Media Academy
12.4.2011

Oakland high school students drop out for many reasons: drugs, pregnancy, problems at home, lack of support, etc. But who better to investigate the contributing factors than Oakland teenagers?

At Media Academy in East Oakland, high school students are  reporting and producing short videos as part of the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs project. KQED’s Caitlin Esch is mentoring students as they report intimate stories that really dig in to factors that lead so many teens to leave high school before graduating.

Last week, students interviewed teen drop-outs about their experiences in and out of high school. In these photos, Ricky Vargas (grey hoodie sweatshirt) interviews Brandan Lem (red sweatshirt and hat) and Ken Perry (blue Abercrombie sweatshirt and black glasses) about their decisions to leave school at 15 and 16, respectively. Lem eventually returned to high school, while Perry did not. Tony Srimoukda was working the camera.