Showcasing the best Minnesota has to offer
As many of you know I serve as the Media Coordinator for Farmington High School here in Minnesota in the heart of the South Suburban Conference, one of the most competitive conferences across all sports in the metro area of the state. This is my second year in the role and one I personally enjoy greatly as both a photographer and someone who gets to help nurture the growth of student photographers at the school.
In my short time with the school, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time working with their AD, Keith, to elevate their media for both socials and website use as well as working with their students to cover as much of the talented student athletes that attend FHS. In addition to covering a pair of games for each sport each season, I’ve also covered the football team, both boys’ and girls’ soccer and girls’ hockey for a majority of their seasons to capture all the excitement and milestone moments as they happen for both the players and the parents to look back on.
One of the things I’m most proud of as part of my role with FHS is setting up criteria for the students that work with the activities department to earn a letter towards their transcripts, something that is both groundbreaking and pioneering in the high school landscape of athletics media. This pathway to lettering is not only reasonably attainable by the students, but also establishes a realistic framework for a future in freelance work as a photographer or videographer which is something I wish had been around when I was a high school kid trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
For anyone that pays attention, there’s no shortage of talented high school kids pouring their hearts out behind the lens to capture incredible photos and video of all the big games their school competes in each season as well as a handful of media-centric accounts on Instagram to help spread the work they do (and maybe talk a little trash along the way).
In an effort to expand on what we’ve been doing at FHS, I have a few pipedream goals I’d love to achieve. If you or someone you know can assist in these goals then please feel free to reach out!
- Establish a yearly student-focused award with the MSHSL or SSC for best photographer and videographer, perhaps even a monetary based scholarship to apply towards their college experience
- Expand and build relationships with other high schools to develop and expand on student media for athletics departments
- Establish a community of photographers and videographers within the Minnesota high school ecosystem where students can share their work, collaborate and help each other learn and grow and even establish themselves as a working creative professional and get paid for their work
