- Academics
- Arts
Catholic Central Fine Arts Teacher Jennifer Teed is finishing her seventh year at Catholic Central this spring. With 11 years of overall teaching experience, Mrs. Teed found her way into education through another of her passions – media and visual arts.
“I began my career in marketing and graphic design but always had a passion for filmmaking and media arts,” said Teed. “Although I have a business background, I studied media/visual arts and filmmaking, which eventually led me to my current role in education. Media/visual arts and filmmaking are very hands-on, and while studying and producing my own projects, I realized that I might be able to help young people discover the craft.”
When she began teaching at Catholic Central, the cinema program was young with only one prior teacher. Teed said she felt an opportunity to contribute and help shape a growing program. “CC is a great place to work, and they encouraged and gave me creative freedom with the program that has grown exponentially in the past few years,” she said.
What Teed says she enjoys most about teaching media and visual arts is helping students to find their voice and confidence.
“All of my students have something to offer,” said Teed. “Some students don’t like traditional art classes like painting and drawing, but they find their creative niche in the world of visual and media arts. Visual arts and media are the perfect combination of creativity and technology. It is the right and left brain working together. It’s also a chance to put problem solving skills to work. I love helping students solve problems and encouraging them to improvise. Things don’t always run smoothly (especially while livestreaming), and it’s important to improvise and to be able to solve a problem that comes up on the spot. I love how media and visual arts can prepare students for life’s challenges.”
Teed explained what she loves about her work is getting to know her students and witness the intriguing ideas they come up with when given the creative space to explore.
Teed describes her biggest accomplishment thus far at Catholic Central as livestreaming the 2021 DRIVE, Catholic Central’s annual tuition assistance fundraiser.
“[DRIVE] is six days of over-the-top school spirit, where the whole student body comes together in the gym for assemblies each day,” she said. “When we weren’t allowed to gather in large groups due to pandemic restrictions, we had to find a way to livestream the assemblies to the students in their homerooms while trying to preserve the same energy that is characteristic of the CC DRIVE. We created a set, ran the show live, and were able to stream it to the students in their homerooms. It was a huge success for the students, and I am so happy to have been a part of something so amazing.”
Many staff and students might recognize Teed for her outstanding contributions to growing the Shamrock United Network (SUN), Catholic Central’s media umbrella which encompasses the student news program and the media team.
This year, Teed, along with Athletic Director Mr. Aaron Babicz and Tech Specialist Mr. Aaron Miller, officially launched Shamrock Media which covers Catholic Central sporting events and other school events with live-streamed coverage, photography, and commentary. With more than 20 members, the students gain real-world experience in the media arts industry and have the opportunity to find their niche within the vast media landscape. Students also hear from notable guest speakers throughout the year enabling them to build relationships and learn from professionals in the field. The SUN program encourages students to take risks, try new things, and all while supporting them in their endeavors.
“Some students never want to be in front of the camera, but we have a place for them on our livestream tech crew. Some students love sports and do live stats for our commentators to use during our live streams. Some students love doing graphics so they make the lineups and stat comparisons for our livestreams as well as our social media accounts. Some students love writing and photos so they cover sporting events in print,” said Teed. “We also have students who made a scoreboard app that works with the broadcasting software that we use. For example during our hockey game live streams, the scoreboard banner keeps track of the score, the clock and the penalties allowing the audience to get the full experience from home. These students took the initiative to build off of an already great application to make it better. This is what SUN is all about. We are always building and testing our knowledge and skills. The opportunity is there for the students to take, and most of them take it and run with it!”
To learn more about the Shamrock United Network and media arts classes you can take with Mrs. Teed, visit www.catholiccentral.net/academics.
Teacher Fast Facts
Favorite movie:
HALLOWEEN 1978 – you just can’t beat the original! This movie blows me away. What they accomplished with the technology of 1978 and a $300K budget still amazes me today. I’m also a huge fan of Jamie Lee Curtis and of horror movies in general.
Favorite Food:
Black Licorice and/or Black Jelly Beans (Sadly, I can only find these around Easter).
What do you do in your spare time?
I taxi my two kids around to their various sports and activities! Aside from that, we spend our summers boating and camping. I grew up on the Lake Erie Coast in Ohio and learned how to perch fish at an early age. Boating and water are in my blood, but I also love anything outdoors.
Fun fact:
I am a published author! My Dad and I wrote a book called “Ghost of the North Coast” which tells the haunted stories and urban legends of the coast of Lake Erie. It was fun to interview people and write their stories