Hanna Richmond poses for a photo taken by fellow graphic design student Rileigh Fortney before the Career Center Prom 2024 at The LaFayette Hotel in Marietta. (Photo provided)

BELPRE — Before a video project in a high school history class, Hanna Richmond was thinking about a career in music education.

However, after that assignment she decided to follow a different career path.

Today, Richmond, a daughter of Gabriel and Carrie Richmond of Belpre, is a senior at Belpre High School and the Washington County Career Center in the graphic design and video production program.

At first Richmond said she did not intend to be a student at the career center.

“I wanted to go into music education,” she said. “I took a history class at Belpre that was a college credit course. We had extra time in the class so the teacher decided to give us a couple of video projects.”

In a photo taken by her dad that she edited, Hanna Richmond is in her band uniform after band senior photos were taken at Fort Boreman. (Photo provided)

Richmond said she enjoyed the project and that caused her to change her mind regarding her future plans.

“I enjoyed it, so I decided to go to the career center,” she said.

In the first semester of the program she said the classes covered photography and graphic design.

“In the second semester we got into video production which is what I am more interested in,” she said. “It was like YouTube videos.”

This year the classes covered animation and using Adobe InDesign for document creation to make a book. They are also working on live streaming, she added.

Hanna Richmond’s Career Center Senior Photo taken by graphic design student Naomi Oliver. (Photo provided)

“I prefer the creation of videos,” she said. “Mostly it’s just the editing part – I enjoy filming but I do enjoy Adobe Premier Pro and Adobe After Effects to make the product.”

Richmond said she likes to see how the technology works.

“We get the raw footage from the camera, we get the raw audio and then how all this can end up a great production and product.”

Next fall she said she plans to go to Ohio University to continue her media studies.

“I will go there to study film and I hope to eventually work on a large film production,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in the behind the scenes work of film making and how things work.

Sprites of band characters based on the Belpre and Waterford High School Marching Band uniforms for a fake video game animation project made by Hanna Richmond. (Photo provided)

“I’d like to learn more industry standard things and less focus on short film things.”

While at OU, Richmond said she would like to work with some music groups.

“I want to join a community band or a smaller concert band, because that has been my background since about seventh grade,” she said.

Richmond added she might take part in some of the school’s music program but she is not considering the Marching 110 band.

Richmond said her background in music has helped with her interest in video production.

Hanna Richmond’s team in the Business Professionals of America regional competition submission, HBG News. From left are Richmond, Brighton Eichhorn and Gianna Kasun. (Photo provided)

“My understanding of music theory and music composition has helped me make sounds and music to match the project I’m working on better than some of the others that may not have much of a musical background,” she said, “That kind of edge has helped and probably will help in the future.”

She added she would like to be involved in some sort of community service while in college.

At the Washington County Career Center she was involved in the Students Solving Problems organization.

“We are students solving problems we find in the community,” she said. “I really enjoy being a part of it for the past two years and I want to do more of that.”

Richmond said the group allows members to meet more of their fellow students at the career center and other high schools in Washington County.

Hanna Richmond, right, and Bridget Crock, left, in her team’s final project junior year, primarily using Adobe After Effects to practice with a “Saber” effect. (Photo provided)

At Belpre, Richmond was involved in the marching band program. She played alto saxophone and tenor saxophone. In high school she has been playing the tenor sax more. She also plays violin.

“This past year I was also a soloist,” she said. “I am also part of the concert band and choir.”

This spring when she graduates from Belpre High School, she will also graduate with an associates degree in Individualized study from Washington State College of Ohio.

“I’ve taken a lot of general studies classes,” she said. “I’ve taken tech writing, comp one and two, speech American history and American government,” she said. “I aimed for the classes that would be the most common ones to take.”

Brighton Eichhorn, Hanna Richmond and Shari Elfline went to the Madrigal Dinner produced by the Veritas Classical Academy at the Washington County Fairgrounds. (Photo provided)

Hanna Richmond and some classmates working on projects in the Graphic Design and Video production program. From left, Hanna Richmond, Gianna Kasun, Grace Snyder and Crystal Reeble. (Photo provided)

Hanna Richmond took this photo of herself, left, and a picture taken of her sister separately by a tree in Belpre’s Civitan Park, edited together to look like one image. (Photo provided)

Students Solving Problems and National Technical Honors Society members at the Washington County Career Center in front of bags containing items given to foster care children. Behind the table, from left, are Brighton Eichhorn, Hailey Travis, Breanna Rowan, Shari Elfline and Kendra Hoyt, In front of the table, from left, are Hanna Richmond, Bethany Dye and Bridget Crock. (Photo provided)