Entrepreneurs bloom at Mars Area High
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Mars Area High School sophomores T.J. Pieffer and Dylan Evans are entrepreneurs in digital media. T.J. Pieffer has a YouTube weekly video series, "Teej Tuesdays," and Dylan Evans has begun a graphic design business called DEsigns.
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Two Mars Area High School sophomores are proving that you are never too young to start your own business.
T.J. Pieffer, 15, of Mars, is the star of a weekly show, "Teej Tuesday," which he broadcasts on YouTube. His classmate, Dylan Evans, 16, of Valencia, is the founder of Dylan Evans Designs, or "DEsigns," and is selling his own graphic designs on T-shirts.
Dylan started doing the artwork for fliers and album art for his band, Wearing the Inside Out, and decided to start his own business last year.
"I've been toying with the idea for a while," he said. "Entrepreneurship kind of runs in my family. My dad has his own business, so I figured I should start my own."
So far, he has designed shirts and done other graphic design work for the Glade Run Lake Conservancy (a group trying to rehabilitate the lake), his band and "Teej Tuesday."
"Teej Tuesday" started out as a way to keep in touch with a friend. "My friend, who was a senior last year, went to college, so we had an idea to keep in touch by doing videos over YouTube," T.J. said. "It developed into this weird kind of Web show thing."
T.J. has filmed and uploaded almost 20 video shows. He started out just talking into his computer webcam, but the show has evolved into interviewing classmates, skits such as dating tips, and other entertainment, such as a puppet named Pablo the Spanish Monkey.
His production also has evolved. Now he films with a high-definition camera, he edits the episodes on his computer and the show has a theme song, which was written by classmate Allan Shaffer.
T.J. said the reaction to his show has been mostly positive among his classmates.
"A lot of them like to come on and be a guest," he said. "Parents usually either love it or hate it. Some folks really don't get it, and others really like it. So it has been mixed with the parents." He said those reactions are definitely the most fun part of doing the show.
Mars Area High School art teacher Erin Sloan, who has both T.J. and Dylan in class, brought T.J.'s show to the attention of assistant principal Dale Sleva, which led to another gig.
His new venture is "Room 113," anti-bullying episodes filmed like the television show "The Office" and shown every other Wednesday during morning homeroom at the high school as part of Planet Peace, Mars Area's anti-bullying effort, which has received grants through Highmark's Healthy High Five program.
T.J. and his classmates film "Room 113" after school under Ms. Sloan's direction. T.J. does the editing and gives the final product to Mr. Sleva. The skits are also posted on YouTube.
So far, "Room 113" has tackled cyber and physical bullying.
"This kid is above and beyond a 10th-grade student with what he can do," Mr. Sleva said. "We're lucky to have him, and he's doing a really good job."
T.J. said he wants to major in filmmaking in college. Dylan said he wants to attend an "arts-based college" and focus on music production and graphic design.
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
