At the Episcopal School of Acadiana's Upper School, Jennifer Graycheck is one of the Co-Chairs of the Visual Arts Department and a cross country coach.
And whether they call her 'Ms. Graycheck' or 'Coach Jen,' every student we spoke with said she has been a standout part of their high school experience.
"I think if you ask anyone on campus, she is like a ray of sunshine 100 percent of the time, no matter what," says Ava-Grace Hebert, who is in Graycheck's video production class and on the cross country team.
Shining her light on each student and their unique perspective, Graycheck opens students' eyes to opportunity beyond the classroom
"I teach a variety of media. 35 mm film to DSLR photography. I also am in a founding position of our video production course," she says.
"We've flown drones, you work with professional cameras and expensive cameras. You work in premier and editing. You do sound, color correction. You go into Photoshop and make GIF's and cinemagraphs. You compile videos and send them out on Vimeo," says Ian Waskom, who is also one of her cross country runners and a student in her video production class.
In each of her classes, Graycheck's students are working for something beyond just the grade.
"A lot of the projects I'm asking of my students get them thinking about its real-world application outside of this place, outside of the walls of school," says Graycheck, whose students have seen their work in art galleries in downtown Lafayette and on the school's website as a tool for exposure and marketing.
"I've been able to come up with wild ideas and execute them and she's supported me and I've made a lot of work that I'm very proud of," says Hebert.
"She gets very into it with you and she's going on the journey with you. But she's doing that with everybody, which is just amazing. She's an amazing teacher," adds Waskom.