Editor’s Note: Because this article features middle school artists, only first names are used to identify students in order to protect their privacy.

When describing the partnership between New Trier High School and Joseph Sears School students, New Trier photography teacher Jenn Jackson could not stop using one word: serendipitous. 

Following a year of collaboration between the New Trier and Sears students, the collaborative photography project titled “The Space Between” wrapped up on May 8, with an exhibition in the Kenilworth Assembly Hall from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.. The displayed photos were the final product of a year-long partnership between Jackson’s New Trier digital photography students and a rotating group of Sears School art teacher Annie Wood’s art students every trimester. 

During the fall, the group shot photos close to Sears using a Holga 120mm plastic film camera. In the winter, they took more photos, but closer to New Trier, and then at their final meeting in April, the New Trier students taught the Sears students how to edit the photos. 

“During that session, the NT students introduced the Sears students to [Adobe] Photoshop and guided them through the editing process, focusing on preserving the integrity of the film aesthetic,” Jackson said. “It was a great example of peer-to-peer learning and creative collaboration.”

New Trier students taught the younger students how to use Photoshop by explaining the software and showing them how to use it themselves. 

“I really let him take the lead and any questions he had he would ask me,” sophomore Audrey Limacher said. “I was having him do it because I wanted him to learn.”

While many New Trier students were unable to make the exhibition due to sports games and practices, the event represented why the final product was just part of the students’ excitement.

“It was really awkward when we first met up with them. As we kept on meeting and kept gaining experience with these younger kids, the high school students were able to become leaders,” Limacher said. “Also being able to take a step back and be like, ‘Now it’s your turn to lead us.’”

The project’s social aspect helped introduce the younger students to what friendship and life as a high school student could look like, while being a very low-stakes and calm environment. From taking funny pictures of Sears teachers to helping each other with homework, the students bonded and created memories about their lives outside of art. 

“My favorite part of this photography project was meeting kids from New Trier and having the opportunity to ask them questions about their experience at high school,” Erin, a Sears 8th grader, said. “They were also very interested to hear about Sears.”

The project taught students important life lessons and skills like patience, perseverance, and flexibility. 

“I am usually a perfectionist, and I learned how to be okay with making mistakes because I was like, ‘This is my art, it’ll turn out how it turns out,’” Limacher said. “Like being okay with trusting the process. Everyone should learn how to do that”. 

For Jackson and Wood, it was heartwarming to see their idea of this collaboration come to fruition and flourish before their eyes. 

“It felt like a symbolic passing of the baton,” Jackson said. “Annie and I looked at each other and it was one of those ‘This is why we do this’ moments.”

Jackson and Wood hope to continue this partnership in the coming years, looking to host field trips together with the groups and expand to other schools. 

“We’ve seen how impactful it can be, and we’re excited about the possibilities for growth,” Jackson said. “Projects like this show how powerful creative partnerships can be and how much students gain when we give them the chance to lead, mentor, and connect.”