2019 has been a rewarding year for the digital media artists of BVH. It first began with three students placing in the Sweetwater photo contest in the beginning of March, and now BVH has 11 students placing in the 2019 District Digital Media Showcase.

“We were honestly shocked we won first place because we didn’t enter the showcase for competitive reasons, it was to make a positive impact in someone’s life,” junior Izaiah Barnes said.

Barnes submitted a public service announcement (PSA) with junior Kaylonnie Jones about mental illness.

“We wanted to help people with mental illness and let them know that things always get better,” Barnes said.

Outside of the video category, photos, digital designs and music were also submitted to the contest. Each category had their own subcategories. For example, in the photo category the subcategories were black and white, and portrait.

“I couldn’t believe [I won first place]. Mr. Lim has told us that all our karma will come back to us, do I felt accomplished that I was able to win something,” junior Ruby Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez submitted a portrait photo of a stormtrooper from Star Wars, which she described as, “spur of the moment.” She was in a photography workshop at Southwestern Community College and managed to sneak out of her station into a room with professional models clad in the basic stormtrooper uniform and decided to take pictures.

AP Photography and computer art teacher Edwin Lim expressed satisfaction at his students’ success.

“You compete, you try to be better, that’s a part of art. It’s through competition that you become a better artist. Each has an emotional connection, and I think by competing you strive to be better. Through that you just become a better artist,” Lim said.

Lim has been teaching at BVH for five years, and students have been participating in the district digital media contest for four. Lim describes how this year he “purposely backed off and was more chill,” allowing students to voluntarily participate in the contests.

“[The students] were meant to create great work and I’m really happy that the the district saw their effort. So this was me pulling back,” Lim said. “Take the unneeded stress away, and they still won a lot more than previous years. This has taught me about teaching.”

Although students submitted their own work, some received help from outside sources. Barnes and Jones got help from Jones’s family; Rodriguez used Photoshop to perfect her submission.

“I feel like I have really improved in my work all because of how much my photography teacher, Mr. Lim, has pushed for the best quality work out of me which definitely contributed to the PSA we made,” Barnes said.

Lim is considered constant supporter to the digital media artists at BVH. He encourages his student to perform in showcases and contests like this one. He is not only proud of his students’ work but he is “inspired to come to work everyday”, not by what he sees, but by what his students see.

“I know that eight of my students won, but I’m really proud of all the other participants because for most of them it is their first art experience,” said Lim. “It’s a positive feeling when you feel strong with your work, enough to compete with it. That is my own victory even the ones that didn’t win, it’s still a victory because they competed.”