Jones ‘Sharing What She Sees Through the Lens’

Deme Jones stands outside the facility for New Balance Indoor Nationals on March 14 in Boston. She shot the Nonnewaug girls 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team that was competing. (Courtesy of Marianthe Glynos)

Juliana Bailey ’25, Multimedia Editor • April 4, 2025

Brady Herman (5) attempts to save the ball on Jan. 27 during the NHS vs. Waterbury Career Academy basketball game. (Deme Jones ’26)

WOODBURY — Most student-athletes love to get action shots taken of themselves during their games, but there always has to be someone behind the camera. Nonnewaug junior Deme Jones does it both, and does both very well.

“I try my best to balance all my sports and my photography,” said Jones. “I play field hockey, lacrosse and I also swim. It’s sometimes hard to get to games with all my sports, especially with swimming because all of my practices are very late and go during most Nonnewaug games. I try to get to whatever I can without missing too much.”

Despite Jones’ busy schedule, she still manages to capture, edit and post an abundance of Nonnewaug athletes’ photos.

“I like when Deme takes photos of me,” said junior Brady Herman, a three-sport athlete at NHS. “She gets a lot of single shots of me, she does a great job editing and you really know who is being featured in each photo. They are just fantastic.”

Jones has been producing photo galleries since her sophomore year. With countless photos she decided to use them for her Mastery Based Learning Experience (MBLE), which is a requirement for NHS students to graduate.

“For my MBLE, I am taking all my photos and replacing the ones that are around the school,” said Jones. “I think that all the photos Nonnewaug has are very outdated with students that are long gone. I think it would be a good change to see some familiar faces on the walls. I think it’s a big accomplishment to get to see all my work up around the school and the MBLE credit is just a plus.”

Jones learned her camera skills on her own, taking the little time she has between school and sports to become a better photographer. Her photography is a perfect example of an MBLE project; she is able to share her photos and learn more about her camera and editing techniques.

Jones’ Top Flicks

(Deme Jones ’26)

Heat of the Moment

Nonnewaug athletic trainer Sean McGee celebrates after scoring the game-winning touchdown over senior Matt Shupenis during the 2024 Corn Bowl.

Jones knew she captured the overall story over of the teachers winning the annual Corn Bowl flag football game between the staff and senior boys when she took this photo in November.

"I think this photo not only captured what was going on in the moment but showed the emotion of the game and the story behind seeing the teachers' win over the students," said Jones. "It was a great game, and overall every element behind taking the photos was in my favor during that shoot."
(Deme Jones ’26)

Battle for the Ball

Nonnewaug senior soccer player Durkin Stankevich (4) wins a battle for the ball during the boys soccer game against Northwestern in September.

Jones saw the emotion between players during this game and knew she had to capture the moment.

"I feel like soccer can sometimes be hard to shoot because of how fast the ball is moving and the people; it’s just really hard to capture emotion," said Jones. "I like this photo because it was just a lucky photo. It was the right time, right place, and I got a good photo that tells a story and shows emotion."
(Deme Jones ’26)

Jumping to Victory

Deja Dunkin, who runs for Bloomfield High School, competes in the high jump during the pentathlon at the TRACK at New Balance Indoor Nationals on March 13 in Boston.

Jones could see the passion in Dunkin as she competed in the pentathlon and knew the moment had to be caught on camera.

“Taking photos at the TRACK at New Balance was an amazing experience not only because of the opportunity, but the lighting was absolutely amazing," said Jones. "I love this photo because every component needed for a good photo was there and after a little bit of tweaking it became a favorite for me. This photo is what I look at when I need an example for my other photos.”
(Deme Jones ’26)

Pressure on the Court

Nonnewaug junior basketball player Robert Metcalfe (2) drives to take a shot during a game against Shepaug in February.

Besides the emotion and action, this photo is one of Jones' favorites because of the editing skills she was able to learn from it.

"I like this photo mainly because it was my first approach at actually using the more advanced skills in Lightroom instead of just auto editing," said Jones. "I got used to using the more technical setting and I like how the turnout of this photo came out. Overall, it just has everything I need in a photo like emotion, action, and most importantly the ball."
(Deme Jones ’26)

In the Dirt

Nonnewaug junior baseball player Scott Viveros (18) slides into second base during Nonnewaug's scrimmage against Holy Cross on March 28.

Did he make it to the base or not? Jones saw the suspense and had to capture the moment.

"I love this photo because there’s a lot of action with the Scott sliding into the base, and it shows the story and anticipation of if he got the base or not," said Jones. "There was really good lighting for this game, so it made editing really easy in the end; all that was really needed was a little lightening of the grass. Overall it was a great photo."

Dawn Maletzke, Nonnewaug’s library assistant, creates the bulletin boards around Nonnewaug and prints Jones’ photos for her MBLE project.

“I think it’s a really great MBLE because it’s something she seems like she’s really passionate about,” said Maletzke. “She’s using a skill that she’s developing and she’s really inserted into a lot of areas of our school. She’s taking photos of all the activities and she’s sharing what she sees through the lens with students and staff.”

Ellie McDonald, left, hands off the baton to Gianna Perugini during their race in the girls sprint medley relay on March 14 at the New Balance Indoor Track Nationals in Boston. (Deme Jones ’26)

The photos are not just being updated, but Nonnewaug used them to decorate bulletin boards in preparation for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) visit March 31-April 2.

“They are essentially the accreditation organization,” said NHS principal Mykal Kuslis. “Every 10 years, every single public high school and college goes through the NEASC accreditation process. Two years ago they came for a collaborative conference. They came and looked at everything that’s going on here and gave us things we had to work on. So now they are coming back and they’re basically seeing what the progress of those things are. So as part of that, we are trying to update some of our boards around the school.”

Jones has not only had the chance to update the school’s photos, but she also had the opportunity to take photos at the TRACK at New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston, covering Nonnewaug’s sprint medley relay team.

“I got the chance to go to the indoor track New Balance Nationals to take photos for the SMR that got to go,” said Jones. “It was a really cool experience because I not only got to go to Boston, but I also got to shoot for the best in the country, Quincy Williams, a Olympic gold medalist. It was an amazing opportunity that I was more than happy to take.”

Quincy Williams runs the 400 meters on March 14 at the New Balance Indoor Track Nationals. (Deme Jones ’26)

Jones’ passion for photography is something unique to her, and separate from her twin sister Laila.

“Considering that we’re twins, I think that it’s good that she has her own thing because a lot of the time in life we do similar things and activities,” said Laila Jones. “It’s really good for her that she has her own thing and is able to strive at it and I can just sit back and watch. She works really hard when it comes to her photos.”

Deme Jones is planning on majoring in communications and sports media and minoring in photography when she gets to college and plans on always continuing her pursuit of photography.

“I’m excited to see where photography will take me in life,” said Deme Jones.

About the Contributor

Juliana Bailey ’25, Multimedia Editor

Juliana Bailey is a senior at Nonnewaug High School and is a multimedia editor for the NHS Chief Advocate. She is from Watertown and is a part of the ag program. She plays lacrosse and swims. She writes about sports and school events.