High School Summer Program

Loyola's College of Music and Media hosts the Creative Summer Experience, a comprehensive boot camp that exposes high school students to careers in motion design, graphic design, book arts, photography, game design, film, theater and music. High school students from across the region are invited to register and learn from top-notch educators and industry experts about the endless professional opportunities. It’s a hands-on workshop designed to challenge and inspire high school students to explore a variety of methods and media, while engaging in a process that is collaborative, thought-provoking, and imaginative. Students will take away resume-worthy experiences and projects for their portfolios. New courses have been added and continuing experiences have been reimagined for returning students.
2025 Creative Summer Experience
Students will choose one area of focus in the morning and a different area of focus in the afternoon but will be exposed to all programs throughout the week. *Please note: Although we provide a diverse range of courses, to ensure fair compensation for our faculty and staff, we can only offer those with a sufficient number of students/participants. On the registration page, you'll be asked to select six areas of focus that the participant is interested in, helping us ensure your student is matched with two courses they'll be happy with.
Questions? Email scdexperience@loyno.edu.
Experiences/Areas of Focus
Graphic Design, UX Design, Filmmaking, Film Post Production, Motion Design, Photography, Game Design, Book Arts, Letterpress, Music Production, Ensemble Theatre-Making, Costume Design, Podcasting, Broadcast Journalism, Creative Writing: Poetry and Sports Communication
Dates
- Week 1: June 16, 2025 - June 20, 2025
- Week 2: June 23, 2025 - June 27, 2025
Hours
- 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
This is a day camp only. Lunch is not provided. Snacks and water will be available throughout the day.
Cost
- Per week: $600
- Both weeks discount: $1000 total
- Discounts for Loyola Faculty & Staff: Please contact scdexperience@loyno.edu.
Registrations after April 18, 2025 will cost $700 per week
No refunds after May 16, 2025
Register for the Creative Summer Experience
Scholarships
A limited amount of need-based scholarships are available. To apply for a scholarship to the 2024 Creative Summer Experience, complete this online form.
Scholarship deadline: March 31, 2025
Please direct all questions including scholarship opportunities to: scdexperience@loyno.edu.
Experience Information
- Location: Monroe and Communication Buildings at Loyola University New Orleans
- Student/Staff Ratio: 5:1
- Total Seats: 12 students per experience. Sign up early to reserve your spot!
Classes are held in new studio spaces complete with state of the art technology and equipment.
Ideal Candidates
Rising 9th-12th grade students eager to learn more about creative careers in a college environment from professionals in those fields. Students who want to create new portfolio work for college applications. Open-minded students who are curious about the world around them and have ideas for how to make it better through visual and written communication. Students interested in developing skills and creativity through hands-on experiences while meeting other creative people their age.
The Creative Summer Experience is an inclusive space. Students from different races, ethnic groups, socioeconomic backgrounds, gender identities, schools, and geographical locations are strongly encouraged to apply.
Register for the Creative Summer Experience
Experience Descriptions
In a flash: Write, prep, shoot, and edit a short film in a week!
Learn the basics of film editorial, color grading, and simple visual effects.
Students will explore several design disciplines and techniques while learning the basics of Adobe programs like Photoshop and Illustrator.
This intermediate course builds on foundational skills, introducing more advanced techniques in digital illustration, typography, and layout design. Through hands-on projects and guidance from a college-level instructor, students will enhance their creativity and prepare professional-quality designs for both print and digital media.
This course combines the basics of photography and storytelling, equipping participants with an understanding of how to capture compelling images and editing them in photoshop.
This intensive one-week course in motion design offers a exploration of key principles and techniques, allowing participants to create dynamic visual narratives and animations
Students will learn about user-centered methodologies and techniques to create digital experiences that resonate with end users.
Participants will learn the fundamentals of game mechanics and storytelling.
Book Arts will introduce students to traditional and experimental hand bookbinding techniques, such as pamphlet, concertina fold, coptic binding, case binding and pop-up structures. Students will be able to bind their own sketchbooks, journals, as well as create 'zines and pop up cards.
This class will cover a variety of relief printmaking techniques including letterpress and linoleum cut. Students will learn how to hand set movable type, and print on antique letterpress machines in addition to creating images from carving relief blocks. and Projects include designing & printing cards, broadsides, and posters.
Students will learn fundamental skills and techniques needed to create quality music tracks from start to finish.
Hone your collaboration, writing, and performance skills. Participants will create and perform an original play in a week!
Learn sewing and design skills for theatre, focusing on sustainability and creativity.
In this course, we'll ask what it means to develop a personal style, or poetics. We will learn the art of workshopping - of giving and receiving feedback - and develop the vocabulary to write and appreciate contemporary poetry.
Students will explore everything from storytelling and recording techniques to editing and distribution, empowering them to launch their own successful podcast.
This broadcast journalism class offers a comprehensive immersion into the dynamic world of news reporting, equipping participants with the essential skills and insights needed to excel in modern media landscapes.
The sports journalism workshop offers the art of reporting, writing, digital media, and capturing the excitement of sports! Get hands-on experience and build your skills as a future sports journalist.
Creative Summer Experience Faculty
Daniela Marx (Director) is passionate about typography and the world of design. She also enjoys yoga, doodling and collecting 3-dimensional letters. On weekends you will see her hanging out with her family.
Cali Traina Blume (Co-Director) is a passionate graphic designer and educator with a BFA in graphic design from Loyola University New Orleans where she currently serves as an adjunct professor. Outside of work, she enjoys long bike rides with her family and dog, Rudie and snuggles on the couch with her cat, Catman.
Scott Gericke (Graphic Design 1 & 2) AIGA Fellow, proud father, dog lover, and avid sports fan, has built his career on interdisciplinary collaboration and fostering young talent. With a background spanning corporate design, advertising, and experiential marketing, he’s most proud of his academic work, where he connects students to professional practice through research-driven, client-focused projects.
Camille DeBose (Filmmaking & Post Production) is an award-winning filmmaker with a Masters degree in Sociology and an MFA in Cinema. She takes an academic approach to the exploration of social forces through the analysis and production of film.
Miles Doleac (Filmmaking & Post Production) is a filmmaker, actor, writer, and producer with seven feature films to his credit, including The Historian and the upcoming Open (2023), as well as music videos, commercials, and television roles. A historian with a PhD in Ancient History from Tulane, he is also a singer/songwriter, contributing to Megadeth’s Grammy-winning Dystopia album and crafting original songs for his films.
Karoline Schleh (Book Arts & Letterpress) has her artist studio in New Orleans, and is an Assistant Professor of Art at Loyola University. She has artwork in the collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana State Museum, and The New Orleans Arts Council, and is represented in New Orleans by Callan Contemporary Gallery. She also likes to make crazy costumes and spend time with her cat Marshmallow.
Rushing Haise (Photography) is a graphic designer with experience in marketing and tech who loves photography, digital art, branding, hand lettering, and interactive work. Outside of design and education, he is an avid crafter often sewing, crocheting, costuming, or teaching himself something new. Whenever he's not making something, he's usually playing a video game, reading, or hanging out with his four pets.
U-P Cooper (Music Production) is a seasoned producer and engineer with over 20 years in the music industry, specializing in hip-hop, gospel, jazz, and country. Co-founder of Extreme Entertainment and owner of Palmyra Street Productions, LLC, and Fresh Music Group, LLC, he has worked with multi-platinum artists like Lil Wayne and Juvenile, earning RIAA Platinum-certified success.
Helen Jaksch (Ensemble Theatre-Making) is a dramaturg, director, performer, and educator with a D.F.A. in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from Yale School of Drama. Their work spans youth-centered theatre, arts education, and community-based arts, with recent projects including dramaturgy for Dummy Class (Kennedy Center) and directing Native Gardens (Southern Rep Theatre).
Kaci Thomassie (Costume Design & Construction) is a New Orleans-based costume and fashion designer. She also serves as the Loyola Department of Theatre and Dance Costume Shop Supervisor. Kaci has designed for Stage Door Manor, Burlesque Star Trixxie LaRouge, Le Petit Theatre, The NOLA Project, Goat in the Road Productions, Tulane Summer Lyric, the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival, Southern Rep Theatre, and more. She also recently received her certification to repair sewing machines!
Isabel Duarte-Gray (Creative Writing: Poetry) Dr. Isabel Duarte-Gray's work explores Latinx literary production, book history, and the intersection of market forces with ethnic artistic expression. Her poetry collection Even Shorn (Sarabande Books) was named one of the Boston Globe’s Best Books of 2021, and her current project examines how Latinx authors navigate publishing constraints to expand the horizons of Latinx literature.
Albert Dupont (Podcasting & Broadcast Journalism) is the technology coordinator for Loyola University's School of Communication and Design, overseeing broadcast operations and studios. With over 30 years in sports videography and production and 18 years in education, he has worked for prominent networks, launched educational broadcast programs, and freelanced for major sports events like the Super Bowl and NCAA National Championships.
Gregory Lee (Sports Communication) is a visiting professor at Loyola. During his 30-year sports journalism career, he has worked in various editing roles at the Times-Picayune, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Sun-Sentinel, NBA.com, The Athletic and Front Office Sports.