Many SMCHS students spend their summer vacations at the beach, traveling or completing their summer assignments. Senior Allyssa Lopez, however, had different responsibilities: she spent two months redesigning the SMCHS website.

The school website had not been updated since 2009. The communications office decided this year it was time for a change, so they switched servers and employed the help of a few students.

“The communications office needed an intern to help work on the new website,” Lopez said. “I applied for the internship, and they reached out to me saying that I got the internship along with Neil Schuler, a past SM graduate in the class of 2017.”

The site design team added details to existing pages to make them more interactive and encourage people to utilize the site.

“We wanted a new perspective on SM’s website and we changed companies, which allowed our website to be a responsive design,” Lopez said. “This means that when you visit the website, it will all automatically resize to fit your screen whether you are on mobile, tablet, or desktop.”

Lopez and Schuler spent a significant portion of their time off of school working on the new website with members of the communications office, including Assistant Director Ms. Teri Beauchamp, Direct

or Ms. Amanda Coronado, Coordinator Ms. Maureen McAndrews and Specialist Ms. Reilly Wilson. Despite their hard work, there is still more to be done.

“I am currently still working on the website, along with other things the communications office has me doing,” Lopez said. “One of my projects on this website is making the slideshow of the campus for prospective students and parents.”

Now that Lopez has experience in web design, she expresses that she might want to pursue web designing or a similar topic as her major in college.

“I really wanted to see what it was like to help make a website,” Lopez said. “I’m thinking of majoring in communications, so this opportunity was the perfect way of helping me realize that I want to pursue communications.”

The website is updated weekly, courtesy of Lopez and the rest of her team. They put in a substantial amount of work to make the website more efficient, both for the student body and prospective students and parents.

“This was not an easy process, but overall I’m really glad I got this opportunity,” Lopez said. “If any students want to make their own additions to the site or report a problem, you can contact us at [email protected].”