Congratulations to these American Graduates! In the next couple of weeks we will share their inspiring stories and get an insight as to what they look forward to in college and beyond.

Written by Yo Ann Martinez
Interviewed: Davin Thompson, Artist Mentor @ BUMP Records and Jason Jakaitis, Factory Manager

KQED and the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) Factory and BUMP Records are working together to produce an original soundtrack and short film vignettes whose central purpose will be to counteract the high school drop out rate in Oakland from the youth’s perspective. Here are some of the questions we asked the coordinators of the program.

KQED will be uploading three vignettes before the final projects are due. Look out for them in this blog.

What is the students’ creative process?

JJ: First the filmmakers acquire stories – spoken word poetry from Queen Shabazz and Cesar Cruz, plus iPhone testimonials from OUSD youth – and then they begin to plan out who these stories can be told in an engaging, visually compelling fashion. Then they write a script, create shot lists and storyboards, cast their actors, shoot the film, edit the content into a rough for feedback, and finally polish their rough cut into a fine cut.

 DT: These particular young artists came in to the project with their own opinions and ideas about what they wanted to say and how they wanted to say it. My job was more about helping to frame their thoughts and align the perspective with the larger mission of achieving a well rounded project. So the process consisted of a lot of group check-ins and one-on-one sessions with me and the artist involved.

What has been most exciting for them in this process?

JJ: It’s definitely been taking the stories of individual like Cesar Cruz and Queen Shabazz and visualizing them stylistically – accentuating their voice with light, color, composition and sound.

DT: Aside from the stipend payment and being place one a national stage, I’d say it is the opportunities express themselves using an art form and the love on a topic they’re passionate about. For some of the individuals involved some excitement came from the challenge having to talk about things they weren’t used to. For our producers the excitement came from producing a whole project.  Over all I’d say the whole process have been exciting though.

How many of them have been touched by this issue? Example.

JJ: All of our participants know young people who have dropped out of high school and all of them have seen the social and economic consequences of these students not having received their diploma. And many more of their friends are struggling with the choice – they fail to see their education as something that will benefit them.

DT: One of the producers of the BUMP/KQED collaboration project has had quite a few difficulties with school over the past couple of years, from the administration of the school to the actual location of the school he’s been through it. On the track “Perfect School” he gets a chance to thoroughly express his experience via his 1st recorded rhyme! I interpreted his process as being very cathartic.

What are their thoughts/experiences on the dropout issue? How are they translating that into film and music?

JJ: They believe deeply that the dropout crisis is something that is institutionally manufactured to perpetuate class inequity and maintain the status quo. They are creating stories that they hope will address young people directly and speak to their lived experiences while still providing them with helpful information and resources that will encourage them to stay in school.

DT: The artist in BUMP records definitely empathize with the students who drop out of school. They recognize how imperfect the educational system is in this country and dissect it with sharp criticism. These artists have done a wonderful job at looking at the whole picture and have attempted to incorporate this into the music and the writing.  Even though the artist them selves can empathize with the dropouts they still value education and encourage their peers to stick it out and fight the good fight for a better life and a brighter future.

Written By: Marty Mannion, Education Director-America SCORES Bay Area

Anthony Spears barely spoke to anyone other than his parents during 1^st and 2nd grade at ER Taylor Elementary School.  Looking back he explained “It was hard to talk to strangers the most because you don’t know them.  How are you supposed to talk to people you don’t know?”  Anthony’s anxiety highlights the fundamental challenge facing teachers at the beginning of the school year.  They must transform a room full of “strangers” into a team of students that support each other in writing, sharing and learning together.  This is especially challenging with students who are new to the country or dealing with poverty.

Anthony and hundreds of other students each year who struggle in the traditional classroom setting find the answer in America SCORES Bay Area’s magic mix of soccer, writing and community service.  After school students practice soccer and write poetry with their team and on Saturdays they compete against other schools, where they also share poems before each game.

You might wonder, “A soccer and writing program?  Why and how?”  America SCORES helps students discover that writing is a social action and writing is for everybody.  It is a dialogue between a speaker and the world, which must include a responsive, safe audience.  What better audience and writing community is there than a team that is already working together towards a common goal?

When poet-athletes on America SCORES teams want to be heard by their teammates, opponents, coaches or communities, they have no choice but to become the author of their own story.  Most of all, poetry and soccer make a great team because they both know how to have fun!  The America SCORES Bay Area program is a year-long festival and celebration of all that children have to say, and all the soccer they can play.

For students like Anthony, joining the America SCORES team transforms the school experience from a building full of strangers to a team full of friends who value each other’s writing.  Only after every student experiences this transformation can we expect them to stay engaged and meet their full potential in the classroom.

Originally posted by Cesar Cruz

Perfect example of how KQED’s American Graduate Initiative can make an impact of the lives of high school students who are eager to learn and expand their experiences.

As Cesar Cruz, ARISE High, Adelante Coordinator, Raza History Teacher explained, “It was a great experience for them to see people of color from their neighborhood at KQED and then to sit in on lectures that are inspiring and life changing. It was a powerful day! It made students who are dropping out in high school envision themselves at SF State and working at KQED!”

Homies Empowerment Youth in the Adelante Leaders program at ARISE High travel to KQED thanks to Yo Ann Martinez and then to SF State thanks to Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade and explore media, education and life long learning.

The Education Blog
May 8, 2012
Written By Katy Murphy

I recently had the chance to sit down with Kim and Jack Mejia-Cuellar, twin sisters from Media Academy (Fremont campus) in East Oakland who have both been awarded full scholarships to Yale University. It was inspiring to hear their story — and how, as one of their teachers put it, they shaped their education into something rigorous and meaningful.

I was struck by something Kim said about feeling like outsiders, at times, for working so hard:

“No one said it outright, but our behavior was strange,” Kim said. “By setting goals for ourselves while other people were setting limits, we were always sort of the odd ones out. We felt pressured, but we didn’t let the pressure get to us.”

Both said that they doubted they’d be where they are if they didn’t have the other as a support system. What about the other bright minds who will show up to school tomorrow, but without an identical twin or best friend with the same drive, discipline and self-assurance? What can their families, friends and the school system do (or avoid doing) to help them set goals instead of limits?

Read more about these incredible twins.

Truly CA Shorts is KQED’s monthly podcast of short documentary films by California filmmakers. Serious to absurd, the truth is always stranger than fiction!

Poetry Inside Out captures the struggle of bilingual kids who are crossing boundaries of culture and language within Bay Area public schools. The documentary follows several ethnically diverse students in San Francisco and Oakland over a year-long period. Coming from families where English may be the second or even third language, Carmen, Ke’Shae, Gentail, Caroline, Ricardo, and their friends create imaginative worlds of dragons, space aliens, love, and death in a unique writing program based on literary translation. The students’ spirited and insightful poems transcend their imperfect urban world.

Written by Sydnee Logan
Step to College Student

My classmates did a great job presenting! The response at the convention was great!

We practiced all morning with two practice sessions for both groups. They then began to practice on their own to better themselves. When we finally got done practicing we got in our vans and left the house. Driving to the center we began to see all the different looking places that looked amazing, and we saw three different types of communities like the urban, middle, and very poor communities. When we got up to the AERA convention we walked up to the room, then waited for a minute until it was time to go in. We were finally able to go in the room where my classmates would be presenting. We got set up and begin as planned. When the presentation was finished, many people were very surprised at the true effort that was shown in their work.

After we were done with the Q&A we headed to dinner with the small Maori community from New Zealand. The night with the Maori community was very interesting and stimulating. I feel like I learned a lot from them even some of their language was being taught to us in the restaurant. The Maori were very generous and so full of life, it was pretty new to us and we all got along very fast and quickly became close to them like family. When we left we took many pictures and finally got to our cars and headed back to our house, and later on picked up our new Maori friends to play some games. The most memorable game I remember was Night Mafia. We played the game for hours, almost until 2am.

On Sunday we had a pretty fun day by going to a place called Capilano. They had a suspension bridge, it was very interesting. We then went to a place called Granville Island for a couple hours. Some of us watched outdoor entertainers doing stunts and tricks involving fire and other things, while others went to the indoor market. We left and went to the Vancouver’s downtown “strip” and bought many items. Later we came back to the house had an amazing dinner and played more games.

On our way home the Step students and staff began to talk about the beautiful and inspiring presentation they presented. Our faces grinning from ear to ear from the excitement knowing they did great and people loved the things they talked about, like about our schools and equal learning conditions.

We had a lot of fun and I enjoyed every bit of this whole trip. I think the best part was seeing the presentations unravel so professionally possible of course there was a few things that went wrong but they were able to not show fear or weaknesses when something was not 100.

My friends and TA’s experienced many exiting things and here are a couple people that had something to say:

“The trip was fun and I think the presentation was exhilarating. Also Canadian play structures are dangerous.” – Darrell Tingle

“I’m extremely proud of all the young people because the day of the presentation you all really taught people what social justice is about. Your powerful voices shined through in your presentation and the “question and answer” session reflected the strength of your leadership and the power of the community. Life is like a “question and answer” session, your purpose will always be questioned. To me, your critical response shows a genuine level of growth and leadership.” – Gladys Puente (Staff)