VERO BEACH — The Vero Beach High School Commercial Photography Career Academy will have the opportunity to apply STEM skills beyond the classroom through an Innovation Generation grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation, the charitable arm of Motorola Solutions, Inc.
The Motorola Solutions Foundation provided $50,000 for a second year to challenge Florida’s district-wide local education foundations to inspire students through projects designed to help them solve real world problems in science, math, technology, and engineering (STEM) areas this school year through a grant to the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (CFEF.)
The Education Foundation of Indian River County’s (EF-IRC) project was one of 10 chosen to receive $5,000 through a competitive judging process with each application being reviewed and scored by a panel of STEM industry professionals through CFEF.
The grant, “Student STEM Skills Soar with Piper Aircraft,” is a collaborative effort between the EF-IRC, the School District of Indian River County (SDIRC,) and Piper Aircraft.
The goal of the project is to give the Career Academy students the real life experience and training of photographing airplanes and aviation equipment at the Piper Aircraft facility.
Piper marketing employees will mentor and train students on the techniques used in aviation photography.
Participating students will then get the opportunity to apply these skills. Through this mentoring process, students would learn how to refine their abilities. In addition, they will participate in professional photo shoots of the latest private jets that are manufactured at the Piper plant.
The photos will be used in two ways: in Piper marketing materials and to create special thank you books for customers who purchase private jets for their own personal use.
The Commercial Photography Career Academy at Vero Beach High School will provide students with instruction geared towards professional digital image capture, digital manipulation, and production of high quality photographic images that adhere to the industry standard, for use in print and electronic media.
Students will use current photographic technologies including cameras, lighting equipment, and computer hardware and software. Also, students will focus on producing images using design and compositional techniques for high aesthetic value and effective visual communication.
By combining the fundamentals of photography with professional digital imaging techniques, students will gain the skills necessary to meet aviation/industry standards. Through this project students will build on their own creativity and interests.
The skills developed will provide students with the experience of aviation photography, entrepreneurial capabilities, and future career opportunities.
“Each year, I am truly amazed by the ground-breaking work our grant recipients like the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations accomplish through their Innovation Generation grants,” said Matt Blakely, director, Motorola Solutions Foundation.
“These grantees are playing an active role in developing the future of STEM education for our country. As a company dedicated to helping people be their best in the moments that matter, Motorola Solutions could not be more honored to support programs such as CFEF,” Blakely added.