School’s Web Site Is Teen’s Vision

Matthew Emerson was a little bored last summer. So, when he saw an advertisement in the Costa Mesa High School newsletter looking for students interested in designing a Web site for the school, he designed a prototype.

It took him three days.

Michael Lawrence, the English teacher at Costa Mesa High School who placed the ad and oversees the Web site project, was impressed.

He immediately made Matthew, 13, the lead designer on the Web site, which made its official debut Monday.

As computer savvy as teenagers are these days, Lawrence said Matthew’s talents with a keyboard and a scanner are exceptional.

“To be this sharp this quick is amazing,” said Lawrence, himself an amateur computer programmer.

He admits his skills are much less impressive than those of Matthew.

Matthew started learning the codes programmers use to design Web pages about a year ago on his computer at his Costa Mesa home.

Since then, he has established a pair of Web sites devoted to his favorite computer games.

What started out as an avocation for Matthew has slowly turned into an occupation.

Last summer, he got his first paying job, designing Web pages for a company in Houston that had seen some of the work he had done on the Internet.

Although he is getting used to being compensated for his work, Matthew is dedicating his time and talent to the school for free.

It’s not the money that thrills him about Web page design.

“I like seeing my work done and having other people see my work,” Matthew said.

At least 300 people visit his Web site devoted to the computer game Descent each day.

What they will see when they look up the Costa Mesa High School site is the school mascot, a mustang, done up in the school colors.

They also will see links to information about the school, including campus events, campus phone numbers and a directory of campus e-mail addresses.

The site will be expanded and improved over the year to include issues of the school newspaper, three-dimensional graphics and possibly a chat room for students, Lawrence said.

The site’s address is https://www.nmusd.k12.ca.us/cmhs/