What is Ulster BOCES?
John Neidhardt

Ulster BOCES means different things to different people. To John Neidhardt, a former New Visions Communication Career Exploration student who is a volunteer music reviewer for the Daily Freeman, as well as a professional webmaster and photographer, Ulster BOCES was a place where John could get the formal training and education to bring all of his interests and talents together to make a living as a communications professional.

Through the program, John, who is a graduate of Rondout Valley High School, also earned 12 college credits, which he transferred to SUNY Ulster where he is currently studying advertising. In the fall of 2007, he plans on pursuing his bachelor’s degree in advertising at a four-year college.

“Attending Ulster BOCES eliminated a lot of preliminary college classes. I was able to jump right into the next level, which transfers into all the four-year colleges I applied to. That’s a good step up,” says John, who was led to the Ulster BOCES program by his guidance counselor who noted his interest in media arts after he helped Rondout Valley teacher Craig Mooers establish a media productions program.

Looking back on his experience at Ulster BOCES, John credits the program with giving him a strong baseline of maintaining responsible career habits. “The New Visions Communications program, and the internships I participated in, gave me a good sense of professionalism,” states John. “I’m more organized. I have to schedule things.” John also found inspiration from his instructor, Stephen Galazzo. “There were a lot of hands-on activities that we were able to make up on our own. We gained experience on a lot of computer equipment and video editing. That was very helpful. My writing skills were also advanced amazingly with Mr. Klose. He’s a fabulous teacher.” (Taylor Klose is an English and TCI--technical communications instruction--teacher at Ulster BOCES.)

Through the New Visions Communications program, students are able to meet with professionals in the field and participate in various internships. John’s internships included three rotations. At Oxclove Workshop, a web development shop located at Tech City in Kingston, John built web pages and learned about Internet infrastructure and e-commerce design, and at Citizen Magazine, he did general web design. John and his classmates were also immersed into real-life communication career experiences during the Woodstock Film Festival, where they participated in events, organized giveaways, and “learned a lot about the nitty-gritty behind-the-scenes works of how the festival really happens.”

In addition to the opportunities that internships bring to students, prominent professionals are also invited into the classroom to speak with students about what it takes to be successful in the career. Through one of these presentations, John met Ivan Lajara, editor of the Daily Freeman’s Life section. After speaking with John, Lajara offered him an opportunity to be an intern author of a music review column, “The Hudson Valley Scene,” which he still writes today. “Ulster BOCES was my connection. I mean, the Daily Freeman and Ivan Lajara…just a great opportunity to take advantage of.”

John’s path to a promising career in media arts started years ago. When he was just a small child, John was creating projects with computers and designing websites on the Internet. “My dad is really big on computers; he works for Panasonic, a really technologically-based company. So, as soon as the home computers came out, he was like, ‘We have to have one.’ Then, as soon as the Internet was available, I started making web pages for my pets, and things like that, just being a kid.”

Eventually, John, who also played guitar with a local band called Meets the Sky, thought it would “be cool” to start a message board to talk to other area musicians. His idea was a hit and in no time at all, “We started having, literally, like 100 kids just from the area, coming in on the message boards.” That’s when John had the idea for expansion, and at age 12, he began TheHVScene.com (The Hudson Valley Music Scene). Fast forward seven years later and John has creatively turned the web page into a highly-successful community-based page that supports musicians and includes reviews of music and live performances. As webmaster, in addition to taking photographs of bands performing at the Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, he is also responsible for editing submitted materials and uploading photos and information. “I used to write all the band reviews, but now we actually have a review team for the web page. We literally get CDs throughout the week from various record companies throughout the country that we review.” Additionally, John says the site is also a great way for local writers to get their work published on a web page.

In addition to his college studies and maintaining involvement with his early web projects, John’s many creative hats currently includes being a sales representative for Partsearch Technologies, Inc. in Kingston, as well as being webmaster of several other websites, including BandGallery.com. The site features photographers, their profiles, and portfolios. “It’s something I designed. It’s a community where everybody can share their photos, and exhibit their work.” Another venture is the self-titled website, JohnNeidhardt.com. “That is my own personal portfolio,” comments John. “It’s like an online photography book of my own personal work.”

John’s interest in photography goes hand-in-hard with his website work. “I started taking pictures of different shows just to have pictures of the musicians for myself and for my friends.” Since his humble beginnings, in 2006, John’s photographs have been published in several entertainment magazines, including Alternative Press Magazine and Time Out.

Another pet project in the making for the past six months is the Dementia Photography and Media website. “It’s a partnership with two of my friends who are also photographers, Jordan Dezuba and Misha Vilahermosa. It started out as a hobby and has now turned into a place for local models to come to be photographed and have their own portfolios made.”

John enjoys the work he does and is eagerly looking forward to his future as a self-proclaimed entrepreneur. One day, he says he would like to own his own advertising firm while continuing to do professional photography. “Basically, I’d like to keep doing exactly what I’m doing right now, and just make more money. That’s the ultimate goal.”

John attributes his success to the many skills he learned in the New Visions program. “Compared to just walking out of the doors of high school and hoping you’re going to find a job, when you leave Ulster BOCES, you already know what type of job you might want and you have some experience in that area,” claims John. “It also helps you understand what you want to do for college. Ulster BOCES puts you one step ahead of the game.”