In the spring semester of last year, Jesuit students learned about the new Stage & Film area and science lab rooms. Many were excited to hear about the expansion of the Jesuit Film Program through a new film class along with a new editing room furnished with state-of-the-art equipment. After a trial run last year, Jesuit decided to have the majority of science classes inside a lab. This would allow for teachers and students to do lab projects more easily as they would be constantly surrounded by the equipment. Further, the added hassle of reserving a lab would be gone.
In addition to the new film classroom, there is now the new Stage & Film commons directly adjacent to it, along with a room reserved for stagecraft. Mr. David Myers’s office and all of the new rooms and additions fit into 1,500 square feet of space, a large expansion as there was only the old theater commons when the summer began; now, the old theater commons serves as the new stagecraft room. Mr. Myers states that “it’s important to keep modernizing the arts on campus.” Modernization is an understatement, especially since there are ten new Mac computers and pro-quality cameras. The new stagecraft rooms also feature new saws, drills, paint sinks, and eighteen feet of stainless steel cabinets. “We’re going to be right there with that emerging trend, teaching our students to be fluent in these emerging media,” said Mr. Myers.
At the center of the Stage & Film area lies the common room, home to many students throughout the day. Mr. Myers says that “the idea of community has always been at the core of my approach to program building for theater and film,” exemplified by the traditional cast bonding during theater productions. The common room is lined with pictures of past productions, a point of pride for Mr. Myers and the entire Stage and Film program. In addition, there are two new couches and a conference table, along with a mirror looking into Mr. Myers’s office and the film room.
There are very high expectations for this year’s film program. When asked about what their plans were this coming year, Mr. Myers replied, “We’re going to aim to win the UIL State Championship in film… After that we are going to compete at South-by-Southwest and a number of other film festivals.” Last year, the film program did a “soft launch” of the program, which means that students were given the opportunity to use the equipment to see what they could do. This year, there is a lot more structure, and with that structure “comes the ability to host a big event like a film festival,” according to Mr. Myers. Students can join the film program by going to chat with Mr. Myers in the Stage & Film commons.
Directly above the new Stage & Film area lies the new science labs. These labs are a part of a new idea to incorporate science class rooms with labs to increase proficiency of the students. The new labs have much more storage space and seating space, as well as new equipment, including centrifuges, micropipettors, distillation equipment and new microscopes. Co-chair of the science department Dr. Todd Gruninger states that the driving force for the new rooms was “to make it easier for teachers to integrate more hands-on-activities into the classroom discussions and lectures.”
In previous years, a teacher had to check the other labs to see if one was free on a particular period, and if one was, the teacher had to reserve it for that period. With these new dual-purpose classrooms, teachers can integrate labs and visuals into their lectures. The dual-purpose aspect was the main reason for updating the classrooms, as positive feedback from last year proved these new multipurpose science classrooms to be effective. Previously, a student was given a sheet of paper and was asked follow the instructions like a “cookbook,” as Dr. Gruninger puts it. This new incorporation of labs and lessons allows the students to “design and integrate inquiry-based laboratories framed around current research techniques that focus on science as a process with many outcomes.”
These new facilities show that Jesuit is committed to keeping up with the rapidly evolving society that we live in today.
