.jpg)
There's a moment in video editing when everything clicks. The cut lands right, the audio syncs up and what was raw footage suddenly becomes something worth watching. For students at DSST: Elevate Northeast High School, that moment is finally within reach, thanks to a refreshed computer lab built for exactly this kind of work.
Before the upgrade, the biggest barrier wasn't motivation or talent. It was hardware. Students working on video production projects were limited to their standard day-to-day laptops, which simply weren't built to handle the demands of high-resolution editing. The workflow was frustrating, and the ceiling on what students could realistically create was low.
"Needing powerful enough machines was a definite must-have for video projects," said Jehu Gonzalez, Video Production Teacher at DSST: Elevate. "It has completely changed the workflow for my students in a positive way."
The new lab made existing work easier, but it also opened the door for an entirely new course. DSST: Elevate now offers a dedicated video editing class built around Adobe Premiere Pro, one of the most widely used programs in the professional media industry. Students aren't just learning to edit; they're working toward an industry-level certification in the same software used by professionals in newsrooms and production studios nationwide.
"Without these labs there would be no way to successfully teach this new video editing course," Gonzalez said. "The access these labs have created is immeasurable, considering that our goal is to give students opportunities to take an industry-level certification exam. That would not be feasible without these labs."
The results in the classroom have been immediate and energizing. Students are grappling productively with a demanding program, building skills that require real persistence and creativity. Gonzalez described watching students "struggle, but in a productive way.”
"They finally have a machine that can handle the workload, but now with a program that is a beast to learn,” he said. “The engagement is definitely there, and the creativity is also flowing through the courses.”
That creativity was already on display in a previous AV journalism class, where students produced news segments using green screen technology. With the upgraded computers, students could take their raw footage into full post-production, polishing their work into something that looked genuinely professional.
"Being able to actually do the post-production work from these projects most definitely helped them develop and polish a professional-looking video," Gonzalez noted.
Investments like this one - in equipment, in access, in the spaces where students can thrive - don't happen without community support. Upgrades like the DSST: Elevate computer lab are made possible in part through supporters who believe that all DSST students deserve the same tools and opportunities available anywhere.
"There needs to be more of these available across the network to give kids more access to courses like these," Gonzalez said. "We live in the digital age, and if we truly are a tech school network, we should be able to confidently offer spaces where students can thrive in any associated field."
Learn more about supporting opportunities and upgrades like this one through DSST's STEMtember giving campaign here.