Class In Session

I made the front page today.  High five!

Southfield senior Portia McIntosh, Human Growth and Development student teacher, works with a Walnut classroom student at the Discovery Center on Tuesday morning in the Child Development and Learning Lab.

Walnut classroom students play with test tubes at the Discovery Center on Tuesday morning


I shot this assignment not too long ago for CM Life at the new Education and Human Services Building on behalf of the new Preschool, which use to be located in Wightman Hall, and how both staff and children are grasping the transition.  Initially I went there during noon, which is when Pod A: Classrooms Walnut and Oak are let out for recess.  I photographed student teachers and children playing in sand, painting pictures, riding bikes etc.  When I brought them back my editor and I weren't pleased with them, we liked a few but I needed to capture the childrens expressions because children seriously, have the best facial expressions.  Since the journalist who was writing the piece told me that I had at least a week until the article would be published, I was eager to go back and re-shoot.  This time around, I shot indoors during free-time when the children got to interact with their peers at different activites centers around the classroom.  My personal favorite was the Pretend Station where two young boys who were running a resturant fed me tacos for breakfast.  I took over 250 photographs in the hour I was there.  I came back to the newsroom with the photos I just shot and my editor agreed, "Much better." 

Others from the shoot:

TyeDye Tom

I met a very interesting individual on campus, which doesn't happen very often. I mean don't get me wrong, I love meeting new people and I find each one of them unique but do I rarely find someone who really captivates me. "Tyedye" Tom of New Orleans was on our campus outside the Bovee U.C. with a tent set up of items he was selling from his store 'Wish You Were Here' in Murphy, Tennessee. Tom was raising money to help support Alternative Breaks, a service project concentrated on social injustices. This idea originated when Tom's home was effected by Hurricane Katrina and students from Oaklahoma University helped fix the damages that were caused by the incident. While Tom travels to different college campuses like Michigan State, Grand Valley and many outside of Michigan he mentioned that, "Central Michigan has really embraced the service end, they have really served students education in leadership." But that's not what stood out to me about Tom. The first thing that caught my eye were all of his tapestries hanging, along with beaded hemp necklaces and classic rock t-shirts. The second was his dog Ben, a black lab who wore an american flag bandana around his neck. The third, was when I really got to talking to Tom. He shared with me his feelings about how the world is running for instance, "Greed has replaced the word prosperity." Aside from getting to know him I got to personally know his compassion for what he does. He told me that, "Michigan is losing people faster than its resources, we need to keep them here...that's why I'm here."

  Tyedye Tom of New Orleans fundraises for Alternative Breaks, a service project concentrated on social injustices, where half of the proceeds go towards the program. "I do it for the need. Service is what makes this country strong, we have got to remember that," says Tom.