Media & English Teaching Portfolio
Every shot, edit, sentence and frame is a way of telling the truth.
I'm Jessica S. Ornelas, a pre-service Media and English teacher with a background in film production, live television and film criticism. I also hold a Master's in Creative Writing & Publishing, was longlisted for The Ritchell Prize in 2023, and received an arts grant from Arts ACT in 2025 to finish my novel-in-the-making, Birds of Paradise. That practice in both screen and page shapes how I teach narrative and voice in the classroom.
2024
ACT State Finalist, Teacher Aide of the Year
BA
Digital Film Production, Greenwich
Live TV
Assistant Producer & Floor Manager
Collider
Published film features writer
MA
Creative Writing & Publishing
2023
Longlisted, The Ritchell Prize
2025
Arts ACT Grant, Birds of Paradise
Explore
Where to start
From the studio floor to the classroom
Digital film production, live television and published film criticism, and how that practice became teaching across Media Arts and English.
Read more →ResourcesClassroom resources and assessment tasks
Media Arts teaching portfolios and English units of work, each with the full rationale, activities and supporting materials.
Read more →Featured Work
A sample from each subject
Seeing Yourself in the Script
A Years 9–10 Media Arts learning sequence on identity and representation through screenwriting, with annotated screenplays and classroom resources.
View Media resources →EnglishCirce: Representations Through Texts
A full senior English unit on Madeline Miller's Circe, moving from close reading through comparative analysis to creative and analytical writing.
View English resources →