Palm Springs High School FILM Students Get Real World Experience Producing Commercials

PALM DESERT, CA — When it comes to showing love for the community, helping a local business and guiding a group of high school students, a Cal State San Bernardino's Palm Desert campus graduate has the perfect recipe.

CTE FILM Pathway Teacher Donnie Gerrell is helping her students create commercials for I Heart Mac and Cheese, college officials said Wednesday. The finished products will air on television and online by Christmas.

The Futures in Leading Media CTE pathway, a four-year program, has flourished since teacher Gerrell's arrival. She graduated from the state university with a bachelor's degree and teaching credential in 2018 and offers media training opportunities for students as a teacher and technology department lead at the high school.

In her first year at the campus, she had 20 computers, two cameras, and 120 students. That has grown into an entire lab of 40 computers, 25 cameras, and almost 200 students she is training in the arts of digital filmmaking.

Digital storytelling is the name of the game, according to Gerrell, and teaching kids to produce and edit videos will add to their resumes before they graduate high school. The plan for real-world applications for FILM students made sense to Gerrell.

"Prior to PSHS, I worked for a local nonprofit where I would integrate digital storytelling into core classes," Gerrell said "I also freelanced creating short films for local clients and flying a drone for several organizations. I knew my next step in my career was to enter the classroom."

Gerrell's class is currently in the post-production process of holiday commercials for the restaurant, according to college officials.

The restaurant, community, students and their families all collaborated to produce a variety of holiday commercials. The project provides real-world experience and challenges. After all, they have a deadline and high school class assignments to juggle.

In 2021, the FILM students created COVID-19-focused commercials with the school's Health Academy for the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation in an effort to encourage the community to be safe and get vaccinated. The I Heart Mac N Cheese commercials will be more fun and festive, plus will benefit a local business.

When it comes to ideas and furthering the opportunities for her students, she has no shortage of them. Gerrell is also starting a pilot drone-racing program for the Palm Springs Unified School District.

"My goal is to work with the community," she says. That way, her "students (will) gain stronger professional soft skills to prepare them for their future."