This is to anyone who would like to help out...
I'm applying for a $13,000 grant from my college, to do some documentary work in Milwaukee and Chicago. The details will be below, but basically I'm just seeing if there is anyone who is interested in helping with A) the planning process, B) the filming process (or would like to be filmed) C) anything that would make the goals of this project sustainable. The idea for the documentary is solid, but my college wants more... in specifics, they said "think big." Any interest in starting a yearly film investigation of local public schools? Let me know your thoughts!
Project Idea:
Starting with the first backpack, the first binder, schools mold, shape, and ultimately decide the futures of every student who passes through their halls. I’ve seen schools literally save the lives of many of my friends. I’ve also seen them condemn. Why then, if education has such power, are the very people it affects absent from the decisions made in regards to it? Why, when we ask the question, “What can we do to help education?” do we never ask the students themselves?
I want to change this. It is my firm conviction that students know what they want, need, and what influences their decisions. However, I’ve seen it with my friends and I’ve seen it within my old school community that these voices, no matter brilliant, are not respected and thus are not being heard. It is my objective to change this by making the student voice credible and to make sure that this voice is heard where it can make a difference.
To do this, I plan to target the two communities with which I have the most experience with, and have the most connections. Chicago and Milwaukee are home to the teachers I am still in contact with, the board members who I’m familiar with and, as a distinguished alum, I have a certain pull with. In these two communities I will create a documentary by interviewing both current students and student drop outs from 3 separate high schools in both Milwaukee and Chicago areas. During the interviews, the students will be asked about their personal experiences within the public education system, why they left it or why they stayed, and what they believe can be done to help other students benefit from and stay in the public education system. Since I am no longer a student myself, I cannot say exactly what themes will be raised, but as an alum, I can say that these will have things that need to be said and heard. Common themes and issues will be raised, and it is these things that will become the focus of this documentary.
This documentary is not intended to found a path to a revival of this country’s public education system, but instead start the dialogue that will construct the first stone. Upon completion, starting first with Milwaukee and Chicago’s local colleges, I plan to distribute this documentary to the professors of educational departments. The goal is to change the way in which these professors perceive the credibility of student testimonial, and get these professors to become advocates of student voices. With the backing of academia, students will finally have the means to enter into the conversation regarding change in education, and perhaps… just perhaps… educators and their students will finally be able to work together to fix the educational crisis that this nation is facing today.
Jean D
Topics 
