Carlsbad Seaside Academy - Shooting For The Stars

From the Carlsbad Unified School District:

March 11, 2020

This amazing photograph of the Milky Way was taken by Adam Gordon, a Carlsbad Seaside Academy (CSA) and Carlsbad High School (CHS) student. His work has been honored with Best of Show and Best of Division at the Del Mar Fair, and named one of the 100 Best Photos of the Year by space.com. By attending CSA, Carlsbad Unified’s Independent Study high school, Adam has been able to pursue his passion, landscape and astrophotography, while meeting the requirements to graduate from high school.

Carlsbad Seaside Academy is a small high school designed for students who can work independently and responsibly, and need a more flexible schedule. Students who are actors, or elite-level athletes, such as equestrians, skateboarders, rodeo riders, or olympians, might confront demands that interfere with the structured world of a comprehensive high school.

Rather than attending classes every day, CSA students have a weekly standing meeting with their independent study teachers. A full-time CSA student will carry a full load of five or six classes, each requiring three to five hours of work each week. A part-time student might take three or four classes at Sage Creek or Carlsbad High School, and then take two or three through CSA. Students taking lab sciences meet weekly at the CHS chemistry lab, and math students attend small-group math tutoring sessions.

“I have been involved with landscape and astrophotography for 3 1/2 years,” reports Adam. “I travel to places with dark skies, and I am often up all night, or sleeping in my car, to get the images I am looking for. Because of CSA and my teacher Nadine Kunesh, I have been able to travel to Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, and several national parks in Utah and Arizona. I can spend a long weekend at Anza Borrego, photographing the stars, and keep up with my studies, but it takes discipline and time management.”

Adam is a math tutor, has a website (www.AdamGordon.photography) and photography blog, and is planning to study Business Administration at Chico State and to continue with his work in photography.

CSA is a voluntary program, and it is not for everyone, but it provides a viable option for students whose careers, sports, or other commitments make it difficult to conform to a high school schedule. Carlsbad Unified strives to provide an excellent education for all students, and Carlsbad Seaside Academy offers a flexible but rigorous alternative high school program.

This press release was produced by the Carlsbad Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.