Teaching Testimonials
Here are some unsolicited testimonials from graduated students.
I just wanted to reach out and say thank you for the experience at Ai, strange as it may have been. During the Game Production class you allowed me to manage the asset lists and forum posts and such. It’s exactly what I just fell into now and I absolutely love it, even if it is sometimes 80+ hours a week. Thank you!
Lucas you were awesome to put up with us slackers and you amazed us at every turn with your broad array of skills as we got to know you. Each class you taught was a totally unique adventure. We will miss you tremendously.
Lucas Was a mentor to me at the Art Institute of Portland. He helped me understand the Game Design field and what best to do to prepare myself for it. He has overseen my work in many game productions and given crucial advice in each one. He’s a wonderful teacher and I know I would not have reached the level of professionalism I have today without his help.
While at the Art Institute I got the pleasure of having Lucas as a teacher several times throughout my final stretch of schooling. Even with the little amount of time I had left he still left a huge impact for me with the school. His ability and enthusiasm to help students with almost any problem they had, and to do so in his own subtle ways always amazed me. I loved having Lucas as a teacher, and now that I have graduated I look forward to hopefully working with him in the future.
Lucas was the first, and last teacher I had during my three years at The Art Institute of Portland, and perhaps the first to give me an honest critique of where I stood back then and now. He challenges his students to sink or swim on their own, to collaborate and experiment with techniques that define who we are through the struggles we’ve set ourselves up to conquer. His unapologetic honesty and advice has made me a better artist; Even if you don’t like what you hear, you always feel like you’re being treated like an adult, a professional, and that’s what makes you listen more than anything. Lucas knows how to connect to his students and help them to understand the challenges and struggles of a growing industry, and is always encouraging everyone to take the next step forward. The admiration he gains from many of his students doesn’t come from any sort of easy-grade or gentle critique (neither of which he does) but from the honesty and work he puts into helping his students to grow. I recommend Lucas to new students frequently, and I cannot recommend him more to the individuals that might read this endorsement. Lucas is a dedicated individual with knowledge and experience he is always happy to share with his students, and I hope he continues to do so for a long time.
I first met Lucas Haley when he took over teaching our school production teams in 2010. From that day forward, I slowly came to knew him as one of the finest teachers I have ever had. In every respect he has provided me and my fellow students a near perfect balance of information gained from actual experience while still allowing me to grow and learn on my own, when my personal drive took me in a unique direction.
Lucas Haley was one of the largest and most important factors I took from my time at the Art Institute, and his guidance helped me become the professional I am today. I could not recommend him more, as he cares about his students, not only in a learning environment, but also as them growing as individuals, and discovering their own strengths and weaknesses.
Lucas is a great teacher. He knows his stuff and how to teach it in a way that forces you to pay attention and feel the reward of hard work. Lucas operates at a high standard and expects his students to do the same, at least while under his mentorship. I would gladly take another Flash class taught by Lucas.
Channeling his real world experiences Lucas Haley leads his classes with high expectations. Being his student means you not only learn the material, but your quality of work is held to a high standard.
As a teacher, Lucas recognizes when a student isn’t challenged or needs individual attention. Always available for feedback and critique, Lucas instills the drive to succeed. It is my pleasure to say I learned and witnessed how he pushes his students toward excellence and a higher standard of quality in our work.
I can honestly say Lucas is one of the most confident and enlightening teachers I have ever had. I am grateful for both his insight and guidance as I start my career in the media arts and animation industry.
Lucas Haley was my Flash Animation instructor during my time at AIPD. His teaching capablities exceed far beyond any of the other Flash instructors I had in the past. It was until I had taken one of his courses that I finally learned how to properly manage my libraries, animation and files; as well as increased my productivity. This made my education at AIPD and career in animation and game design much easier. I’d tell you that Lucas is worth his weight in gold, except for that fact that he his worth much more that that. He’s one of the most intelligent people I’ve met, and wonderful mentor and a joy to around. The Art Institute of Portland really needs to do their best to keep Lucas around. He is vital to the success of their students going into animation and gaming field.
Lucas Haley was my instructor at the Art Institute of Portland. I had two classes with him, both involving Flash animation.
Not only is Lucas very knowledgeable of the subject but he’s also very enthusiastic and easy to work with. His experience shows especially through his lectures where he showed different approaches to various techniques and was very patient to even the dumbest of questions (trust me, I’ve asked quite a few myself).
Lucas’ classes were the ones that I was especially looking forward to at the Art Institute Portland.
I have now had the pleasure of working with Lucas at two different companies: ImageBuilder Software and the Art Institute of Portland. In a nutshell: he is a one man band. He is able to cover a wide array of functional areas, from animation to programming to music. And if he doesn’t know it, he can learn it.
Lucas is without question one of the brightest people I have ever met. He is able to grasp new technologies as quickly as you can imagine. As an instructor in the Media Arts/Game Art programs I have asked him to step into at least two classes that were not an immediate core competency but which I felt would ultimately be a good fit. Lucas did not disappoint. He was able to quickly immerse himself in the material and not only take complete ownership, but in both instances was able to improve upon the courses, placing his own unique imprint on both.
In addition to his technical skills, he has a great sense of humor and has a terrific rapport with students and co-workers alike. He’s a great team player but isn’t afraid to offer suggestions and opportunities for improvement in a positive and respectful manner.
Lucas is the great kind of teacher with high expectations and knows how to push students to achieve greater goals that they thought they could. He is an excellent source of knowledge that students need from the software to business essentials (for when we get out to the real world).
Lucas is one of the better flash teachers I have met at the Art Institute. With his wide variety of knowledge from traditional 2d animation to action scripting, he was able to share with ease to my fellow classmates and I. Learning how to animate in flash from Lucas even helped me get my first animation job at Liquid Development. I still rely on the skills Lucas taught me whenever I need to animate for a client using flash. He is funny, easy to work with, understanding, and patient with his students. I have recommended my classmates to take a class with Lucas and continue to do so.
Lucas Haley is an outrageous wizard of teaching. Students swarm to enroll in his classes, for good reason. He makes the learning experience exciting, and fulfilling. Students end the classes with portfolio quality work that is unique to each student. I personally had Lucas for Image Manipulation and Digital Ink and Paint. In both classes Lucas taught an array of techniques for each program, but also specified how and what you will need on a day to day basis when using these programs in the industry. I use Photoshop and flash nearly everyday at Bent Image Lab. I can tell without Lucas’ insight into the industry, I would have been unprepared for the tasks assigned. Along with his technical prowess he also makes students laugh like no other teacher at AI, and also makes them feel appreciated. If I could steal him away and work with him at Bent.
I’ve had the opportunity to take three production classes taught by Lucas, and as a result I have been able to witness the immense impact he has had on the Game Art and Design program here.
Lucas has proven to be an insightful and respected mentor, and he has pushed the students here to truly take ownership of our work and delve into our specialties. This has resulted in the students in his classes leaving with higher quality portfolio work and a more thorough skill set than any of us would have had otherwise. Lucas has been an advocate for us, helping us get the tools and resources we need to do our work, and he has provided honest, constructive feedback over the course of our projects.
I can say personally that Lucas’ guidance and assistance has been a key factor in enabling me to specialize in the field that I wanted to, and I am much more confident as I near graduation because of that. I would recommend him to anyone looking to fill a teaching position in a heartbeat.
Lucas is one of the most valuable faculty members at the Art Institute. Over the past year and a half, he has taken the reigns of student game productions and other game design courses while maintaining a drive to help students reach their full potential.
What’s more, he has been instrumental in an overhaul of the game art and design major and has thus provided students like myself with the tools necessary to succeed in our industry. Lucas’ teaching methods have been extremely effective in giving us real world game production experiences within the microcosm of college; and his lessons concerning team dynamics, pipeline, and communication have helped make my experience at the Art Institute something truly valuable. He has shown an amazing capacity to care for students both personally and professionally within the classroom.
I can say with full confidence that Lucas is the best teacher I’ve ever had. My professional accomplishments outside of the school were a direct result of his teaching methods and advice. I cannot recommend him enough for positions within the realms of both education and production.
I have had the pleasure of taking 3 courses with Lucas, and during that time, have found his teaching skills and ability to engage students invaluable. As an instructor, he has been clear about his expectations while delivering material that is well thought-out and sequenced. His coursework clearly creates a framework that I can use to build upon over the quarter, and I am consistently impressed at his ability to use humor and real-world examples to keep me connected to the material. I would recommend him to any student, and I personally look forward to continuing to benefit from both his in-depth knowledge of the area of animation as well as his ability to deliver course material.
Lucas Haley and the classes he teaches have been worth something far more tangible than time and money. Lucas is an instructor that excels at doing and teaching what needs to be done and taught. He is fearless in his efforts to understand the world graduates will be stepping into and as a professional in his own right; has a well rounded view. Lucas is insightful, using a methodology deeply considered, researched, measured and then put into action. He also has a sense of humor, which is invaluable.
I’m currently in the middle of signing a long-term contract for a Junior Game Designer position and I think that you’ve been one of the key people that’s helped me reach this point. You were a fantastic influence throughout my studies and despite the rockiness of the overall course, you gave me guidance and the confidence to pursue what I’m truly passionate about.
Since we’ve all now officially graduated I just wanted to say a quick thanks for all your supports and efforts, especially for the last year with making the game and your continued support after finishing uni and what not, it’s very much appreciated!
Actually speaking of which, just a general thanks to both Lucas and Luke. You’ve both been super supportive over this period (Covid-19). I know personally can be a poor student, but the amount of help I’ve received and seen others receive is incredible. Genuinely never had teachers this passionate about their work.