Staff Series: Rachel Garofalo – Desktop Publishing Technician

Meet Rachel Garofalo, a graphic designer working as a desktop publishing technician in Seton Home Study School’s Curriculum Development Department.

Born in Virginia, Rachel moved to Jacksonville, Florida, when she was young. She has always enjoyed the arts, drawing, and painting.

In high school, she entered the Academy of Emerging Technology at Creekside High School in St. Johns, Florida, and she learned Adobe programs like Photoshop and InDesign (she uses these daily in her job today). She was accepted into the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and graduated in 2018 earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design and a minor in motion media.

In October 2021, she applied to Seton and was offered employment. After getting married in December 2021, she hit the ground running at Seton and began work in January 2022.

Helping Grads Leave Their Mark

The idea for the first “Seton graduation banner” originated from her experience in high school. Rachel explained, “At Creekside, there is a tradition of every graduating senior class to gift something back to the school as a way for each student to ‘leave their mark.’

Additionally, while I was in art class at Creekside, our teacher assigned us a project to paint murals on 2’ x 6’ pieces of wood, and two of the murals I completed are still hanging in the hallways of Creekside.”

Rachel wondered how Seton could enhance the school’s coming-together experience and allow graduates to “leave their marks” as a way of celebration and remembrance.

A Design to Revisit

That is when the idea was born: Rachel wanted to create a unique graduation banner (for each graduating class) that Seton graduates could sign and see in the hallways of Seton. And they could come back to visit and see the banner again.

“It was wonderful to watch Seton’s class of 2023 sign their banner back in June. It helps put all my Curriculum Development work into perspective when I see Seton graduates and families coming together to celebrate such a special day. I cannot wait until next year when the class of 2024 gets to sign their graduation banner!”