Alby-Yasmeen Sumague, a senior at Lindbergh High School, is 18 years old, but already she has an apprenticeship at Microsoft and she credits LHS teacher Jim Goodwin’s graphics class for giving her a leg-up on the competition.

Sumague is a teacher’s assistant in Goodwin’s class and calls it a “real advantage” because of the creativity sparked there and the “amazing” artwork that comes out of his classroom.

“We are promoting the Surface and this class has been really helpful for me, even though I just started his class,” she said of her work at Microsoft.

Students in Goodwin’s graphic design classes learn Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, photography, posters, screen printing and vinyl stickers. They also produce spirit wear in shirts, sweaters, hoodies and other paraphernalia for Lindbergh and other district schools. Students print about 5,000 garments total, said the teacher.

“Kids learn a bit of everything and they are able to come away from the class with a better understanding of design and the tools to be very successful both professionally and at the college level,” Goodwin said.

His classroom has two expensive screen printing machines, both manual and automated, a full flash photography studio and a darkroom for screen printing. There are 32 computer stations and students don’t have to pay for any of their materials.

“I don’t want money to get in the way of a kid learning in my class,” said Goodwin.

He said it’s amazing to have that ability because it’s not like that in other districts and he credits Career and Life Skills Education Director Jay Leviton for making that possible.

Goodwin started with a four-color screen printing machine and now has a 10-color machine. The automated screen printer can produce up to 900 shirts an hour, but students work more at a 150-shirt-per-hour speed.

“And the kids love it, to be able to create something and see it walking down the road, they love seeing it,” Goodwin said. “It’s a lot better that creating a brochure or a business card. They don’t care about that stuff, but this they can see; their friends can see it.”

Goodwin used to be a math teacher at the school, but his passion for graphic arts and his newspaper printing background led him to pursue his current position at Lindbergh. He is also the SkillsUSA advisor for the school, which used to be VICA, or Vocational Industrial Clubs of America. The program is similar to DECA or Distributive Education Clubs of America. SkillsUSA is where the students do most of the spirit wear for the school and the district. They also learn interviewing skills, a skill that isn’t taught in regular curriculum, Goodwin said.

“You may be an okay student, but when you go to apply for a job, those are the skills that are incredibly important,” he said.

“I’ve had kids come back to me and say, ‘I’ve been made so valuable by taking your class because I’m able to do all these things,’” Goodwin said. “’People want me on their projects; people want me on their team.’”

Goodwin’s students last won in SkillsUSA’s screen printing state division in 2012.