By MCKENZIE CASSIDY, “mailto:mcassidy@breezenewspapers.com”>mcassidy@breezenewspapers.com

Seniors at Ida S. Baker High School had the opportunity to show off their senior class projects and be recognized by their peers, families and members of the community Thursday night.

At 6 p.m. the doors opened to the school’s Curriculum Resource Center and students waited patiently for judges made up of community officials to assess their work.

The judges — including officials from the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral, representatives from programs with the police, guidance counselors and others — ranked each project on a scale of 1 to 5 considering the presentation, portfolio, quality, relevance and originality.

Students created the presentations to show the work they have been doing all year including displays on lab materials, clown fish, girl scouts, shop safety, plastic surgery, teaching and CPR.

Alexis Vidal, an art student at Ida S. Baker, created four portraits of her and her closest friends. She took a canvas and oil-based paints and created the portraits after sketching them.

“These are all my closest friends,” she said.

Vidal started the four pieces in November and finished a few weeks before the display on Thursday night. Each of the pieces will be added to her portfolio to show prospective colleges, she said.

“I want to be an art teacher and maybe do some graphic design on the side,” she said. “I’ve taken every art class there is and then some.“

A number of students in Ida S. Baker’s experimental Fire Academy were also displaying some of the equipment they have used — oxygen masks, hoses and crowbars.

“We are the first confirmed high school in the state to get a Fire 1 confirmation,” said Vinny Cervone.

Cervone and another member of the academy, Nick Harvath, explained that to become a firefighter they had to pass Fire 1 and Fire 2, two courses that are 15 weeks full-time.

Now, as a result of taking Fire 1 at the academy, both students have a leg up on other firefighter candidates.

“Now we only have to go to Fire 2,” said Cervone. “We are ahead by time and the price has been cut in half.“

Enrolled in television production, Jillian Edel created a music video featuring her friends and other classmates.

“I did a little bit of everything,” she said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do so I was behind and in front of the camera.“

Edel said she could not have completed the three-week project without help from her classmates, who starred in the video. They also borrowed the musical instruments — guitars, microphones and drums — from the director of bands, Richard Brown.

“I would like to get in to TV production,” she said.

Prizes and ribbons were awarded to the top entries after the judges tabulated their scores.