PORTSMOUTH – At Portsmouth High School, students are bringing their imaginations to life through passion projects, and these projects are expanding far beyond the classroom. 

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a passion project is “A piece of work, especially a movie, that someone gets involved in because they love it or feel it is very good and important, not in order to make money.” 

Zuri Wemple, a senior at PHS, worked for months to create a six minute short film titled “No Added Sugar,” which was recently published to YouTube. 

“When I was in 7th grade, I wanted to be a YouTuber,” Wemple recalled when he was discussing  receiving his first camera. “My passion spiraled,” Wemple added, leading to the creation of his new short film. 

Although his passion for cameras came from YouTube, Wemple claimed “I’ve always liked filmmaking.” He aspires to pursue filmmaking as a career and believes that his short film is a great first step in the process. 

After five months of consistent shooting, as well as a budget of $1,700, Wemple’s project wrapped. For one separate sequence for the film, Wemple ended up “Driving over an hour and spending over $150 to rent a camera and a lens.” 

The project is posted on his YouTube channel, “Falling Leaf Productions”, and there are behind- the-scenes content posted on his Instagram and Tik-Tok accounts of the same name. 

David Drukker, PHS English teacher, explains how students bring themselves to a passion project. “A student can really shine if they are doing something they really care about,” he says. 

Margaret Callahan, a senior at PHS, is also taking on a massive project, a sports documentary/short film titled “Full Sail”. 

“For my senior year, I just wanted to have some sort of big project,” Callahan shares. “I wanted it to be something unique that would, I don’t know, stand the test of time.” 

With PHS’s rich heritage of athletics, Callahan hopes to “focus on the athletes themselves,” to show “what goes on behind the scenes.” 

With packed student sections and high level athletes, it is easy to capture many memorable moments for many students in their final year. 

“With most documentaries, they are filmed and made after something happens,” Callahan said about the project. “But I have to film throughout the entire year before knowing what’s going to happen at all” 

Callahan is expecting to finish her film in early summer of 2026. 

“Step away from [the passion project] and when you feel motivated again, you’ll come back to it,” Drukker said. He believes that if students are truly passionate about a project, they should not feel the pressure of having to do it, but rather wanting to. 

Beyond filmmaking, PHS Seniors and founders of le sourire, Ryan Swartz and Cote Bellaud  took their passion of creating fashion to the main stage. 

“Everything with clothes was fake,” Swartz commented on the current state of fashion. “I wanted to make something real.” The brand expands further than just creating clothing with their logo on it. Bellaud explains the duo aims to create “casual street wear” as well as “surfer vibes.” 

“I wanted to make a new experience for people,” Swartz explained about the vision of the company. 

“What you see is [our] minds,” Bellaud describes for each piece of clothing produced. le sourire means “The smile” in French, which is highlighted throughout the brand. 

Displayed on the front page of their website, lesourire.shop, is the partners shaking hands on a 90s General Electric CRT Television. The current highlight is a white t-shirt called “THE TEE” with their logo printed on the center. The attention to detail is displayed even in the neck label with the text “SHAKA WEAR.” 

“We’ve sold everything that we’ve made so far,” Bellaud said. Currently, le sourire is growing with 548 Instagram followers. 

What motivates the duo to keep going is the joy people get from the brand.  “I just enjoy giving out things to people,” Swartz explained about the passion that keeps him going. 

As le sourire looks to the future, Bellaud describes the duo’s hopes of being “Recognized outside of the U.S.” The brand continues to expand, and they have plans to open up locations in California, Miami, FL and Portsmouth. 

Passion projects can be career guides, but deeper down these projects can fulfill students’ visions. The community is filled with creativity, and PHS truly demonstrates the abilities of its students.

Please email [email protected] if you have a Passion Project you would want to share with the community.