Desktop Wallpaper

In Honor of Mrs. Freeman

On Monday November 8, 2010, Dixie High School suffered a major loss with the passing of the beloved Mrs. Freeman. In honor of Mrs. Freeman and her battle against breast cancer, we took pictures of students in pink "Fight for the Cure" t-shirts and created graphics in her honor. The "Fight for the Cure" graphic included below is still used in posts on the blog today as we continue to honor Mrs. Freeman's memory and fight to find a cure for cancer.

Another Staff Picture

The staff at Dixie High asked me to do another staff picture, this time in the front office with their Halloween costumes. Using PhotoShop Elements, I added some effects and text to the picture to enhance it before posting it to The Dixie Blog.

DSC Homecoming Parade

Because I began to enjoy taking pictures so much, I began going out of my way to attend certain activities for Dixie High School and capture them in photography. Granted, the Dixie State College Homecoming Parade was special because of our centennial year, but I still wanted to capture it and show a side of the parade that yearbook would not. I was able to capture some great shots that later ended up in the yearbook - even though a yearbook staff member covered the event as well. My goal for the year came to be to document everything I possibly could through pictures.

The difference was definitely noticeable and I instantly saw a spike in views on The Dixie 100 Blog as I included more and more pictures from the school year and activities. I did not receive any credit for taking the pictures and they were taken and edited completely on my own time. I volunteered to cover events in my spare time and created projects for myself without the direction of an advisor or committee. The blog's framework was originally created by the Centennial Committee, but I took the ball and ran with it, creating The Dixie Blog that is known on campus today.

Designs for Every Week

As I began to experiment with PhotoShop and using it to create graphics to enhance the blog, I also discovered the beauty in simplicity and clean designs. I created clean and simple designs for each "week" of activities at the high school and would label all related posts and pictures using the logo I created. Other examples of "weeks" are included below.

Homecoming 2010

The Dixie 100 Blog was originally launched to serve as Dixie High's centennial blog/website. I created these graphics in celebration of our centennial homecoming. Homecoming and D Week were meant to be the main highlights of The Dixie 100 Blog. But during that week the blog received so many hits and so much notice from students and staff that I began to realize the potential to expand the blog to include all activities at Dixie High.

I worked with Ms. Bridget, Dixie High librarian, to work on creating an official blog for the high school that highlighted activities throughout the year. The goal changed from highlighting activities that were strictly meant for the centennial, to highlighting and documenting the entire centennial year.

I carried a lot of my experience from The Forever Strong Blog to create content catered towards high school students. I tried to find engaging content that would give students a reason to continue visiting the blog after Homecoming Week. I quickly noticed that pictures were a huge hit on the blog. Therefore I changed the purpose of the blog from a site that focused on notices, articles, and written content, to something that could capture audiences visually. I became the one and only blog photographer.

I began attending all assemblies and all activities that I could to take pictures and document the centennial year through photographs. In some cases, I took more pictures and covered events better than the Yearbook Staff. Many of the photos that I used and that appeared on the blog would later appear in the Yearbook.

As part of Homecoming Week, the staff at Dixie received new staff shirts, for which they asked me to take a picture of to put on the new blog. I took the picture and then edited it to make the blue stand out, and then added the wording around it. This also sparked my interest in documenting the year through photos. The copy of this picture is now in the Faculty Lounge at Dixie High.

The Dixie Blog launches

I transferred to Dixie High School in August 2010. At Snow Canyon Middle School, I started a student council blog known as the Forever Strong Blog. I managed the blog during my Freshman year, creating graphics, logos, and uploading pictures to it. The blog has been managed by the succeeding student councils, and in the process, most of my work was deleted or lost. When I transferred to Dixie, I was asked to manage a website for the centennial year celebrations. Being most familiar with blogs, I started The Dixie 100 Blog as a way for current and past students to connect to Dixie High School to learn more about our centennial year.