Bay High students gain galaxies of social media skills at state workshop

November 5, 2025

Bay High Focus Program seniors rocketed into new social media galaxies this fall when they learned about branding, storytelling and content creation.
 
Bay High students like Emory and Lexie traveled to downtown Lincoln for the Class Intercom Content Generation Workshop. It was the first time Bay High had participated in the event, which focuses on digital content creation across social channels. They shared an educational orbit with professional journalists, storytellers and entrepreneurs who spoke about topics like caption writing, interviewing and online design.
 
Emory said she was excited about having a chance to meet people from across Nebraska at the workshop. She felt it was important for teenagers to learn more about the social media landscape and how the technology can benefit everyone.
 
“Social media is not going to go away anytime soon,” Emory said. “It’s becoming a bigger thing in all aspects of everybody’s lives, so it’s important to yes, learn why it’s bad, but also learn how it can support you and how it’s good for school, work, everyday lives. Students learn from being taught what they’re not supposed to do, but they learn a lot better with knowing what they should do and how to do it correctly.”
 
Lexie felt it was crucial to learn new ways to develop and promote positive social media content. She said many students are trying to avoid viewing negative content because it does not uplift them. Instead, they are gravitating towards reels, pictures and videos that make them feel better about themselves and the world.
 
“People are looking for positive, and if you know how to create positive and how to share that with the community, that will gain traction,” Lexie said. “That’s what people are wanting to find.”
 
Bay High business teacher Brent Jarosz said the workshop provided seniors with helpful information that they will use both in their classes and careers. Bay High students learn the basics of social media content creation in classes such as Sports and Event Marketing as juniors. They are taking several entrepreneurship courses this year, which focus on more advanced techniques to use to build a brand.
 
“It’s more of rehearing it again,” Jarosz said. “How to shoot a good picture, how to make a good caption, how to get people’s attention. It’s just another big reinforcement.”
 
Students spent a large portion of the day learning various ways to become better storytellers. Keynote speaker Mike Smith shared tips on how to increase connections with other people, expand a product’s appeal and engage readers and viewers with captivating details. Smith founded The Bay in 2010 and helped it become a nationally recognized youth development nonprofit.
 
Emory said she discovered that effective storytelling makes a difference for people who deliver and receive the content.
 
“Saying it in a way that impacts other people’s lives so then it’s meaningful to them, and they can carry your story with them to also help build their stories,” Emory said.
 
Students also spent time completing a variety of workshop challenges. They created content and submitted it to social media channels in real time, which let them practice their new skills in a team-based format. The Bay High group produced a video about their focus program experiences, shared part of their advertising plan for last year’s Skate Art Music Fest event and explored social media themes with other students.
 
Emory and Lexie said the quick-hit challenges mirrored what Bay High students do every day in their classes.
 
“At The Bay, this is kind of exactly what we do pretty much for all assignments,” Emory said. “It’s our own creative mix on a task that we’re given. It’s kind of just like getting back into a group with people who you enjoy working with and then creating something to share with everybody else.”
 
“All we do is create, and it was good to come out here and create for and in front of people,” Lexie said.
 
Jarosz said the professional panelists also gave key advice for Bay High attendees. Each of the six mini sessions focused on content generation tips that students could put to use right away. Several industry experts ended the day with a 30-minute discussion about social media subjects.
 
“Whether it’s them thinking about the pictures they’re taking or even the captions that they have, just so that it’s in the back of their mind, I think is the big thing I’m going for today,” Jarosz said.
 
Lexie said her time at the workshop was a worthwhile experience for her. She said she had acquired a solar system-sized amount of material that she would use for the rest of the year at Bay High.
 
“I’d say that these kinds of things are the most important part in learning and gaining skills and education, because when you’re around a big group of people and you have public speakers who are important and have done all of these large experiences, it’s the best thing to retain, or it’s the easiest to retain,” Lexie said.
 
Bay High Focus Program students learn about subjects such as video production, marketing, photojournalism and content creation in their classes. Explore summaries of Bay High’s wide variety of courses at bayhigh.lps.org.
 
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