For decades, EAST has connected students with renowned industry professionals to engage students in hands-on experiences that teach them real world skills. Today, EAST Student Training has expanded greatly, with thousands of students attending in-person and virtual training classes each school year. 

One such student is Nettleton Junior High EAST student Jayla Hauge, who attended a DSLR photography training led by Bob Black-Ocken.

Jayla chose to attend this training so she could learn to take better pictures.

“I’ve loved taking pictures for our EAST Instagram page, so I want to learn different settings I can use on the camera to take pictures of different things.” 

Student Trainings can equip students to greatly advance their EAST projects; this is often why students attend. Jayla plans to use her newly acquired skills to take pictures for her EAST program’s social media, chronicling events around the school.

Beyond advancing projects, EAST Student Training prepares students for the modern, technology-based world; when asked what skills she thought would help her beyond the classroom, Jayla stated: “It can help me in the future if I want to take pictures professionally; I can use the basic techniques I learned here and grow from that.”

In a follow-up interview after her training, Jayla reflected on what she learned and enjoyed most: “My favorite part was learning how a picture can tell a story,” She described an activity where the class analyzed a 1960s photo of a woman.

 “You can see in the expression, and what they’re wearing, and what’s surrounding them. She had on very bright colors, she was laughing and having fun.” 

Jayla also gained technical skills, like learning about light exposure and special camera settings. Just weeks later, she’s already photographed a major school event and looks forward to more opportunities to apply what she’s learned.

Once again, Jayla appreciated the trainer’s hands-on teaching method.

“I like how we learned a lot and then after, we took pictures using everything we learned.”

Comparing it to a typical classroom, Jayla explained that she enjoyed the trainer’s specialized skills.

“The trainer had more experience, and he knew more than just a regular teacher that doesn’t specialize in it, and he could show us his own pictures.” 

Thanks to our outstanding trainers who are experts in their fields, EAST students can gain meaningful, real-world skills that prepare them for success in EAST and beyond.