INTERN'S VIEW: Big Picture Student experiences great music as Intern at EMP

Story & Photos by Sterling Paris South King Media Intern To start off, my school – Big Picture High School – is all about non-traditional learning, and that’s one reason I like it. The local version of this school started when Jeff Petty talked to the Highline School District about making a ‘Big Picture’ model school. With the help of Loren Demeroutis and others, in 2005 Big Picture opened its doors! The Big Picture model has been around for many years. There are about 120 in the U.S.A if I remember correctly. I am a student there as Scott has probably said many times, and this is our 10th year anniversary! At Big Picture, we do things differently. We have internships every Tuesday and Thursday (mine is at South King Media, including The B-Town Blog!) to give the student real world experience so they have a leg up when they graduate from High School. And that is what I will be talking about today! Every student is required to go through LTI boot camp (Learning Through Interests) by our lovely LTI coordinator, Nancy Pappas, at the beginning of their freshman year. We learn how to write up our resumes at 14-years old, cold call, look for leads, and be in several interviews, job shadows, how to dress for those occasions. All of it. They dont want to see us in the building on Tuesday and Thursday. You need to be at your LTI sight or out looking for one. We have interns all around, whether it’s at storefronts like book shops, or Museums like the Museum of Flight. We are everywhere. Today we are going to talk about my classmate and friend, Dominic: Dominic is an intern at the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle. He has been there since January, previously interning at the Museum of Flight for a few months. In late December, he sent an email to the volunteer manager at EMP. Last Thursday he gave me and my mom a tour of the EMP with their Sky Church, Guitar Tornado (where you can listen to over 500 guitars play at once, maybe out of tune, but still cool), their Nintendo room, Sound Room (where you can reserve a sound booth and jam out!) and their many other cool exhibits, like the horror exhibit where they have props of old/new horror movies for example the chainsaw from chainsaw massacre and a scream booth. The Sci Fi exhibit with the Alien from Alien (I’m starting to see a pattern here with the movie titles and props) and the face hugger! And the newest exhibit I hadn’t seen yet was the Fantasy one. With Wizard of Oz costumes and David Bowie’s costume in The Labyrinth and so much more. Also the exhibit of Guitar History where there is a Nirvana collection. Coming soon! Everything about Chuck Jones! the man who directed many classic cartoons like Looney Tunes and the original Tom and Jerry. You can find Domenic around EMP…and everyday is different. But he is typically at the Info desk answering questions and directing people or is in the sound room!  He plans to be there for a long time, he really likes it there. Hopefully he will get hired when he turns 18. If you go and visit the EMP go say hi to Dominic and tell him Sterling sent you! Until next time, (and thank you so much for reading) – Sterling Paris

EDITOR’S NOTE: “Intern’s View” is a special feature that spotlights the talents of Sterling Paris, our Highline Public Schools Intern. If you have a story idea for Sterling, you can contact her at the office from 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at (206) 248- 2565, or email sterling@southkingmedia.com.