Minuteman students create artwork promoting A CATpella Festival

Image shows the program cover for this event that was designed by students from Minuteman High School.

By Judy Bass

LEXINGTON - Students in Design and Visual Communications (DVC) at Minuteman High School have created publicity materials for an event that will honor an Arlington teen who lost her life to sarcoma and raise awareness and money to fight this rare form of cancer.

Minuteman juniors in DVC designed and printed postcards, tickets, sandwich board signs and the event program for The A CATpella Festival to Belt Out Cancer on Friday, January 19, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. at Arlington High School.

The occasion honors Catherine “Cat” Malatesta, a 16-year-old girl from Arlington who lost her battle with sarcoma in 2015, less than a year after being diagnosed with the disease. All proceeds will benefit the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA) and the Catherine J. Malatesta Scholarship Fund.

According to Minuteman DVC instructor Maria Galante, the event organizers - Catherine’s mother, Jennifer Goodwin, and Dawn Terry - asked the students to design and print postcards, tickets, sandwich board signs and a program. The students then met with Ms. Goodwin and Ms. Terry, who were their clients, to gather information and brainstorm on ideas for a design that would carry through various media. The class broke down to smaller groups to create and execute each piece. All items have been printed and are being used in the community.

The participating students were Anthony Attar, Jared Burke, Rose Cipriano, Jenna DeCampo, Oscar Dias, Lyazzat Feldman, Brendan Gibbons, Kennady Jacobs, Romano Manring, Zach Olden, Joe Perry and Teddy Seidman.

The practical knowledge they gained from doing this project was immensely useful, explained Ms. Galante. “The A CATpella event provides students the opportunity to work directly with a client and design materials that visually communicate a specific message. The entire experience fosters teamwork that is similar to working in a design agency.”

Many of the students remarked that functioning as a team to successfully complete this assignment taught them a lot.

Jared Burke said, “The thing that I have learned while working on the A CATpella project taught us that working with someone is the way to make a great project.”

“I learned about the necessary skill known as teamwork,” said Oscar Dias. “The cooperation needed to function in unity is actually very difficult to attain. This project put me one step closer to being a real designer.”

Ms. Goodwin expressed her appreciation for the efforts of the Minuteman students and Ms. Galante. "The A CATpella Festival to Belt Out Cancer committee is so excited to partner with the students in Design and Visual Communications,” she said.

“From the first day we met,” Ms. Goodwin continued, “the students professionally pitched wonderfully creative concepts for the theme and design of our tickets, promotional postcards, sandwich board posters and program. It was so difficult to choose one concept! Luckily, these innovative students were able to combine elements of some of the other designs into the marketing pieces. The result is a portfolio of pieces that are professional, stunning and useful. We are so fortunate to partner with Ms. Maria Galante and Minuteman High School to ensure success at A CATpella, which is ultimately to raise as much money as possible in the fight against sarcoma. Students helping kids - fabulous!”

Minuteman was established in the 1970s as one of more than two dozen regional-vocational technical high schools in Massachusetts. Minuteman students consistently excel on the larger stage and have won numerous awards at state and national competitions. Minuteman challenges all students to revolutionize their high school expectations by aspiring to their full potential, accelerating their learning, and achieving success in the 21st-century global community.