Ben Lomond teacher showcases student work from countywide summer RAMP arts program

Joseph Santos, an art teacher at Ben Lomond High School, presented examples of student work from the Ramp 2025 summer arts program during the Ogden City School District board meeting, showing digital photography and jewelry projects and describing the program's learning goals and funding.

Santos said the two-week Ramp sessions taught students technical skills such as long-exposure and still-life photography as well as jewelry-making with paracord, wire beads and polymer. "The goal is to make these skills ... in line with Utah's Portrait of a Graduate" so students can use them for careers or to generate income, Santos said. He added that some students volunteered to shoot senior photographs and that props and sample work were on display in the board's meeting area.

District staff said the Ramp program is open to all of Weber County and that most participants in this session were Ogden students. District staff credited Ally Johnson and a local foundation with supporting grant-writing and funding for the program; the district said this year they "got all of the funding that we requested." Organizers reported exit-survey feedback praising both the skills taught and educators' ability to work with students.

Board members and staff thanked Santos and the program volunteers. No formal action or funding request was made during the presentation.

Santos and district staff said the program relies on community artist-volunteers and a grant-application process; specific grant names, application totals and per-student funding amounts were not specified in the meeting.