As we’re sending off the final yearbook to print, the two Rewind classes are already gearing up for next year’s book! The students presented Pecha Kucha presentations on a theme of their choosing. From a sweet sixteen theme to a graphic novel yearbook, the ideas are endless! Let’s take a look at some potential themes for the 2024-25 book.
Our first theme was presented by Amanda Laranja (10), and this one was a favorite for sure! She presented the idea of “growing together,” highlighting all of the growth that happens throughout the year at New Tech. She had the idea of using different stages of plant growth to represent the different grades, starting as a little sapling freshman year and ending as a fully grown tree senior year. She believes this would be a good theme because it “encapsulates one of the biggest benefits and strengths of New Tech, growth.” Not only did she come up with a genius theme, but her presentation itself was polished. With Pecha Kucha presentations, you can tell who’s practiced and who hasn’t. Amanda was confident and knew exactly what she wanted to say and how she was going to say it. It makes sense, as she described Pecha Kucha presentations as “a presentation style that requires a lot of practice.” Practice makes perfect, and Amanda was up there!
Our next presenter was Makena Duncan (11), who also focused on incorporating nature into the book. Her theme was “As the seasons change, so do we.” She found inspiration for this on Pinterest and decided to make the idea her own. The idea is that each semester would be a different season, with colors and graphics to correlate. She believes that “the underlying message of it (the theme) is great, along with it being aesthetically pleasing.” Makena also seemed to be pretty comfortable presenting, she was persuasive and communicated her ideas. She said she mostly struggled with “getting used to not looking over at the slides when there’s no words,” as well as the timing of it all. Her idea was a good one, and it didn’t hurt that her presenting skills were also very impressive!
Nathan Fan (10), designed his theme with New Tech’s sixteenth year in mind, “sweet sixteen!” He “wanted to pick something to honor New Tech’s 16th year” with a hint of nostalgia. The book would celebrate all things New Tech. Reflecting on this presentation style, Nathan mentioned that “the slides are very controlling,” he said, “you need to adjust pacing to speed accordingly.” With that in mind, lots of practice was necessary for a successful presentation. Although all types of presentations benefit from practice, Pecha Kucha presentations especially need to be rehearsed many times. This can be done by practicing in front of family and friends, or just running your slides and reciting your presentation by yourself.
Practice makes almost perfect, and these Pecha Kucha presentations by Amanda, Nathan, and Makena were just that! We have some exciting possible themes for next year, and the staff can’t wait to get to work!
