s happening in multimedia communications, like what was happening and what they did,” said Dunbar. As well as joining multimedia communications, Dunbar also enjoys a lot of hobbies such as drawing, cooking, and piano.
Sophomore Vocal major Alex Hairston who has yet to fully enjoy their major, but has a passion for Multimedia Communications. “I really liked photography, interviewing people, and magazines. I’m looking forward to all article writing in this class and photography opportunities,” said Hairston.
Yukki Acala, who enjoys singing and being in choir, is a junior majoring in Vocal. Acala’s teachers, Mr. Ostlie and Mrs. Franke, keep her and other students busy in their major, but yet, allow them to flourish as people. “I do really love the teaching style of both Ms. Franke and Mr. Ostlie,” said Acala. “They’re very particular and very strict on vocal technique, which makes me a better singer.”
Freshman Thiago Lisk, is in the early phase of his Media Arts and Communications major and expressed his opinions about LVA and his major. “It’s very similar to multimedia. You’re able to just make it abstract. They kind of allow you to spread your imagination,” Lisk said.
As a digital and traditional artist and writer, freshman Multimedia Arts and Communications major Jayce Rodrigues, indicated interest in multimedia because it was one of the majors that allowed them to take other classes that involve visual design. “Visual design and illustration has always interested me, and it’s been something I’ve done for years at this point,” said Rodrigues.
Kyra Neely, a freshman Media Arts Communication major, whose favorite is Halloween. “My favorite parts of Halloween are meeting up with my family after I’m done dressing up and seeing how their costumes look on them,” said Neely.
Freshman Multimedia Arts and Communications major Citlali Lopez, also has an interest in canines, specifically, Oreo, a Pomeranian, and Cookie, a boxer. After a long day at school seeing her dogs is what Lopez looks forward to.
Multimedia Arts and Communications major Stellar Slentz-Baeb also enjoys roller skating, an activity that. Slentz-Baeb started around the age of four or five. This interest grew and evolved after learning about and participating in roller derby. “I joined when I was seven,” Slentz-Baeb said. “And then, just recently, like June or July, I started ramp skating,” said Slentz-Baeb .
Senior Aria Celentano is a Vocal major, who is new to Multimedia, models during free time away from school. Celentano expressed the belief that all models should support other models who want to compete, and lives this philosophy since, “ I want to be next to friends,” said Celentano.
“I’m learning new things and I love taking pictures, whether that be of myself or other people,” said junior Multimedia Arts and Communications major Re’arie Araujo, while commenting about their experience with photography. Araujo, who is just as compassionate about poem writing as they are for photography, partakes in the literary art within the privacy of their home.
Junior Vocal major Ghost Kitchen spoke recently about some of her hobbies outside of school, and commented, “My favorite part of writing is being able to create worlds and characters that are super interesting and that resonate with me and other people.” Kitchen added that fantasy, horror and romance genres were her top favorites.
Expressing his feelings toward his new major, freshman Visual Arts major Jayden Jones stated,“They allow us to express ourselves and we don’t have that many constrictions, like how we did in middle school. It’s a big change of pace.” Jones seems to enjoy the change from his last school, and feels he can draw how he wants but with the good, also comes the bad. “We have to complete tasks so fast, and I like to take my time when drawing,” he said. Of course, to learn everything that is needed, it may seem fast, and sometimes it can be hard for someone like Jones when it takes a longer time to draw.
Freshman Lin Styles has a passion for drawing, and through her Multimedia Communications major, she is laying a foundation and making plans for her artistic abilities in the future, as well as cultivating her inspiration for starting art. Currently, Styles plans to become a voice actor. “The person I look up to most, Jenny Yokobori, a voice actor, and I’ve always really been into cartoons and how they were made. I think that if I ever got to voice in one, I’d be really happy,” said Styles.
Freshman Tech Theater major Hannah Aquino is currently working on shows for the music and theater department. Outside of their major they enjoy horror movies as well as math.
Multimedia Arts and Communication major Greyson Martinez is new to Multimedia but still finds it interesting. “Multimedia intrigued me because every time somebody has a conversation or asks questions, they get feedback,” said Martinez. “It’s interesting how they answer, because everyone answers differently,” said Martinez.
Freshman Multimedia Arts and Communications major Samantha Perez-Luna, is in the early phases of the year. Aside from schoolwork, one of Perez’s hobbies are cooking and baking, which they learned from their older sister.
Freshman Tech Theater major Danica Seitz describes it as, “…all the technical stuff of theater, like all the lighting and sound and the costumes you see on stage, but it isn’t limited to just technical stuff.” Seitz also said, “Tech theater isn’t just limited to the theater and the technical stuff. They are also helping backstage with the actors.”
When talking about last year at LVA, Lucia Moran Montiel, who is now a sophomore, said, “Overall freshman year, you’re just trying to figure out your way around and it’s a lot. It was very overwhelming but then once you know your way around it gets easier.” Moran’s comments indicate that the freshman year can be a hard transition, especially for those who were middle schoolers during the pandemic.
For freshman Michelle Yeboah, their hobbies of reading and drawing mesh well with their Multimedia and Communications major “You can go into another world with movies you can’t go into, but with reading you can create your own world based off of someone else’s,” said Yeboah.
As a theater major who is now a junior, Deanna Webber says they enjoy being a theater major, but wishes that the conservatory had less auditioning for productions. Webber decided to come to LVA due to her mom being a Dance major alumni. Webber doesn’t want to go into theater in the future, but instead would like to become a tattoo artist. Anticipating what the future might hold, Webber said they would like to be “tatted out.”
Junior now Multimedia Arts and Communications major Aliyah Billings said this about switching her major from theater to multimedia, “I just wanted to switch my major because I didn’t see myself doing theater as a career.” Instead of doing theaterBillings sees herself pursuing and earning a communication degree.
Besides devoting his time to school, freshman Marcus Vickers has a very interesting hobby before and after school. Vickers boxes everyday, and due to his devotion is the number one boxer in his weight division. He works hard to keep up in his boxing classes and makes sure he does the necessities he feels that benefit him the most to have a good match. “Always make sure you have good cardio, maybe do a few benches to work on your chest and then do some curls to work on your muscles,” said Vickers.
Outside of school, sophomore Eliana Wehrle enjoys dancing and drawing. She began dancing in preschool. Her preschool had a dance program where they would do dance recitals and concerts. “I’ve been dancing my whole life,” said Wehlre.
Sophomore Aerith Hamper decided to switch from being a Tech major to a Multimedia Arts and Communications major for the 23-24 school year. “I feel like journalism as a whole has helped me come out of my shell,” said Hamper.
Just as LVA has a diverse student body, there is great diversity in interests, skills, and talents among students. This fact is quite obvious when someone reviews the variety of majors that the school offers. The students mentioned above represent only a fraction of those who are engaged in Multimedia. Together, they are a promising group for the advancement of this field of study, and will one day be positive representatives of LVA and this career field.
