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Welcome to Commie High
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Welcome To Commie High explores an experiment in public education: Community High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The film begins by documenting the school's humanistic, anti-establishment origins in the early 1970s. By the '90s, enrollment demands for this alternative, small school led to a wild craze of long lines, camp outs and convoluted lottery systems for students hoping to attend. Today, Community High stands as one of the last public schools from America's "free school" movement.
Filmed over the course of a full school year, we see how the "Commie High" model has evolved to reflect the world around it and shows us what's possible within public education when "no" is not the standard answer.
"Moving, illuminating, instructive, and inspiring! This extraordinary documentary illuminates possibility; its subtitle could be, Lessons for America from a Small School in Michigan. It captures a vital sense of what schools could be or should be (but are not yet) in a functioning democracy. Every parent and teacher, administrator and policy maker, every high school student, and anyone who cares about the sorry state of our schools and wants to work for something better should see this film." Bill Ayers, Author, To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher and Teaching Toward Freedom: Moral Reflection and Ethical Action in the Classroom
"Welcome to Commie High shines a spotlight on alternative education, illuminating the powerful possibilities for learning, growing and relating within community. That Community High has endured, and is actually thriving, demonstrates that students and families are seeking choice. Educators, social scientists, historians and community activists will be inspired by this amazing film to re-commit to a vision for holistic education that respects adolescent development, progressivism, and relationships in the context of community." Mary Jane Eisenhauer, EdD, Executive Director, First Things First Porter County, Professor Emerita, School of Education and Counseling, Purdue University Northwest
"These are dark days for American education: overcrowded classrooms, dejected teachers, and dull curricula. Welcome to Commie High is a bolt of lightning, jolting us out of our cynicism and complacency. This superb film reminds us how much our students can learn, if we give them the freedom - and the inspiration - to do so." Jonathan Zimmerman, Professor of History of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Author, Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools
"How great to see the range of learning experiences! The exuberance of the youngest and oldest - where teachers, like the adults-to-be, were not afraid to be in love with life and each other. This film fills me with hope." Deborah Meier, Founder, Central Park East Secondary School, Founding Principal, Mission Hill School, Educator, Advocate, and Founder of the modern small schools movement
"This is terrific! I loved every second of it. It interweaves, seamlessly it seems, the past and the present. It was funny and moving and topical and interesting. My attention never wavered for a second." Ken Burns, American filmmaker
"What a gem - incredibly well done. This film showcases an experiment in American education - and how it has survived - through powerful personal stories, archival materials, and music. It's all quite compelling." Carrie Hatcher-Kay, Ph.D., Partners in Healing
"This film may be specific to a particular high school experience, but it has a universal scope and the ability to provoke personalized memories and remind us what made our own high school experience unique. Most of all, it taps into an optimistic passion for education with a lesson to remind ourselves of what's important in our public education system." Nick Alderink, The Michigan Theater
"Welcome to Commie High is a feel-good success story centered on American public education, something you don't hear often enough these days." Dennis Perkins, Portland Press Herald
"Welcome to Commie High enables us to be immersed in a place of learning that is truly student-centered. Teaching is not about standardizing learning, but is instead about valuing its most precious commodity - the students. This film is a powerful reminder of the value of alternative thinking that can lead to successful action and advocacy. We also see the struggles and changes to make it work. As a teacher of students who want to teach, Welcome to Commie High will be a springboard to talking about the strength their students can have when allowed to be visible and valued in their school community." Kevin D. Cordi, Assistant Professor of Education and Literacy, Ohio University Lancaster
"Communities are in desperate need of examples that can expand our imagination around the possibilities and potential of public schooling. Welcome to Commie High tells the story of a school that was born out of educators' desire to honor the humanity in every student and has continued to inspire students, families, and the local community for the past 40 years. This narrative weaves in the past and present brilliantly, tracing the making of a community in which students feel seen and empowered. This film reminds us of the power of public schools to engage young people as citizens in the now even as we prepare them to create a compassionate, just, and healthy world in the future." Dr. Sonia M. Rosen, ISTR Associate Director, Inquiry and Reflective Practice, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
Citation
Main credits
Harrison, Donald (film director)
Harrison, Donald (film producer)
Harrison, Donald (director of photography)
Harrison, Donald (editor of moving image work)
Camlin, David (film producer)
Camlin, David (editor of moving image work)
Other credits
Edited by David Camlin; music, Ingrid Racine; camera & audio, Donald Harrison.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
00:00:02.690 --> 00:00:05.480
- [Narrator] For the past two
weeks in Ann Arbor, Michigan
00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:08.230
parents and many children
have been waiting in line
00:00:08.230 --> 00:00:10.140
and sometimes freezing weather.
00:00:10.140 --> 00:00:12.720
They're hoping to get into
the school of their choice.
00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:15.850
The district's only
alternative public high school.
00:00:15.850 --> 00:00:18.060
NPR's Don Gonyea reports.
00:00:18.060 --> 00:00:20.200
- [Don] More than a dozen
brightly colored tents
00:00:20.200 --> 00:00:22.830
dot the lawn behind the
Ann Arbor public school
00:00:22.830 --> 00:00:24.820
district administration building.
00:00:24.820 --> 00:00:27.390
In the parking lot, there
are three pop-up campers
00:00:27.390 --> 00:00:29.010
and assorted minivans.
00:00:29.010 --> 00:00:30.550
Ever since March 17,
00:00:30.550 --> 00:00:32.860
this has been home to a dedicated band
00:00:32.860 --> 00:00:33.990
of district residents,
00:00:33.990 --> 00:00:36.070
hoping to secure a spot for a child
00:00:36.070 --> 00:00:38.020
in the coming year as freshman class
00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:40.671
at Ann Arbor's Community High School.
00:00:40.671 --> 00:00:43.254
(upbeat music)
00:00:55.150 --> 00:00:56.090
- I loved school.
00:00:56.090 --> 00:00:57.630
I was always a good student,
00:00:57.630 --> 00:01:00.180
but when I learned about Community,
00:01:00.180 --> 00:01:03.110
it was like a whole
different ball game for me.
00:01:03.110 --> 00:01:08.110
And I really wanted to be
able to explore the world
00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:10.290
and that's what Community offered
00:01:10.290 --> 00:01:13.490
in a way that no other school offered.
00:01:13.490 --> 00:01:17.430
When I got to Harvard, I was
able to function pretty well.
00:01:17.430 --> 00:01:22.430
And maybe in part it was
Community that taught me
00:01:22.660 --> 00:01:25.600
that it's important to challenge
yourself in different ways.
00:01:25.600 --> 00:01:28.340
And it's not just about being different
00:01:28.340 --> 00:01:30.000
for being different sake.
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:31.500
That's not our bus, is it?
00:01:31.500 --> 00:01:32.333
I don't know.
00:01:34.316 --> 00:01:36.690
Yeah, that's our bus. All right.
00:01:36.690 --> 00:01:39.130
I used to ride the bus back and forth
00:01:39.130 --> 00:01:44.010
to Community every day
for the first couple years
00:01:44.010 --> 00:01:45.680
that I was going to Community.
00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:47.770
It was a long bus ride.
00:01:47.770 --> 00:01:51.490
I'd get up in the morning in
the dark, leave the house.
00:01:51.490 --> 00:01:54.860
But I was so excited to go to
school, that I didn't care.
00:01:54.860 --> 00:01:56.490
It didn't matter what the weather was,
00:01:56.490 --> 00:01:59.320
it didn't matter how cold,
it didn't matter how dark,
00:01:59.320 --> 00:02:01.220
I was ready to go to school every day.
00:02:04.750 --> 00:02:08.550
I have a kiddo and she's in eighth grade.
00:02:08.550 --> 00:02:11.040
So this is the year when it gets decided
00:02:11.890 --> 00:02:13.560
where they wanna go to high school.
00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:16.820
For a while, she didn't
want to apply to Community.
00:02:16.820 --> 00:02:20.223
She was afraid that she
would get her heart set.
00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:24.640
And because Community is now
so popular and it's a lottery,
00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:26.800
only one in four kids get in.
00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:30.463
And she wasn't sure that she
can take the disappointment.
00:02:31.550 --> 00:02:34.833
But yeah, she's decided she's
gonna go in for the lottery.
00:02:38.535 --> 00:02:41.618
(car engine roaring)
00:02:50.245 --> 00:02:53.578
(indistinct chattering)
00:03:10.540 --> 00:03:13.973
- This is the best day of
(indistinct) school, 2016-17.
00:03:15.556 --> 00:03:18.556
(audience applauds)
00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:25.510
We are so lucky that we get
to have all of our assemblies
00:03:25.510 --> 00:03:28.860
in this beautiful, beautiful place.
00:03:28.860 --> 00:03:30.710
St. Andrew's is part of our community.
00:03:30.710 --> 00:03:32.420
And that's what Community
High School is about,
00:03:32.420 --> 00:03:34.540
it's about learning from your community,
00:03:34.540 --> 00:03:36.100
giving back to your community
00:03:36.100 --> 00:03:38.330
and learning how to be
a part of a community.
00:03:38.330 --> 00:03:41.440
I am inspired by students, by staff.
00:03:41.440 --> 00:03:43.330
I look at your passionate teachers
00:03:43.330 --> 00:03:45.640
who've been working so
hard all summer long.
00:03:45.640 --> 00:03:49.582
So for example, Judith
DeWoskin right here.
00:03:49.582 --> 00:03:52.582
(audience applauds)
00:03:55.140 --> 00:03:57.607
Judith is 73 years old
and still comes to school
00:03:57.607 --> 00:04:00.966
and learns something
every day from you guys.
00:04:00.966 --> 00:04:03.966
(audience applauds)
00:04:06.778 --> 00:04:10.111
(indistinct chattering)
00:04:21.330 --> 00:04:24.660
- I went to Community
High, graduated in '76.
00:04:24.660 --> 00:04:26.060
I didn't go there all four years,
00:04:26.060 --> 00:04:28.980
but that group was the
first graduating class
00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:30.175
that had been there.
00:04:30.175 --> 00:04:33.320
Many of my classmates
from ninth grade to 12th.
00:04:33.320 --> 00:04:35.690
This is the founding blueprint.
00:04:35.690 --> 00:04:40.270
This was the group of teachers
and administrators and so on
00:04:40.270 --> 00:04:41.660
who designed the school,
00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:44.640
including the idea of what Forums are,
00:04:44.640 --> 00:04:45.760
why it's called Community,
00:04:45.760 --> 00:04:49.620
that you earned credit for
doing stuff in the community.
00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:53.580
Basically, it ran the gamut
and I think they tried to find
00:04:53.580 --> 00:04:57.870
teachers who were willing
to think outside the box.
00:04:57.870 --> 00:05:01.170
Community started advertising for staff
00:05:01.170 --> 00:05:03.800
because they had the idea
and they had the building,
00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:05.210
but they didn't have the staff.
00:05:05.210 --> 00:05:08.960
Some people stuck with
very traditional values
00:05:08.960 --> 00:05:11.340
about the classroom and the structure.
00:05:11.340 --> 00:05:15.580
Then there was a more vociferous
group of which I was part
00:05:15.580 --> 00:05:19.930
that said, "let's play with
this, let's play with this."
00:05:19.930 --> 00:05:22.910
So it was a combination
of people who were failing
00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:25.630
at other schools and also geniuses.
00:05:25.630 --> 00:05:29.201
It kind of went to that
spectrum and I was failing,
00:05:29.201 --> 00:05:30.640
(laughs)
00:05:30.640 --> 00:05:33.900
but Community High saved my life
00:05:33.900 --> 00:05:36.070
and I do hold it totally responsible
00:05:36.070 --> 00:05:39.300
for having a bachelor's
degree, master's degree
00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:40.400
and everything.
00:05:40.400 --> 00:05:45.190
So it was 1972, I was actually
critiquing my teachers
00:05:45.190 --> 00:05:47.030
in eighth grade and I explained to them
00:05:47.030 --> 00:05:49.100
why they were teaching badly.
00:05:49.100 --> 00:05:51.360
And that didn't go over terribly well.
00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:53.090
Nixon was president.
00:05:53.090 --> 00:05:54.600
There was a war going on
00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:57.470
and people our age were being drafted
00:05:57.470 --> 00:06:00.750
or people a little older
than us we're being drafted.
00:06:00.750 --> 00:06:05.190
There was the Counter
Culture as we called it then,
00:06:05.190 --> 00:06:08.028
Anti-war Movement, the Civil Rights Act
00:06:08.028 --> 00:06:09.820
and the Voting Rights Act
00:06:09.820 --> 00:06:11.881
had passed just a few years before.
00:06:11.881 --> 00:06:13.282
I think a lot of people were challenged
00:06:13.282 --> 00:06:16.660
by what was going on in
the late '60s, early '70s,
00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:21.080
psychologically, emotionally,
culturally, traditionally,
00:06:21.080 --> 00:06:23.858
lots of stuff was being
thrown up in the air.
00:06:23.858 --> 00:06:27.525
(upbeat instrumental music)
00:06:30.390 --> 00:06:32.360
All of this sort of turmoil
00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:36.480
led to them trying to settle things down.
00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.440
And they tried to create programs for kids
00:06:39.440 --> 00:06:41.870
because you had Pioneer High School,
00:06:41.870 --> 00:06:43.660
this big high school there,
00:06:43.660 --> 00:06:47.100
they're building Huron. those two schools
00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:49.950
were the most expensive
schools in the country,
00:06:49.950 --> 00:06:51.730
when they were built.
00:06:51.730 --> 00:06:54.060
These parents, they
wanted something different
00:06:54.060 --> 00:06:57.710
for their kids, some kind of
alternative school program.
00:06:57.710 --> 00:07:01.510
So then Bruce McPherson was
brought in as the superintendent
00:07:01.510 --> 00:07:05.260
because he had started
something in Philadelphia
00:07:05.260 --> 00:07:07.990
called The School Without Walls.
00:07:07.990 --> 00:07:12.350
And that was a program
where kids could get credit
00:07:12.350 --> 00:07:15.370
for doing work outside the school.
00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:16.930
And that was like the seed
00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:20.290
that sprouted into Community High School.
00:07:20.290 --> 00:07:21.830
Well, I was interested in being
00:07:21.830 --> 00:07:25.520
in a new type of high school
and it was groundbreaking.
00:07:25.520 --> 00:07:27.430
So I was excited about that,
00:07:27.430 --> 00:07:29.380
but I got pulled into the creation of it.
00:07:29.380 --> 00:07:33.470
I can't quite remember how,
but the next thing you know,
00:07:33.470 --> 00:07:37.377
I was on the committee to
help interview teachers.
00:07:37.377 --> 00:07:39.740
And my father was pretty frustrated
00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:42.650
because they did not have the
backing of most everybody.
00:07:42.650 --> 00:07:45.190
I mean, if you go back and
check the Ann Arbor news out,
00:07:45.190 --> 00:07:46.817
you'll see some things going on.
00:07:46.817 --> 00:07:50.010
And my father used to come
home and say, "hmm!" You know,
00:07:50.010 --> 00:07:53.410
the time that we had our very
first meeting at the church
00:07:53.410 --> 00:07:56.570
across the street, well, I
think one of the articles
00:07:56.570 --> 00:08:00.650
or on the news or something
said about the pot smoking
00:08:00.650 --> 00:08:02.090
in the church, in the balcony.
00:08:02.090 --> 00:08:04.930
So my father definitely
had to mention that.
00:08:04.930 --> 00:08:09.930
I wanted to be exposed
to people who were aware
00:08:10.170 --> 00:08:12.770
and thinking. I wanted to have choice
00:08:12.770 --> 00:08:13.910
over what I was gonna learn.
00:08:13.910 --> 00:08:16.530
Community High was the
closest thing to that.
00:08:16.530 --> 00:08:19.220
So I came in with that
understanding as well
00:08:19.220 --> 00:08:22.043
that we were changing education
throughout the country.
00:08:23.576 --> 00:08:26.126
I am absolutely no good
at predicting the future.
00:08:27.410 --> 00:08:29.380
If you want to ask,
00:08:29.380 --> 00:08:32.880
how are we going now and
will we continue that way?
00:08:32.880 --> 00:08:34.260
I don't know.
00:08:34.260 --> 00:08:37.180
I'd like to see this rich
community of Ann Arbor
00:08:37.180 --> 00:08:39.183
have lots of alternatives.
00:08:39.183 --> 00:08:42.233
One of those alternatives ought
to be a peace & love school.
00:08:42.233 --> 00:08:46.183
And other one ought to
be a military academy.
00:08:46.183 --> 00:08:49.070
I'm all for filling up
the gymnasium of water
00:08:49.070 --> 00:08:50.980
and having a swim team, I don't care.
00:08:50.980 --> 00:08:52.530
Anything it can do to make a change.
00:08:52.530 --> 00:08:55.630
Anything that pulls the
pendulum off dead center.
00:08:55.630 --> 00:08:57.570
I don't care if it pulls
to the right on the left
00:08:57.570 --> 00:08:59.270
as long as it pulls off the center,
00:08:59.270 --> 00:09:01.116
it always comes back to the middle.
00:09:01.116 --> 00:09:03.966
(chuckles)
00:09:03.966 --> 00:09:07.466
(soft instrumental music)
00:09:34.340 --> 00:09:37.190
- Well, Forum is the most
important part of the school.
00:09:37.190 --> 00:09:38.400
If Forum is done right,
00:09:38.400 --> 00:09:40.480
that's where you do a lot of learning.
00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:43.340
And a lot of the learning
you do in high school
00:09:43.340 --> 00:09:44.450
is growing up.
00:09:44.450 --> 00:09:48.130
It's nice to have older kids
and younger kids together
00:09:48.130 --> 00:09:50.460
so the younger kids can
learn from the older kids
00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:54.050
and then have a significant adult
00:09:54.940 --> 00:09:57.565
that kids are able to talk to.
00:09:57.565 --> 00:10:00.732
(indistinct chatting)
00:10:02.034 --> 00:10:04.270
It's like a homeroom on steroids.
00:10:04.270 --> 00:10:06.570
I think people understand homeroom,
00:10:06.570 --> 00:10:09.650
but they don't understand that
a Forum leader goes camping,
00:10:09.650 --> 00:10:12.200
has sleepovers at her house,
feeds kids all the time,
00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:13.340
keeps food in a closet.
00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:17.402
I had mice in my closet this
year & had to say to the kids,
00:10:17.402 --> 00:10:20.100
we can't do this, the
pantry is getting invaded.
00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:22.510
It's an advocate, it's a social director.
00:10:22.510 --> 00:10:24.856
We call it a Forum mom and a Forum dad.
00:10:24.856 --> 00:10:26.970
(indistinct chattering)
00:10:26.970 --> 00:10:29.704
- Hey I will buy you
any junk food you want.
00:10:29.704 --> 00:10:34.704
So I don't have any (indistinct)
00:10:36.272 --> 00:10:40.240
Wait a minute. I don't
know what a taki is!
00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:43.070
Of course Forum was different
because that was not really
00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:44.920
like an academic class.
00:10:44.920 --> 00:10:46.797
I know we would plan our camping
trips and stuff like that.
00:10:46.797 --> 00:10:49.593
And you know when people would
have problems or something
00:10:49.593 --> 00:10:51.320
that they needed to deal with,
00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:54.110
that wasn't so much during
the Forum class time,
00:10:54.110 --> 00:10:56.240
that would be like a
one-on-one with the teacher
00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.876
talking about what was going on.
00:10:58.876 --> 00:11:00.105
(participants laughing)
00:11:00.105 --> 00:11:01.803
Kids, I think you've got it.
00:11:01.803 --> 00:11:02.970
You're not gonna starve.
00:11:02.970 --> 00:11:03.803
Now the money, I didn't
tell you (indistinct)
00:11:03.803 --> 00:11:05.070
It's the greatest concept,
00:11:05.070 --> 00:11:07.070
because it gives you your anchor.
00:11:07.070 --> 00:11:09.640
For me, I think it really
did substitute for a family
00:11:09.640 --> 00:11:12.500
where I wasn't getting
that same nourishment
00:11:12.500 --> 00:11:16.123
or care I guess.
00:11:17.160 --> 00:11:19.050
Somebody who's genuinely caring about
00:11:19.050 --> 00:11:20.536
my interests and welfare.
00:11:20.536 --> 00:11:23.869
(bright dramatic music)
00:11:30.408 --> 00:11:31.702
♪ Oi oi oi! ♪
00:11:31.702 --> 00:11:32.535
♪ Nick goes to Forum everyday ♪
00:11:32.535 --> 00:11:33.442
♪ He does a lot of work ♪
00:11:33.442 --> 00:11:34.331
♪ He should get an A ♪
00:11:34.331 --> 00:11:35.482
♪ Okay great, that's the wrong grade ♪
00:11:35.482 --> 00:11:37.111
♪ You're lowering his GPA ♪
00:11:37.111 --> 00:11:38.285
♪ Forum should be an easy A ♪
00:11:38.285 --> 00:11:39.805
♪ That grade should be attendance based ♪
00:11:39.805 --> 00:11:41.341
♪ Stop this madness right away ♪
00:11:41.341 --> 00:11:42.754
♪ You don't learn anything anyways ♪
00:11:42.754 --> 00:11:45.421
♪ Well I can make an A in Forum ♪
00:11:45.421 --> 00:11:47.310
I would go on these
camping trips, and my aunt
00:11:47.310 --> 00:11:48.367
would say to me,
00:11:48.367 --> 00:11:50.760
"Judith, are other teachers doing this?"
00:11:50.760 --> 00:11:53.290
And I'd say, "Yes, we all do
it. We're all going camping."
00:11:53.290 --> 00:11:56.760
Or we're all having activities
that involve spending days
00:11:56.760 --> 00:11:59.120
with and evenings with our students.
00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:00.631
That makes a huge difference.
00:12:00.631 --> 00:12:04.722
♪ Whoa, give Nick an A in Forum ♪
00:12:04.722 --> 00:12:08.055
(participants laughing)
00:12:15.491 --> 00:12:16.324
What's this for?
00:12:16.324 --> 00:12:18.190
Let's finish all of our chili,
00:12:18.190 --> 00:12:21.000
all the new cheese and
anything else I bring you
00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.090
to stuff down your happy little tummies.
00:12:23.090 --> 00:12:26.410
End of the first marking period is Friday.
00:12:26.410 --> 00:12:31.410
Everybody look me in the eyes,
look me in the eyes and say,
00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:33.867
"I won't be on the doo-doo list."
00:12:33.867 --> 00:12:36.520
[Students] I won't be on the doo-doo list.
00:12:36.520 --> 00:12:38.810
'Cause I have to go snooping to see
00:12:38.810 --> 00:12:40.520
whom I should be thinking about.
00:12:40.520 --> 00:12:43.736
This room, I think
sometimes it's like 110.
00:12:43.736 --> 00:12:45.330
Which is really hot.
00:12:45.330 --> 00:12:46.500
It's like at the end of the day,
00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:47.560
when you're absolutely dead,
00:12:47.560 --> 00:12:51.720
you have 26 wild little
kids come in the room
00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:53.380
and they're bouncing and they're starving
00:12:53.380 --> 00:12:54.930
and then you do this.
00:12:54.930 --> 00:12:56.140
I mean, it's kind of nice
00:12:56.140 --> 00:12:58.850
because in a way we all
kind of collapse together.
00:12:58.850 --> 00:12:59.683
- [Filmmaker] And you've
been at the school
00:12:59.683 --> 00:13:00.810
for a couple of years...?
00:13:00.810 --> 00:13:01.643
- 30.
00:13:01.643 --> 00:13:02.483
- [Filmmaker] Have you been
in this room for a long time?
00:13:02.483 --> 00:13:03.890
- Yes. All the time.
00:13:03.890 --> 00:13:06.363
This is my room, my room.
00:13:07.437 --> 00:13:08.270
(indistinct)
00:13:08.270 --> 00:13:09.103
- [Student 2] Thank you Judith.
00:13:09.103 --> 00:13:10.100
- [Student 3] Thanks Judith. Bye.
00:13:10.100 --> 00:13:11.063
- You're welcome guys.
00:13:11.063 --> 00:13:12.487
- Bye Judith.
00:13:12.487 --> 00:13:14.954
(indistinct)
00:13:14.954 --> 00:13:16.352
- He didn't just eat two hot dogs.
00:13:16.352 --> 00:13:19.780
- I have no idea (indistinct).
00:13:19.780 --> 00:13:23.360
I remember it was my
first job out of college
00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.080
and I have had to teach
other places and come back.
00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:28.970
But what I loved instantly
00:13:28.970 --> 00:13:30.973
was being called by my first name.
00:13:30.973 --> 00:13:33.400
So it felt like the right place for me.
00:13:33.400 --> 00:13:36.920
I have been a Forum leader all along.
00:13:36.920 --> 00:13:38.746
I feel like Hannah's grown up.
00:13:38.746 --> 00:13:39.579
- [Hannah] Yeah.
00:13:39.579 --> 00:13:40.412
- In my Forum.
00:13:40.412 --> 00:13:42.160
- Now I spend more time Thomas' Forum
00:13:42.160 --> 00:13:43.480
than I have in Strassel Forum.
00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:45.370
Where are the Craisins?
00:13:45.370 --> 00:13:48.140
- And I liked including
my family in my Forum,
00:13:48.140 --> 00:13:53.000
because I felt like the
students felt more...
00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:54.990
They just felt like they
were included in my family.
00:13:54.990 --> 00:13:56.930
They were part of my
family. They mattered.
00:13:56.930 --> 00:13:58.840
Do you have memories of growing up?
00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:00.590
- I do. In your forum?
00:14:00.590 --> 00:14:02.730
Yeah, absolutely.
00:14:02.730 --> 00:14:06.890
I think that Community High
School's entire culture
00:14:06.890 --> 00:14:09.730
is built towards trying to
make as many people as possible
00:14:09.730 --> 00:14:12.310
find that thing that
they're passionate about.
00:14:12.310 --> 00:14:14.130
And I think that that's why
00:14:14.130 --> 00:14:15.434
the students at Community High School
00:14:15.434 --> 00:14:20.434
sometimes feel so much more
engaged, more empowered.
00:14:21.280 --> 00:14:23.030
And I think that a lot
of that is the teachers.
00:14:23.030 --> 00:14:24.410
And a lot of that is the programs
00:14:24.410 --> 00:14:25.830
that are in place like Forum.
00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:27.330
And then you look at something like Forum
00:14:27.330 --> 00:14:28.420
and it's random people
00:14:28.420 --> 00:14:30.110
who are accepted from the lottery
00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.770
and you make some of your
best friends in Forum
00:14:32.770 --> 00:14:34.400
and you might've never met them.
00:14:34.400 --> 00:14:37.220
It's what Community does
is it takes these people
00:14:37.220 --> 00:14:42.180
and all of the potential
that everybody has
00:14:42.180 --> 00:14:44.450
and really allows them
to find it in themselves
00:14:44.450 --> 00:14:46.050
and find it in others.
00:14:46.050 --> 00:14:49.710
- Community High had adults who would say,
00:14:49.710 --> 00:14:52.130
Oh, I perceive your interests
00:14:52.130 --> 00:14:54.540
and let's give you this opportunity.
00:14:54.540 --> 00:14:56.980
It's built into the
structure of Community High,
00:14:56.980 --> 00:14:58.573
Community Resource, right?
00:15:01.530 --> 00:15:03.880
- David Tuck and I were quite close.
00:15:03.880 --> 00:15:06.147
And he's the one who came
to me as Dean and said,
00:15:06.147 --> 00:15:08.940
"We wanna have skateboarding
for PE credit. Is it okay?"
00:15:08.940 --> 00:15:10.410
I just said come back
00:15:10.410 --> 00:15:12.690
and explain to me how it qualifies
00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:14.150
'cause I don't know anything
about skateboarding.
00:15:14.150 --> 00:15:16.107
And so they took me out in the parking lot
00:15:16.107 --> 00:15:17.440
and they were whizzing around
00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.622
and jumping on the
little cement abutments.
00:15:20.622 --> 00:15:23.743
And I was like, "I'm down", let's do it.
00:15:25.280 --> 00:15:27.980
- I wasn't a big fan of gym class.
00:15:27.980 --> 00:15:30.150
So me and my friend Marnin
00:15:30.150 --> 00:15:31.960
created a Community Resource class
00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:36.960
called "Swim Swam Swum", where
00:15:37.401 --> 00:15:42.401
we snuck into swimming pools
of hotels around Ann Arbor
00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:46.260
and recorded our swimming
and our heart rate,
00:15:46.260 --> 00:15:49.240
but also wrote about the experience
00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:52.490
of trying to sneak into these
pools and not get caught.
00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:55.240
- We had a student nursery in the school
00:15:56.160 --> 00:16:00.640
where kids would bring their
babies and leave them there.
00:16:00.640 --> 00:16:02.620
Other kids could get
Community resource credit
00:16:02.620 --> 00:16:04.540
for learning how to take care of babies,
00:16:04.540 --> 00:16:05.750
which is really cool.
00:16:05.750 --> 00:16:08.130
They had to do a certain
amount of educational value
00:16:08.130 --> 00:16:10.770
and the kids had to learn some...
00:16:10.770 --> 00:16:13.700
If the CR is being monitored correctly,
00:16:13.700 --> 00:16:15.340
they have to learn something.
00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:18.480
- But over time it became
a little more structured.
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:20.440
And so there were classes
like you would see
00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.273
in any high school,
00:16:23.460 --> 00:16:25.730
but you also had a real option
00:16:25.730 --> 00:16:27.660
if you wanted to do something different.
00:16:27.660 --> 00:16:30.160
- I was in charge of
Community Resource department
00:16:31.180 --> 00:16:33.510
and teaching speech and a Forum leader.
00:16:33.510 --> 00:16:36.383
And we had hundreds of CRs.
00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:39.950
I would have a case
load sometimes 250 CRs.
00:16:39.950 --> 00:16:43.047
A lot of kids spent more time
out of school than in school.
00:16:43.047 --> 00:16:46.120
And it was based on the
Parkway, Philadelphia idea
00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:49.303
that education isn't
contained in brick and mortar.
00:16:50.526 --> 00:16:52.973
- Right. Can we go ahead?
00:16:52.973 --> 00:16:54.410
- [Student] Cue down.
00:16:54.410 --> 00:16:56.950
- Good afternoon and welcome
to Students in the Spotlight.
00:16:56.950 --> 00:16:58.470
I'm Vicky Henry, and today with me,
00:16:58.470 --> 00:17:00.140
I have Tracy Osbourn,
00:17:00.140 --> 00:17:02.340
who is a student at Community High School.
00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:03.233
Hi Tracy.
00:17:03.233 --> 00:17:04.066
- Hi.
00:17:04.066 --> 00:17:04.899
- I understand Community High
00:17:04.899 --> 00:17:06.160
is and alternative high school.
00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:07.890
What's that mean?
00:17:07.890 --> 00:17:10.410
- It's a lot more freedom
than most schools.
00:17:10.410 --> 00:17:13.830
Like I don't know most Ann Arbor schools.
00:17:13.830 --> 00:17:15.680
- What do you like best about this school?
00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.700
- I like the freedom and the
teachers. They're really nice.
00:17:18.700 --> 00:17:21.340
And the students are nice too.
00:17:21.340 --> 00:17:22.710
- Well, we're out of time for the day.
00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:23.748
I hope you'll tune in tomorrow
00:17:23.748 --> 00:17:26.870
when I'll be talking to
another Community High student.
00:17:26.870 --> 00:17:28.120
Thanks Tracy.
00:17:28.120 --> 00:17:30.610
- All right Leah, do you have your phone?
00:17:30.610 --> 00:17:31.850
You have everything else you need?
00:17:31.850 --> 00:17:33.123
- [Leah] Yeah.
- Okay.
00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:38.450
So we did check out the
application actually
00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:41.130
a few minutes ago and
there's nothing to it.
00:17:41.130 --> 00:17:44.580
It's just like your kid's name, your name,
00:17:44.580 --> 00:17:46.260
I think where they're in
school right now and that's it.
00:17:46.260 --> 00:17:48.990
So we're going to Community High School
00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:52.680
for the information session
for incoming ninth graders,
00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:56.620
because my daughter, Leah
is gonna enter the lottery
00:17:56.620 --> 00:17:57.773
to see if she gets in.
00:17:58.780 --> 00:18:01.790
These didn't exist back when I went.
00:18:01.790 --> 00:18:04.210
So this'll be different. Leah,
do you know what to expect?
00:18:04.210 --> 00:18:05.360
Has anybody told you?
00:18:05.360 --> 00:18:07.010
- No, everybody just
said it's really packed.
00:18:07.010 --> 00:18:08.060
- It's just really packed.
00:18:08.060 --> 00:18:09.850
So it's so popular now
00:18:09.850 --> 00:18:12.000
that they have to have
five of these things
00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:16.633
'cause there's just so
many families to include.
00:18:18.062 --> 00:18:21.491
Yeah, these are definitely not our era.
00:18:21.491 --> 00:18:22.702
- This one is...
00:18:22.702 --> 00:18:24.780
There's Tidra, that's my sister.
00:18:24.780 --> 00:18:27.730
- So my husband is Trevor Staples
00:18:27.730 --> 00:18:31.010
and he hung out on the front porch,
00:18:31.010 --> 00:18:32.540
if he ever came to school.
00:18:32.540 --> 00:18:35.280
Many years later after I
had already been married
00:18:35.280 --> 00:18:36.730
and divorced and had a child,
00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:42.900
he and I met again actually
at a Community High reunion
00:18:43.670 --> 00:18:46.750
and became friends
00:18:46.750 --> 00:18:49.320
and then several years after that,
00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:52.540
we started dating and
eventually got married
00:18:54.370 --> 00:18:57.446
at Community High School
on the front porch.
00:18:57.446 --> 00:18:59.997
(laughs)
00:18:59.997 --> 00:19:02.940
- Hi, I'm Trevor Staples an
authority on punk rock jeans
00:19:02.940 --> 00:19:05.150
and I'm here to tell you about them.
00:19:05.150 --> 00:19:06.580
I like punk rock jeans
00:19:06.580 --> 00:19:08.780
because I feel good
when I'm with the crowd.
00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:12.670
They are great when I'm slam dancing
00:19:12.670 --> 00:19:15.990
and they don't stretch when
I kick preppies in the head.
00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:17.580
- Buy punk rock jeans,
00:19:17.580 --> 00:19:20.653
they're the original punk rock jeans.
00:19:21.790 --> 00:19:23.300
- We definitely had different experiences
00:19:23.300 --> 00:19:24.560
at Community High.
00:19:24.560 --> 00:19:26.470
I have friends that are lifelong friends
00:19:26.470 --> 00:19:28.420
from my time at Community,
00:19:28.420 --> 00:19:30.940
but the other day Kelly asked
me who my Forum leader was.
00:19:30.940 --> 00:19:31.843
And I don't know.
00:19:32.780 --> 00:19:35.496
I don't remember who my Forum leader was.
00:19:35.496 --> 00:19:36.870
(chuckles)
00:19:36.870 --> 00:19:38.440
I mean, that's how detached I was
00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:40.240
from the academic part of Community.
00:19:42.270 --> 00:19:44.360
And that's part of why
it's surprising for people
00:19:44.360 --> 00:19:46.820
that we're together and
that we're still together.
00:19:46.820 --> 00:19:50.490
The other high schools
were very strict and rigid
00:19:50.490 --> 00:19:53.630
and Community High was a
place that was more loose.
00:19:53.630 --> 00:19:56.676
And maybe something in between there
00:19:56.676 --> 00:19:58.420
would have been better for me.
00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:01.090
I wasn't prepared to do school,
00:20:01.090 --> 00:20:04.417
how Community does school
or did school that way.
00:20:06.895 --> 00:20:07.728
- [Woman] How are you?
00:20:07.728 --> 00:20:08.693
- She's totally calm.
00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:13.850
She's not sweating this.
I'm like the wreck.
00:20:13.850 --> 00:20:16.360
Already it seems so
much more professional.
00:20:16.360 --> 00:20:18.137
We were so...
00:20:18.137 --> 00:20:20.040
I'm not gonna say disorganized,
00:20:20.040 --> 00:20:23.010
but it didn't feel formal in any way.
00:20:25.417 --> 00:20:28.600
And so already though, I can feel like
00:20:28.600 --> 00:20:32.710
it's a little more serious than it was.
00:20:32.710 --> 00:20:34.960
- We all know that Community High School
00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:35.970
is a lottery school.
00:20:35.970 --> 00:20:39.135
Which means every year....
00:20:39.135 --> 00:20:42.380
(indistinct chattering)
00:20:42.380 --> 00:20:47.250
- When I was in eighth grade
and starting to figure out
00:20:47.250 --> 00:20:51.740
if I could go to Community or
not, my dad got really sick.
00:20:51.740 --> 00:20:56.740
He knew about this plan
and was supportive of it.
00:20:56.770 --> 00:21:01.193
And then in March of my eighth
grade year, he passed away.
00:21:02.120 --> 00:21:07.120
My mom was completely in favor of it.
00:21:07.690 --> 00:21:11.490
So it was an open secret
that I lived in Ypsilanti
00:21:11.490 --> 00:21:13.400
and was going to school in Ann Arbor.
00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:16.890
And so people for the most
part just looked the other way.
00:21:16.890 --> 00:21:21.890
It wasn't until my junior
year that it became a problem.
00:21:23.310 --> 00:21:28.310
What I ended up doing was I
got emancipated by the court
00:21:28.310 --> 00:21:31.080
and I joined a co-op.
00:21:31.080 --> 00:21:32.620
Then I moved into a co-op
00:21:32.620 --> 00:21:35.300
on University of Michigan's campus.
00:21:35.300 --> 00:21:38.280
At the time I acted like it didn't matter.
00:21:38.280 --> 00:21:41.953
And maybe it didn't,
maybe it only matters now.
00:21:44.537 --> 00:21:46.603
This is where I used to hang out.
00:21:46.603 --> 00:21:48.290
- Why?
- Why? 'Cause it was bench.
00:21:48.290 --> 00:21:49.868
You could sit.
00:21:49.868 --> 00:21:50.720
(indistinct)
00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:51.960
It was the third floor
00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:56.350
where the sort of geeky
political types hung out.
00:21:57.410 --> 00:22:02.410
Do you wanna see the fitness
stuff on the first one?
00:22:02.550 --> 00:22:04.460
Like the dance room and the workout room.
00:22:04.460 --> 00:22:05.600
- Do you wanna go see it, mom?
00:22:05.600 --> 00:22:07.560
- We can see the dance room at least.
00:22:07.560 --> 00:22:09.743
I never went into the fitness room.
00:22:12.348 --> 00:22:13.510
- Have you been looking for good video
00:22:13.510 --> 00:22:14.510
equipment at a low price?
00:22:14.510 --> 00:22:16.380
Well, here it is, Commie Video Equipment.
00:22:16.380 --> 00:22:17.900
Commie is highly affordable.
00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:21.070
The VCR comes complete with
wired remote and is part of it.
00:22:21.070 --> 00:22:23.963
So you can record anything you
want with your video camera.
00:22:25.890 --> 00:22:28.221
See, I just took a
picture of the cameraman.
00:22:28.221 --> 00:22:30.466
(laughing)
00:22:30.466 --> 00:22:31.299
- [student] You're picking like-
00:22:31.299 --> 00:22:34.020
- I should not be trusted with blades.
00:22:34.020 --> 00:22:35.339
That's the true fact about me.
00:22:35.339 --> 00:22:37.323
- [student] I'm a little
scared with you handling this.
00:22:41.225 --> 00:22:43.390
- We've got a lot of news
because as you can see,
00:22:43.390 --> 00:22:45.250
it's the election.
00:22:45.250 --> 00:22:50.250
So we covered Tim Kaine,
Hillary and Bernie.
00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:53.710
We're covering incarceration again,
00:22:53.710 --> 00:22:55.170
which we've done in previous issues
00:22:55.170 --> 00:22:58.360
but I think it's like a different
take on it, which is cool.
00:22:58.360 --> 00:23:00.342
Actually, should we open more boxes?
00:23:00.342 --> 00:23:02.759
(indistinct)
00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:12.778
- This is what it looked like...
00:23:12.778 --> 00:23:17.273
Well, this was actually like
the year before I started 1999.
00:23:18.650 --> 00:23:20.280
And this is what it looks like today.
00:23:20.280 --> 00:23:23.090
This is the best edition they've
ever, ever, ever put out.
00:23:23.090 --> 00:23:23.923
Like the best.
00:23:23.923 --> 00:23:25.750
- [Hannah] Communicator. You got one.
00:23:28.040 --> 00:23:31.090
- First semester there was
a paper called The Syllabus
00:23:31.090 --> 00:23:33.620
and we also had a paper called Mondays.
00:23:33.620 --> 00:23:36.650
And so each Monday there
was like a one sheet thing
00:23:36.650 --> 00:23:38.870
that said, this is what's happening.
00:23:38.870 --> 00:23:42.710
When we started Yenta,
Watergate had just gone down
00:23:42.710 --> 00:23:45.500
and it seemed like one of the
most sexy, amazing careers
00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:48.050
you could have would be as
an investigative journalist
00:23:48.050 --> 00:23:49.840
because you could indeed save the world
00:23:49.840 --> 00:23:52.090
and it would be amazing.
00:23:52.090 --> 00:23:54.400
- And then Tom Dodd took
over the Communicator
00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:57.870
and his thing was, he just
wanted any kid to write.
00:23:57.870 --> 00:23:59.990
Every kid had to write something
00:23:59.990 --> 00:24:02.520
and Tracy her thing was more quality
00:24:03.560 --> 00:24:06.146
raise the quality up a little bit.
00:24:06.146 --> 00:24:08.180
(indistinct)
00:24:08.180 --> 00:24:11.610
- It's nice to give them something
00:24:11.610 --> 00:24:14.260
that everybody gets it in the school.
00:24:14.260 --> 00:24:16.620
So rarely that people
get the same information,
00:24:16.620 --> 00:24:18.750
at the same moment in time
00:24:18.750 --> 00:24:20.710
and Communicator when we distribute,
00:24:20.710 --> 00:24:22.800
it's one of those moments where everyone.
00:24:22.800 --> 00:24:24.050
I like walking around the hallway
00:24:24.050 --> 00:24:26.437
and seeing what they're looking at.
00:24:26.437 --> 00:24:28.890
(laughs)
00:24:28.890 --> 00:24:29.753
Thank you Judith.
00:24:32.031 --> 00:24:32.864
- Bye.
00:24:33.780 --> 00:24:36.760
- Learning how to put together a newspaper
00:24:36.760 --> 00:24:41.760
and writing for it was an
instance where the work was real.
00:24:42.320 --> 00:24:46.320
And when you think about
creating an intellectual culture,
00:24:46.320 --> 00:24:48.760
that students actually value,
00:24:48.760 --> 00:24:50.270
those are examples of things
00:24:50.270 --> 00:24:54.380
that are true performances of real work
00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:59.380
and are being used by other
students and faculty and so on.
00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:01.970
And so when you can create real work
00:25:01.970 --> 00:25:03.750
that students can engage with,
00:25:03.750 --> 00:25:06.980
it totally changes how you invest in it
00:25:06.980 --> 00:25:08.565
and how seriously you take it.
00:25:08.565 --> 00:25:11.148
(lively music)
00:25:19.495 --> 00:25:20.328
- [Clarence] We're still...
00:25:20.328 --> 00:25:21.161
So we're coming back at like what,
00:25:21.161 --> 00:25:22.650
10 something?
00:25:22.650 --> 00:25:24.060
- [Teacher] We're probably not
gonna leave there til 10ish.
00:25:24.060 --> 00:25:25.344
- [Clarence] Okay, so
like get back at like...
00:25:25.344 --> 00:25:26.177
- [Teacher] 10:30 to 11.
00:25:27.150 --> 00:25:28.873
- [Danny] Oh my God, did
you guys not get coat...
00:25:28.873 --> 00:25:30.170
- [Clarence] Coat tie and crocks.
00:25:30.170 --> 00:25:31.209
- Yeah. Suit and tie...
00:25:31.209 --> 00:25:33.626
- [Clarence] C & T & C...
00:25:36.095 --> 00:25:38.802
- I feel good.
00:25:38.802 --> 00:25:41.827
Like I knew that...I would.
00:25:41.827 --> 00:25:43.659
I feel good. I feel excited.
00:25:43.659 --> 00:25:44.640
- I feel excited.
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:45.865
- That's the way I think about it.
00:25:45.865 --> 00:25:50.550
There's a 0.05% chance that
Stevie Wonder will walk by.
00:25:50.550 --> 00:25:51.940
And for me that's about
good enough to just be-
00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:54.360
- That's good enough just to be excited-
00:25:54.360 --> 00:25:55.193
- A little bit to do something yeah.
00:25:55.193 --> 00:25:56.850
- 'Cause like usually it's a 0%.
00:25:56.850 --> 00:25:57.683
- [Danny] Right.
00:25:57.683 --> 00:25:58.516
(indistinct)
00:25:58.516 --> 00:25:59.710
- The whole thing?
00:25:59.710 --> 00:26:00.543
- Yeah.
00:26:00.543 --> 00:26:01.910
- Yeah that makes sense
because we have to roll.
00:26:01.910 --> 00:26:02.743
- Oh yeah.
00:26:02.743 --> 00:26:03.990
- You're gonna be so glad
that you have to repack.
00:26:03.990 --> 00:26:04.823
- Yeah.
00:26:04.823 --> 00:26:06.160
- Lift it as a unit.
00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:07.760
Then we'll do the next one next to it.
00:26:07.760 --> 00:26:09.120
- I shouldn't look at it from that.
00:26:09.120 --> 00:26:09.953
- No, but yeah.
00:26:09.953 --> 00:26:11.140
- If I had my instrument
taken away from me,
00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:12.650
I'd probably go back to football.
00:26:12.650 --> 00:26:13.483
'Cause I was like-
00:26:13.483 --> 00:26:15.000
- What position did you like in football?
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:17.330
- I was starting line on both sides.
00:26:17.330 --> 00:26:19.048
So I was on defense
and offense. It was so-
00:26:19.048 --> 00:26:19.881
- [Marci] When was the last year
00:26:19.881 --> 00:26:20.714
you played football, Clarence?
00:26:20.714 --> 00:26:21.547
- Eighth grade.
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:24.563
- What made you decide to
never do it in high school?
00:26:24.563 --> 00:26:26.330
- [Clarence] Music.
- [Danny] Music. Yeah.
00:26:26.330 --> 00:26:27.360
- You can't do both hey?
00:26:27.360 --> 00:26:29.140
- No. Especially theater as well.
00:26:29.140 --> 00:26:30.680
- [Danny] Hypothetically you could.
00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:31.870
- Hypothetically, yes.
00:26:31.870 --> 00:26:32.703
- But it's hard. It's hard.
00:26:32.703 --> 00:26:33.980
- It's very difficult.
00:26:33.980 --> 00:26:35.740
And though, that's the question I've been,
00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:38.250
and I keep asking myself is
what I'm doing right now,
00:26:38.250 --> 00:26:39.320
what I wanna do.
00:26:39.320 --> 00:26:40.370
And so then I'm just like, okay,
00:26:40.370 --> 00:26:42.470
then I dropped the thing
that like, I don't wanna do.
00:26:42.470 --> 00:26:44.260
So like, and that's why
like it's such a struggle
00:26:44.260 --> 00:26:45.093
with theater right now,
00:26:45.093 --> 00:26:45.926
'cause I've been like really like,
00:26:45.926 --> 00:26:47.920
oh, do I keep one 'cause
I do really love it.
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:49.020
And I love it so much.
00:26:51.720 --> 00:26:52.760
So we're at the
00:26:52.760 --> 00:26:56.240
North American International
Auto Show Charity Gala.
00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:58.580
There's gonna be over
13,000 people there tonight,
00:26:58.580 --> 00:27:02.910
a lot of VIP's and
politicians and famous folks.
00:27:02.910 --> 00:27:04.890
This is just one of nearly a hundred gigs
00:27:04.890 --> 00:27:06.010
we'll do this year
00:27:06.860 --> 00:27:09.010
and this is one of the
bigger ones for sure.
00:27:09.010 --> 00:27:11.120
And it all comes out of
what was going on in the 70s
00:27:11.120 --> 00:27:12.520
with Bart Polot and then later on
00:27:12.520 --> 00:27:14.620
Mike Grace in '80s and 90s.
00:27:14.620 --> 00:27:17.670
The whole idea was to make
a small group jazz program.
00:27:17.670 --> 00:27:18.550
That's all we do here.
00:27:18.550 --> 00:27:20.810
That's what separates us from
every other school is that
00:27:20.810 --> 00:27:23.510
that's what we study
and that's all we study
00:27:23.510 --> 00:27:25.520
and it's really improv-based.
00:27:25.520 --> 00:27:28.410
We want the kids to be
able to be individuals
00:27:28.410 --> 00:27:29.683
and express themselves,
00:27:30.520 --> 00:27:32.290
but we're doing it in a team.
00:27:32.290 --> 00:27:34.460
It's not about focusing
on just compositions
00:27:34.460 --> 00:27:36.370
written by folks in bygone era.
00:27:36.370 --> 00:27:38.120
It's about being creative yourself.
00:27:39.032 --> 00:27:39.865
And I think that is special
00:27:39.865 --> 00:27:41.340
and that's why we're
having so much success.
00:27:41.340 --> 00:27:42.740
And the kids are winning Downbeat awards
00:27:42.740 --> 00:27:43.990
and going off and making records
00:27:43.990 --> 00:27:46.540
and going and doing great
things at the next level.
00:27:47.491 --> 00:27:50.324
(trumpet blowing)
00:27:51.310 --> 00:27:52.339
- It's not a normal trumpet.
00:27:52.339 --> 00:27:55.590
I really liked it 'cause
I liked the sound of it.
00:27:55.590 --> 00:27:57.300
It's very unique and I thought
it would like help me with,
00:27:57.300 --> 00:27:59.930
like just hone in like my individuality
00:27:59.930 --> 00:28:02.023
and then just jazz playing.
00:28:03.410 --> 00:28:06.493
(instrumental music)
00:28:15.379 --> 00:28:18.440
- I think we've been playing
very well more so than-
00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:19.510
- I think this is one of the best times
00:28:19.510 --> 00:28:20.960
I've played personally.
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:21.793
It's really great.
- I agree.
00:28:21.793 --> 00:28:22.956
- I think it might just be like,
00:28:22.956 --> 00:28:24.549
I don't know what it is honestly.
00:28:24.549 --> 00:28:27.632
(instrumental music)
00:28:29.293 --> 00:28:31.130
- For all your performance needs.
00:28:31.130 --> 00:28:33.410
- Thank you. Community High Jazz...
00:28:33.410 --> 00:28:35.710
You guys are high schoolers?
00:28:35.710 --> 00:28:37.993
I walked past and it was just amazing
00:28:39.801 --> 00:28:42.380
and I was like "they got
the Beach Boys downstairs?"
00:28:42.380 --> 00:28:45.405
Please, they need to be downstairs!
00:28:45.405 --> 00:28:47.822
(indistinct)
00:28:52.450 --> 00:28:54.980
- I'd like to hear a quick share up
00:28:54.980 --> 00:28:56.530
from each group here
00:28:56.530 --> 00:29:01.190
about dates and also about
your best de-stressing
00:29:01.190 --> 00:29:02.540
or studying strategies.
00:29:02.540 --> 00:29:05.200
There's real humanist quality to the way
00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:07.520
that people relate to
each other at Community.
00:29:07.520 --> 00:29:09.130
The culture here is so different
00:29:09.130 --> 00:29:12.530
and it's something that is
so hard to build a culture,
00:29:12.530 --> 00:29:14.530
even if everybody's really intentional
00:29:14.530 --> 00:29:16.600
about wanting something
to be a certain way,
00:29:16.600 --> 00:29:19.780
it's unlike anything I've
experienced other places.
00:29:19.780 --> 00:29:21.110
I actually went to Community.
00:29:21.110 --> 00:29:25.410
So I started here in
1999, graduated in 2002
00:29:25.410 --> 00:29:29.200
and then I student taught
here in 2008, 2009.
00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:31.230
And then I got lucky
enough to get a job here
00:29:31.230 --> 00:29:33.240
the second year after that.
00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:36.630
And I was so glad to be here. Again.
00:29:36.630 --> 00:29:39.070
Coming to Community and
having the QSA group
00:29:39.070 --> 00:29:40.730
was really important for
me to be able to come out.
00:29:40.730 --> 00:29:43.730
Just 'cause I was meeting
all these other queer kids
00:29:43.730 --> 00:29:46.230
who were also coming out
and also experiencing
00:29:46.230 --> 00:29:47.180
some of the same things
00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:49.230
that I wasn't having a sense of humor
00:29:49.230 --> 00:29:51.530
about all of the weirdness
that accompanies coming out
00:29:51.530 --> 00:29:53.800
as a high school student.
00:29:53.800 --> 00:29:56.260
So yeah, that was really important.
00:29:56.260 --> 00:29:58.040
- People were out and so it's like,
00:29:58.040 --> 00:30:00.680
oh, you're gay well okay then.
00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:01.860
It's a smaller school
00:30:01.860 --> 00:30:06.860
and so you knew who was
gay and it was no big deal.
00:30:06.870 --> 00:30:11.050
- So this is the yearbook from
the third year of the school.
00:30:11.050 --> 00:30:14.720
And I just was looking earlier
one of the funny things
00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:16.410
they'd have this timeline,
00:30:16.410 --> 00:30:19.230
homecoming queen crown, that
was our homecoming queen.
00:30:19.230 --> 00:30:20.800
He was gay.
00:30:20.800 --> 00:30:23.860
It was healthy for the gay bisexual folks.
00:30:23.860 --> 00:30:26.510
Transgendered wasn't really
on our radar at that time,
00:30:26.510 --> 00:30:28.870
but I'm sure there was
"T" people there too,
00:30:28.870 --> 00:30:30.843
that they weren't gonna get ostracized.
00:30:30.843 --> 00:30:34.339
- Get in your groups, I'll
give you a prompt in a second
00:30:34.339 --> 00:30:36.650
The quirkiness and the willingness
00:30:36.650 --> 00:30:39.130
to do things differently
is still alive and well.
00:30:39.130 --> 00:30:44.130
And kids who are not totally
mainstream and normal
00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:47.150
are still thriving here
and are still accepted here
00:30:47.150 --> 00:30:50.230
and there's still the culture of welcoming
00:30:50.230 --> 00:30:54.890
instead of alienation that
I think is really important.
00:30:54.890 --> 00:30:55.723
I would...
00:30:55.723 --> 00:30:56.740
I'm gonna ask you guys and
I know I don't remember
00:30:56.740 --> 00:30:57.870
if you guys will get in your groups,
00:30:57.870 --> 00:31:00.236
I'll give you a second here.
00:31:00.236 --> 00:31:01.463
(indistinct)
00:31:01.463 --> 00:31:02.720
- There are very few kids at Community
00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:04.823
that get lost or that's how it should be.
00:31:05.774 --> 00:31:07.023
That you're known there.
00:31:07.940 --> 00:31:10.660
And really that's what you
wanna achieve in high school
00:31:10.660 --> 00:31:13.237
because isolation, disenfranchisement
00:31:13.237 --> 00:31:16.450
are so easy with adolescents
00:31:16.450 --> 00:31:19.180
and you're not gonna deny adolescence.
00:31:20.460 --> 00:31:24.400
A school that sort of accepted
that and rolled with it
00:31:25.730 --> 00:31:27.500
was gonna be better for kids.
00:31:27.500 --> 00:31:29.080
- At a more personal level
00:31:29.080 --> 00:31:31.840
and I mean this very lovingly,
00:31:31.840 --> 00:31:35.050
we had so many unique spirits,
00:31:35.050 --> 00:31:40.050
who likely had been quite
misunderstood as kids.
00:31:40.670 --> 00:31:43.870
I call them gadzooks in
my head, like gyro-gooses,
00:31:43.870 --> 00:31:47.410
like just these really
incredible individuals
00:31:47.410 --> 00:31:51.844
who in a very traditional
system have no chance to shine.
00:31:51.844 --> 00:31:55.177
(bright dramatic music)
00:31:56.520 --> 00:31:58.720
- There was always that
really marvelous mural
00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:00.270
of the AntiZebra mascot.
00:32:00.270 --> 00:32:03.160
That was right next to the
office where there's the zebra
00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:05.634
of many different patterns
running against the tide
00:32:05.634 --> 00:32:08.880
of zebras who look sort of astounded.
00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.670
The expressions on those zebras
faces in the original mural
00:32:11.670 --> 00:32:12.940
are really good.
00:32:12.940 --> 00:32:17.060
The zebra has a lot more
going on than rainbow, right?
00:32:17.060 --> 00:32:20.050
There's patterns, there's
many different patterns.
00:32:20.050 --> 00:32:22.650
Anything can happen on an AntiZebra.
00:32:22.650 --> 00:32:24.420
It's mercurial shifting.
00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:25.490
Absolutely. Yes.
00:32:25.490 --> 00:32:28.760
A colorful, well-intentioned, right?
00:32:28.760 --> 00:32:32.570
Probably harmless if
somewhat startling at first.
00:32:32.570 --> 00:32:33.719
Yeah, sure.
00:32:33.719 --> 00:32:35.320
(laughs)
00:32:35.320 --> 00:32:38.653
(bright dramatic music)
00:32:57.892 --> 00:33:01.240
- Oh, this is the where the
rest of the pictures are.
00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:06.240
The feathered hair in the '80s blow backs.
00:33:06.710 --> 00:33:09.630
So I'm here in the main office
waiting for my parking pass
00:33:09.630 --> 00:33:11.990
and then we're gonna go
upstairs to Judith's classroom
00:33:11.990 --> 00:33:14.730
and I'll do a little chat with her Forum.
00:33:14.730 --> 00:33:16.390
Tell them about what
it was like in the '80s
00:33:16.390 --> 00:33:17.330
and what Judith was like
00:33:17.330 --> 00:33:19.090
when she first started here at Community.
00:33:19.090 --> 00:33:21.190
I think she's still in the same classroom.
00:33:22.560 --> 00:33:24.450
- Will you all welcome Kelly...
00:33:24.450 --> 00:33:26.227
You get the seat of honor.
00:33:26.227 --> 00:33:27.940
- All right.
00:33:27.940 --> 00:33:30.570
So I first came to Community
in the ninth grade.
00:33:30.570 --> 00:33:34.040
That was 1983 and I graduated in 1987.
00:33:34.040 --> 00:33:36.960
So I graduated 30 years ago.
00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.660
- Who else has a question of Kelly? Yes.
00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:42.040
- How, like just being
here a short time now,
00:33:42.040 --> 00:33:44.380
like how do you think it's changed?
00:33:44.380 --> 00:33:47.670
- Well, Judith is in the
same room which is great.
00:33:47.670 --> 00:33:49.550
And you guys look a little cleaner,
00:33:49.550 --> 00:33:50.830
a little more put together.
00:33:50.830 --> 00:33:52.060
We were pretty rough.
00:33:52.060 --> 00:33:54.420
You look exactly the
same. Your hair was brown.
00:33:54.420 --> 00:33:55.660
- Yeah, it was, it was really brown.
00:33:55.660 --> 00:33:56.653
Kids it was brown.
00:33:57.740 --> 00:34:00.693
- What was Community like
when you were going here?
00:34:03.290 --> 00:34:05.560
- It was filled with people
00:34:05.560 --> 00:34:08.330
who didn't quite fit in other places,
00:34:08.330 --> 00:34:10.890
but people don't fit in
for all kinds of reasons.
00:34:10.890 --> 00:34:13.010
There's all kinds of things
that could be making you
00:34:13.010 --> 00:34:15.260
feel kind of out of sorts, right?
00:34:15.260 --> 00:34:16.320
- [Interviewer] What do
you want for Christmas.
00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:18.280
- I want some cotton underwear.
00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:19.430
- [Interviewer] Anything else?
00:34:19.430 --> 00:34:20.263
- Cotton underwear.
00:34:20.263 --> 00:34:21.713
Get a close up on the cotton underwear.
00:34:22.860 --> 00:34:23.816
Long johns. Get a close
up on the long johns!
00:34:23.816 --> 00:34:25.381
- Like these!
00:34:25.381 --> 00:34:27.548
(buzzing)
00:34:29.550 --> 00:34:31.603
- Why did you decide to come
to Community High School?
00:34:31.603 --> 00:34:34.353
(dramatic music)
00:34:36.830 --> 00:34:38.180
- [Kelly] So in the mid '80s,
00:34:38.180 --> 00:34:40.650
we were pretty anti
everything establishment.
00:34:40.650 --> 00:34:43.880
And so we didn't do any prom.
00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:46.250
We didn't have dances per se.
00:34:46.250 --> 00:34:49.677
We had a lot of hardcore punk rock shows.
00:34:49.677 --> 00:34:52.677
(students shouting)
00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:01.040
Back in the day there was like smoking
00:35:01.040 --> 00:35:04.570
in the teacher's lounge and
students smoked outside.
00:35:04.570 --> 00:35:07.350
People were definitely doing drugs.
00:35:07.350 --> 00:35:11.860
People were unshaven, they
didn't wash their hair,
00:35:11.860 --> 00:35:15.770
but Community was a place
where you could fit in,
00:35:15.770 --> 00:35:18.073
even if you had never fit in before.
00:35:18.073 --> 00:35:20.823
(dramatic music)
00:35:25.260 --> 00:35:28.194
(indistinct)
00:35:28.194 --> 00:35:31.710
We had this sense that if
we didn't keep it together,
00:35:31.710 --> 00:35:34.160
that any minute now they
could close the school.
00:35:34.160 --> 00:35:35.150
This could be the last year.
00:35:35.150 --> 00:35:40.150
So we worked really hard to
reach out to the community
00:35:40.290 --> 00:35:42.193
and try to get folks to come here.
00:35:43.360 --> 00:35:46.450
- We were fighting harder at 10 years
00:35:46.450 --> 00:35:49.160
than we did the first seven or eight.
00:35:49.160 --> 00:35:53.140
The administrative role
became very, very crucial.
00:35:53.140 --> 00:35:58.140
Right then for posterity,
not just balance your budget,
00:35:59.170 --> 00:36:00.710
take care of discipline,
00:36:00.710 --> 00:36:05.427
but we were really fighting for longevity.
00:36:08.470 --> 00:36:12.040
And that might be the
hardest fight of all.
00:36:12.040 --> 00:36:15.070
I felt like it was a
significant part of my job
00:36:15.070 --> 00:36:18.660
to work with downtown.
00:36:18.660 --> 00:36:20.750
Enrollment was the indicator.
00:36:20.750 --> 00:36:21.583
And we kept thinking,
00:36:21.583 --> 00:36:23.840
"oh my Lord, we know, we know, we know
00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:27.280
that there are hundreds
of kids who need us,
00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:28.470
where are they?"
00:36:29.495 --> 00:36:34.416
♪ Can you see me in the dark ♪
00:36:34.416 --> 00:36:39.262
♪ Can you hear me not making a sound ♪
00:36:39.262 --> 00:36:44.262
♪ Can you tell me right from wrong ♪
00:36:44.729 --> 00:36:47.770
♪ Can you tell me about tomorrow ♪
00:36:47.770 --> 00:36:51.070
- Superintendent MacPherson
left after the first year,
00:36:51.070 --> 00:36:54.170
I think Community opened. His whole thing.
00:36:54.170 --> 00:36:57.400
So a very kind of
conservative board came in
00:36:57.400 --> 00:37:01.090
and they had no interest in Community.
00:37:01.090 --> 00:37:05.440
When I got there, like in 75, 76, 77,
00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:08.770
there'd be like 80 seniors graduating.
00:37:08.770 --> 00:37:10.940
And we would get the
message from downtown.
00:37:10.940 --> 00:37:13.240
Well, you're gonna have 80 students less
00:37:13.240 --> 00:37:15.760
figure out the three or four teachers
00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:17.640
you're gonna have to get rid of.
00:37:17.640 --> 00:37:19.810
- The school, I think at its smallest
00:37:19.810 --> 00:37:22.780
got down to maybe about 150 kids.
00:37:22.780 --> 00:37:26.500
We had almost annual
threats to our closure.
00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:29.150
Rumors that they wanted to
make Community High into condos
00:37:29.150 --> 00:37:33.990
or certain superintendents
thinking we were too expensive.
00:37:33.990 --> 00:37:36.230
And yet the spirit of the school,
00:37:36.230 --> 00:37:38.763
the founding spirit was
still very much alive.
00:37:39.690 --> 00:37:44.090
So there was a very tight
feeling among everybody
00:37:44.090 --> 00:37:46.680
'cause we were defending ourselves.
00:37:46.680 --> 00:37:49.080
- I think the only thing
I worried about was that
00:37:49.080 --> 00:37:52.270
they would close us for some
reason and they never did.
00:37:52.270 --> 00:37:53.740
I still worry about it from time to time.
00:37:53.740 --> 00:37:56.523
Every now and then Community
becomes the target.
00:37:57.420 --> 00:37:59.650
Somebody attacks us for
one thing or another.
00:37:59.650 --> 00:38:03.350
It's been impossible to
undo the stereotypes.
00:38:03.350 --> 00:38:05.150
- We've got these amazing kids.
00:38:05.150 --> 00:38:06.464
Look at our test scores,
00:38:06.464 --> 00:38:08.630
look at our college track record.
00:38:08.630 --> 00:38:11.040
Hey, we're saving kids
from the other buildings
00:38:11.040 --> 00:38:13.260
who they don't want.
00:38:13.260 --> 00:38:17.070
It was almost kind of a
maturation happening, right then.
00:38:17.070 --> 00:38:20.340
Maybe our adolescence in some way?
00:38:20.340 --> 00:38:23.520
We're beating the streets to find 22 kids
00:38:23.520 --> 00:38:24.793
or you're gonna close us?
00:38:25.858 --> 00:38:28.608
(dramatic music)
00:38:36.281 --> 00:38:38.194
- No, there's no waiting list.
00:38:38.194 --> 00:38:40.702
And we probably need 10 or 12 people.
00:38:40.702 --> 00:38:41.535
- [Woman] Oh, really?
00:38:41.535 --> 00:38:43.121
- Yeah, but that's it.
00:38:43.121 --> 00:38:44.704
No we are not over.
00:38:46.497 --> 00:38:48.080
- Everybody was afraid.
00:38:48.080 --> 00:38:49.460
I mean, we've always been afraid
00:38:49.460 --> 00:38:51.370
because they had count days.
00:38:51.370 --> 00:38:52.660
They would count the numbers
00:38:52.660 --> 00:38:55.090
that somebody is gonna
come and shut us down
00:38:55.090 --> 00:38:57.300
because we're not getting enough students.
00:38:57.300 --> 00:39:01.160
So I bought a full page ad in the Observer
00:39:01.160 --> 00:39:03.350
and said Community High enrollment
00:39:03.350 --> 00:39:06.430
starts March 31st or something,
00:39:06.430 --> 00:39:07.803
seats are limited.
00:39:09.130 --> 00:39:10.650
And people showed up.
00:39:10.650 --> 00:39:13.770
First year, some people lined
up, but they got right in.
00:39:13.770 --> 00:39:18.277
The second year the line was
too long and then it got crazy.
00:39:18.277 --> 00:39:21.610
(bright dramatic music)
00:39:23.379 --> 00:39:27.960
I mean, it got crazy because
people started realizing
00:39:27.960 --> 00:39:30.513
that this place is a pretty good deal.
00:39:31.492 --> 00:39:34.880
(dramatic music)
00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:36.370
- We are in the parking lot
00:39:36.370 --> 00:39:38.480
of the Balas Administration building.
00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:39.850
This is where the line started.
00:39:39.850 --> 00:39:40.920
No, it ended.
00:39:40.920 --> 00:39:42.120
This is where the line ended.
00:39:42.120 --> 00:39:44.583
I'm pretty sure it was right here.
00:39:45.640 --> 00:39:47.893
And if it wasn't right here,
00:39:48.910 --> 00:39:51.320
I think it was right here.
00:39:51.320 --> 00:39:55.380
My friend and I were
talking with our parents
00:39:55.380 --> 00:39:58.850
about how we really
wanted to go to Community.
00:39:58.850 --> 00:40:01.850
And we weren't sure when
the line was gonna start
00:40:01.850 --> 00:40:03.270
or who was gonna start it.
00:40:03.270 --> 00:40:07.120
And my mom was a single mom
working in Jackson at the time,
00:40:07.120 --> 00:40:08.240
45 minutes away.
00:40:08.240 --> 00:40:10.720
And she knew that if the line started
00:40:10.720 --> 00:40:11.930
during the middle of the week,
00:40:11.930 --> 00:40:14.440
she wouldn't be able to get
me there in the morning.
00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:16.730
And so I was the first one who showed up
00:40:16.730 --> 00:40:18.977
and a woman got out of
the minivan and she said,
00:40:18.977 --> 00:40:22.080
"Excuse me, are you starting the line?"
00:40:22.080 --> 00:40:24.970
And I was sort of like,
"Yeah, I guess I am."
00:40:24.970 --> 00:40:27.067
And they called people.
00:40:27.067 --> 00:40:29.650
They had some sort of
elaborate phone tree planned.
00:40:29.650 --> 00:40:32.940
And within 30 minutes,
the lot was full of eager,
00:40:32.940 --> 00:40:35.020
bright eyed, bushy tailed eighth graders
00:40:35.020 --> 00:40:37.920
who were really committed
to getting the education
00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:40.051
that Community would provide.
00:40:40.051 --> 00:40:42.801
(dramatic music)
00:40:50.007 --> 00:40:52.380
- If you're forced to wait
in line for weeks on end,
00:40:52.380 --> 00:40:53.813
you're gonna really love whatever it was
00:40:53.813 --> 00:40:55.160
that you waited for.
00:40:55.160 --> 00:40:58.030
So there must be like a super
intensity among the people
00:40:58.030 --> 00:40:59.300
that waited in those lines.
00:40:59.300 --> 00:41:00.133
- When we were there,
00:41:00.133 --> 00:41:01.990
some national magazines came in
00:41:01.990 --> 00:41:03.450
and did some like stories or something,
00:41:03.450 --> 00:41:05.530
maybe Teen magazine or
something like that.
00:41:05.530 --> 00:41:08.240
- I personally think it was
Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.
00:41:08.240 --> 00:41:09.560
I mean, they came out right after,
00:41:09.560 --> 00:41:11.870
then the whole grunge
movement hit like hardcore,
00:41:11.870 --> 00:41:13.291
it was just, I wanna be alternative,
00:41:13.291 --> 00:41:14.760
just like everybody else.
00:41:14.760 --> 00:41:17.200
So you go to Community High
to be like alternative.
00:41:17.200 --> 00:41:19.000
- Like Community was
already the alternative.
00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:19.833
- [Mike] Yeah.
00:41:19.833 --> 00:41:20.666
- [Davy] And all of a sudden
00:41:20.666 --> 00:41:21.800
alternative became cool.
00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:22.920
- It became the cool school
00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:24.810
because it became the smart school.
00:41:24.810 --> 00:41:27.250
Community kids were outperforming
00:41:27.250 --> 00:41:28.810
the two main high schools.
00:41:28.810 --> 00:41:31.610
Parents recognized that the
quality of the education
00:41:31.610 --> 00:41:35.520
was almost rivaling
private school education.
00:41:35.520 --> 00:41:39.170
- I would bring reporters
and others through Community.
00:41:39.170 --> 00:41:40.680
Just as an example,
00:41:40.680 --> 00:41:45.680
we need more schools that are effective
00:41:46.370 --> 00:41:48.330
in lifting the kids, helping them achieve,
00:41:48.330 --> 00:41:50.920
not having them drop out
and then taking next steps.
00:41:50.920 --> 00:41:54.210
And Community was among
the best performing
00:41:54.210 --> 00:41:55.600
on our standardized tests.
00:41:55.600 --> 00:41:57.930
They get a great education
and they go on to college
00:41:57.930 --> 00:42:00.830
in higher numbers than
almost any other school.
00:42:00.830 --> 00:42:02.870
- I think that a lot of the lure for me
00:42:02.870 --> 00:42:05.620
was there was no bell system,
00:42:05.620 --> 00:42:07.390
there was no PA system.
00:42:07.390 --> 00:42:08.620
You didn't have to like raise your hand
00:42:08.620 --> 00:42:10.850
to go to the bathroom or leave class.
00:42:10.850 --> 00:42:12.920
You're respected as a like...
00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:14.810
And you called your teachers
by their first names.
00:42:14.810 --> 00:42:17.680
It was just a totally different world.
00:42:17.680 --> 00:42:18.513
Like I don't even know
00:42:18.513 --> 00:42:20.730
how people could exist
in regular high schools.
00:42:22.040 --> 00:42:23.099
- Totally, that's a good way to put it.
00:42:23.099 --> 00:42:24.010
- [Taru] ...and ran into my room.
00:42:24.010 --> 00:42:24.843
Oh, hey.
00:42:24.843 --> 00:42:25.676
- Holy shit.
00:42:25.676 --> 00:42:27.543
Another guy from our
Community High School class.
00:42:27.543 --> 00:42:30.630
- [Davy] Oh my God, this is amazing Taru.
00:42:30.630 --> 00:42:32.940
- When Dave and I went, there
were skinheads, roughnecks,
00:42:32.940 --> 00:42:34.040
leatherheads, greasers.
00:42:34.040 --> 00:42:35.190
No one wanted to go to Community.
00:42:35.190 --> 00:42:36.420
So there was no lottery.
00:42:36.420 --> 00:42:37.780
But by the time we graduated,
00:42:37.780 --> 00:42:38.840
everyone wanted to go to Community.
00:42:38.840 --> 00:42:39.710
They stood in line.
00:42:39.710 --> 00:42:41.330
They fought over...[Laughter]
00:42:41.330 --> 00:42:43.540
...to get their kids
to get into Community.
00:42:43.540 --> 00:42:45.760
Mike, Dan and Dave and I were very lucky.
00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:47.130
None of us had to wait in line.
00:42:47.130 --> 00:42:49.370
We just signed up and
we were in right away.
00:42:49.370 --> 00:42:51.640
- Yeah this was like junior,
senior year of high school
00:42:51.640 --> 00:42:52.510
something like that.
00:42:52.510 --> 00:42:54.110
This is an amazing picture Taru.
00:42:54.110 --> 00:42:54.943
I've never seen this.
00:42:54.943 --> 00:42:55.776
- Yeah.
00:42:55.776 --> 00:42:56.686
That's 'cause...
00:42:56.686 --> 00:43:00.019
(bright dramatic music)
00:43:07.020 --> 00:43:12.020
- April 1st, 20 years ago
today, the line ended.
00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:16.630
I had my comforter and I was
wrapping myself in my blanket.
00:43:16.630 --> 00:43:19.400
And Dean Judy was there to shake the hand
00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:21.500
of all of the kids in line.
00:43:21.500 --> 00:43:25.040
And the news crews were
there and shuffled up,
00:43:25.040 --> 00:43:29.100
shook her hand and was enrolled like that.
00:43:29.100 --> 00:43:32.564
Simple as two weeks of
camping out outside.
00:43:32.564 --> 00:43:35.314
(dramatic music)
00:43:37.220 --> 00:43:39.500
- It's a very complicated time
00:43:39.500 --> 00:43:41.883
because it had built up to that.
00:43:42.920 --> 00:43:46.460
And I didn't like it to be real honest.
00:43:46.460 --> 00:43:48.110
I mean the first time the line came,
00:43:48.110 --> 00:43:50.560
when it lasted all night,
it was sort of a festival.
00:43:50.560 --> 00:43:51.393
And that was funny.
00:43:51.393 --> 00:43:53.720
It had nothing to do with
inconvenience for me.
00:43:53.720 --> 00:43:57.490
But see, I could see who
wasn't going to Community
00:43:57.490 --> 00:43:59.030
all of these years.
00:43:59.030 --> 00:44:00.750
It wasn't a diverse school.
00:44:00.750 --> 00:44:02.590
And that was pointed out to me
00:44:02.590 --> 00:44:06.210
by other people in the
Community all the time.
00:44:06.210 --> 00:44:10.200
I always wanted to figure a
more equitable way of doing it,
00:44:10.200 --> 00:44:13.560
but I couldn't come up with
anything other than a lottery.
00:44:13.560 --> 00:44:15.310
- At first, I thought a
lottery was a bad idea
00:44:15.310 --> 00:44:16.956
because then we wouldn't necessarily
00:44:16.956 --> 00:44:19.220
get the most committed people.
00:44:19.220 --> 00:44:22.020
But what we were getting
from that kind of a line
00:44:22.020 --> 00:44:24.670
was that it gave a special priority
00:44:24.670 --> 00:44:27.640
to people who could afford to
hire people to stay in line,
00:44:27.640 --> 00:44:30.700
could fly their grandparents
in or quit work for two weeks.
00:44:30.700 --> 00:44:31.700
And that's crazy.
00:44:31.700 --> 00:44:35.440
- Part of the reason that
Community, the line was there
00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:39.200
was just people not liking
those big high schools,
00:44:39.200 --> 00:44:40.353
big impersonal.
00:44:41.222 --> 00:44:44.555
(indistinct chattering)
00:44:47.120 --> 00:44:48.243
- Oh my gosh.
00:44:49.160 --> 00:44:50.910
Midcentury modern patterns.
00:44:50.910 --> 00:44:53.000
It's a coloring book,
which I actually love.
00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:54.280
I take the paper,
00:44:54.280 --> 00:44:57.730
I make a big ball and I throw it behind me
00:44:57.730 --> 00:45:00.280
and I put the present in front of me.
00:45:00.280 --> 00:45:02.171
So you all can see what you can steal.
00:45:02.171 --> 00:45:03.074
- What's that?
00:45:03.074 --> 00:45:08.016
(students chattering)
00:45:16.350 --> 00:45:18.956
It's a hammer...
00:45:18.956 --> 00:45:21.504
[Judith] That's not all that it is...
00:45:22.437 --> 00:45:24.853
- [Judith] And what did
you get, rubber bands?
00:45:24.853 --> 00:45:27.242
(indistinct)
00:45:39.508 --> 00:45:42.563
♪ On an open fire ♪
00:45:42.563 --> 00:45:46.813
♪ Jack Frost nippin' at your nose. ♪
00:45:48.240 --> 00:45:49.690
- This is registration.
00:45:49.690 --> 00:45:52.440
We get in a room and we put
stickers on pieces of paper
00:45:52.440 --> 00:45:54.520
and we exchange stickers.
00:45:54.520 --> 00:45:57.290
This is old school. Face-to-face.
00:45:57.290 --> 00:46:00.630
There'll be some tears
when the freshmen get here
00:46:00.630 --> 00:46:02.280
and they don't know what to do
00:46:02.280 --> 00:46:05.070
and they're not getting
the classes they need.
00:46:05.070 --> 00:46:08.560
And then we say...we talk
them down off the ledge
00:46:08.560 --> 00:46:11.520
and we say, you know
what it's gonna be okay.
00:46:11.520 --> 00:46:13.300
It's called drop and add.
00:46:13.300 --> 00:46:16.000
And this is Community and
we make it work for you.
00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:17.350
- Do you like my earrings?
00:46:17.350 --> 00:46:20.690
I got them at a craft's fair
about maybe 30 years ago.
00:46:20.690 --> 00:46:23.130
I wear them one day a
year and today's the day.
00:46:23.130 --> 00:46:26.280
The wonderful thing about
this kind of registration
00:46:26.280 --> 00:46:28.660
is the kids feel like
they have some agency
00:46:28.660 --> 00:46:30.070
and it's something, honestly,
00:46:30.070 --> 00:46:31.570
we have to fight to keep.
00:46:31.570 --> 00:46:34.320
Because it's easier if the
computer does everything
00:46:34.320 --> 00:46:35.493
and it's not as good.
00:46:37.046 --> 00:46:39.879
(uplifting music)
00:46:51.394 --> 00:46:53.811
(indistinct)
00:46:55.829 --> 00:46:57.193
- Here's the new issue.
00:46:57.193 --> 00:47:01.580
So this is kind of a
reaction to the election.
00:47:01.580 --> 00:47:04.320
So I think we're making a
point to try and be open
00:47:04.320 --> 00:47:05.970
to other opinions.
00:47:05.970 --> 00:47:06.803
But I think that when we're faced
00:47:06.803 --> 00:47:09.750
with direct racism and sexism
00:47:10.710 --> 00:47:14.040
we're not so worried
about different opinions
00:47:14.040 --> 00:47:16.780
when we're saying we
don't like that in a way,
00:47:16.780 --> 00:47:18.400
but I think, oh man
00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:20.300
I'm prouder of it than
anything I've ever done
00:47:20.300 --> 00:47:22.500
on Communicator, I think, this edition.
00:47:22.500 --> 00:47:25.360
Yeah, I am 116.
00:47:25.360 --> 00:47:28.057
It's a pretty low number,
but we're gonna be okay.
00:47:28.057 --> 00:47:30.850
The only class that I have...I'm
not even worried about
00:47:30.850 --> 00:47:31.683
getting into it,
00:47:31.683 --> 00:47:32.980
but that might be at all difficult
00:47:32.980 --> 00:47:34.920
to get into is Sci-Fi lit with Ken.
00:47:34.920 --> 00:47:36.470
I've never had an English class with Ken
00:47:36.470 --> 00:47:39.020
and I've taken six semesters with Judith.
00:47:39.020 --> 00:47:40.060
So I'm like, okay,
00:47:40.060 --> 00:47:41.230
it's time for something new.
00:47:41.230 --> 00:47:42.730
Oh, and I'm taking an independent study
00:47:42.730 --> 00:47:45.060
with Chloe Root and my friend Ruby
00:47:45.060 --> 00:47:48.360
about like the power of protest
and social change and stuff,
00:47:48.360 --> 00:47:50.410
because I'm a little bit angry right now.
00:47:51.328 --> 00:47:54.078
(dramatic music)
00:48:01.973 --> 00:48:04.498
(indistinct)
00:48:04.498 --> 00:48:08.060
- So why don't we do number
17 here, right there?
00:48:08.060 --> 00:48:09.470
Next semester.
00:48:09.470 --> 00:48:13.100
It's all seniors. So I
feel like. (indistinct)
00:48:26.460 --> 00:48:28.960
- Hello, welcome to
"The Mike Johnson Show."
00:48:28.960 --> 00:48:31.590
Today we'll be talking with Charlene Day
00:48:31.590 --> 00:48:32.871
from Community High School.
00:48:32.871 --> 00:48:33.837
Hello Charlene.
00:48:33.837 --> 00:48:35.140
- Hi.
00:48:35.140 --> 00:48:37.540
- Why did you pick Community High School?
00:48:37.540 --> 00:48:38.640
- Well, for one reason,
00:48:38.640 --> 00:48:41.350
I wasn't getting very good
grades at my old school.
00:48:41.350 --> 00:48:45.490
And I heard about the freedom
in Community and I liked that.
00:48:45.490 --> 00:48:48.320
- What do you like best
about Community High?
00:48:48.320 --> 00:48:51.100
- I like best, the personal relationship
00:48:51.100 --> 00:48:52.715
you have with the teachers.
00:48:52.715 --> 00:48:53.890
(chuckles)
00:48:53.890 --> 00:48:55.880
- Well, it's time to go now.
00:48:55.880 --> 00:48:57.150
I'd like to thank Charlene
00:48:57.150 --> 00:49:00.463
for being here with us today, bye.
00:49:03.458 --> 00:49:05.380
(footsteps thudding)
00:49:05.380 --> 00:49:07.800
- Just 'cause some of us
have done this for years
00:49:07.800 --> 00:49:10.080
doesn't mean that everyone
knows the process.
00:49:10.080 --> 00:49:11.690
And just so that we're
kind of crystal clear
00:49:11.690 --> 00:49:12.830
before things begin,
00:49:12.830 --> 00:49:15.610
John has a box of names.
00:49:15.610 --> 00:49:17.438
- [Woman 1] How many names do we have?
00:49:17.438 --> 00:49:18.954
- 393.
00:49:18.954 --> 00:49:19.787
- [Woman 1] Okay.
00:49:19.787 --> 00:49:21.670
- For how many available spots?
00:49:21.670 --> 00:49:22.503
- 132.
00:49:24.700 --> 00:49:26.840
John's gonna draw a name,
00:49:26.840 --> 00:49:30.240
at the same time Brian will draw a number.
00:49:30.240 --> 00:49:31.840
John will read the name first
00:49:31.840 --> 00:49:35.380
because the three of you
have the list alphabetical.
00:49:35.380 --> 00:49:37.130
So depending upon what part
of the alphabet you'll say,
00:49:37.130 --> 00:49:38.200
okay, I found them.
00:49:38.200 --> 00:49:40.090
And once you find them,
00:49:40.090 --> 00:49:42.600
then Brian will read out
loud what number they have.
00:49:42.600 --> 00:49:45.200
And you're gonna write that
in the far right column.
00:49:45.200 --> 00:49:46.033
- 102.
00:49:46.910 --> 00:49:48.860
- It's kind of like Vegas
00:49:48.860 --> 00:49:52.630
in that what's said in this
room stays in this room
00:49:53.890 --> 00:49:56.360
because these are kids' lives
00:49:56.360 --> 00:49:58.130
who are being matched to numbers.
00:49:58.130 --> 00:50:00.610
And we are going to post this
00:50:00.610 --> 00:50:02.593
on the website tonight at 7:30.
00:50:04.130 --> 00:50:06.010
- Oh it's here.
- There they are.
00:50:06.010 --> 00:50:07.830
- It says click here to see the results
00:50:07.830 --> 00:50:11.120
of the 2017/ 2018 lottery.
00:50:11.120 --> 00:50:13.270
Whatever it is, it is, right?
00:50:13.270 --> 00:50:14.933
Whatever it is, we deal with it.
00:50:17.190 --> 00:50:18.804
- [Trevor] She was avoiding it.
00:50:18.804 --> 00:50:19.637
- [Leah] Of course.
00:50:19.637 --> 00:50:21.640
- Oh, I thought I heard you sniffling.
00:50:21.640 --> 00:50:25.500
- No. Mom you're getting
way more nervous than I am.
00:50:25.500 --> 00:50:26.333
- I know.
00:50:27.930 --> 00:50:28.763
(chuckles)
00:50:28.763 --> 00:50:29.670
- Oh boy.
00:50:29.670 --> 00:50:32.670
- She doesn't feel like she has to get in.
00:50:32.670 --> 00:50:36.090
She feels like she wants
to have the option.
00:50:36.090 --> 00:50:37.800
So that's good.
00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:40.893
I'm afraid my heart might
be kind of set on it.
00:50:42.030 --> 00:50:44.290
And I'm afraid that it
might be hard for me
00:50:44.290 --> 00:50:45.430
if she doesn't get in,
00:50:45.430 --> 00:50:47.450
it might even be harder
for me if she gets in
00:50:47.450 --> 00:50:49.950
and then decides she doesn't wanna go.
00:50:49.950 --> 00:50:52.580
I wanna try to not take stuff personally.
00:50:52.580 --> 00:50:57.177
There's part of me that's
invested and has a lot of hope
00:50:58.440 --> 00:51:00.400
that she gets in and that she wants to go.
00:51:00.400 --> 00:51:02.810
- That's pretty different
than it was when we went.
00:51:02.810 --> 00:51:06.063
But we still hear from
kids that they love it.
00:51:08.018 --> 00:51:09.480
That it's like a dream for them.
00:51:09.480 --> 00:51:12.130
And I hear from parents of
kids who are going there,
00:51:13.090 --> 00:51:14.080
that it's just amazing.
00:51:14.080 --> 00:51:15.242
They're not in order, can we do find?
00:51:15.242 --> 00:51:16.418
- [Kelly] They are not in order.
00:51:16.418 --> 00:51:18.251
I don't know, can you?
00:51:24.389 --> 00:51:25.450
I think you got in.
00:51:25.450 --> 00:51:26.578
- Wait, is that me?
00:51:26.578 --> 00:51:27.464
(chuckles)
00:51:27.464 --> 00:51:28.381
Is that me?
00:51:30.930 --> 00:51:32.940
- [Trevor] Number 102.
00:51:32.940 --> 00:51:34.440
- Oh, mom you're crying.
00:51:34.440 --> 00:51:37.253
- I can't believe it. You're so lucky.
00:51:38.750 --> 00:51:39.943
You're so lucky.
00:51:44.290 --> 00:51:47.480
- Even before there
was a lottery or a line
00:51:47.480 --> 00:51:52.270
you had to be guided
there often by someone.
00:51:52.270 --> 00:51:56.650
And so if you weren't
connected into a network
00:51:56.650 --> 00:51:58.290
or a community of others
00:51:58.290 --> 00:52:01.690
that knew about the place
and knew what it represented
00:52:01.690 --> 00:52:03.850
and what its potential was,
00:52:03.850 --> 00:52:05.690
you weren't gonna get access to it.
00:52:05.690 --> 00:52:08.060
- They have outreach
programs. They try very hard.
00:52:08.060 --> 00:52:11.190
It is a fair lottery. Absolutely.
00:52:11.190 --> 00:52:14.880
Ann Arbor is a super
rich, super white town
00:52:14.880 --> 00:52:17.350
compared to what it used to be.
00:52:17.350 --> 00:52:20.480
Community has a special,
precious place in the community.
00:52:20.480 --> 00:52:22.880
And frankly, the community
is getting more wealthy
00:52:22.880 --> 00:52:25.430
and Community High School has
been getting more wealthy.
00:52:25.430 --> 00:52:27.720
So although it's still a lottery,
00:52:27.720 --> 00:52:30.780
you still just have the people
that are able to actually
00:52:30.780 --> 00:52:32.960
get to Community High School all the time
00:52:32.960 --> 00:52:34.990
and be involved on that level.
00:52:34.990 --> 00:52:37.020
- So Community had this reputation
00:52:37.020 --> 00:52:39.460
of being like this really
weird little school.
00:52:39.460 --> 00:52:41.730
So a lot of the children
of African descent
00:52:41.730 --> 00:52:43.825
were not in that school.
00:52:43.825 --> 00:52:47.110
I think after I got there more came,
00:52:47.110 --> 00:52:49.860
but it was still a
special group of students.
00:52:49.860 --> 00:52:52.910
Kids that didn't wanna leave
the mainstream high school.
00:52:52.910 --> 00:52:55.230
- I had a mission as dean
00:52:55.230 --> 00:52:57.260
to increase the minority
enrollment period.
00:52:57.260 --> 00:52:58.780
I didn't care if the state required it
00:52:58.780 --> 00:52:59.990
or the district wanted it.
00:52:59.990 --> 00:53:02.390
I was like, no, we're a community
00:53:02.390 --> 00:53:04.600
we need to reflect the community.
00:53:04.600 --> 00:53:08.910
And that was an uphill
battle in the Black community
00:53:08.910 --> 00:53:12.350
because so many black parents
are very, very traditional.
00:53:12.350 --> 00:53:14.810
That is not a criticism, but it's like,
00:53:14.810 --> 00:53:16.630
no, my idea of school is,
00:53:16.630 --> 00:53:19.237
you need to go to a place
that looks like Pioneer.
00:53:19.237 --> 00:53:22.310
- It wasn't much debating with my father.
00:53:22.310 --> 00:53:24.380
I called him the black Archie Bunker.
00:53:24.380 --> 00:53:26.140
There wasn't much debate.
00:53:26.140 --> 00:53:28.300
And at the end of the year,
00:53:28.300 --> 00:53:29.910
my father came and I remember
00:53:29.910 --> 00:53:31.164
he sat down at the dinner table
00:53:31.164 --> 00:53:31.997
and he said,
00:53:31.997 --> 00:53:34.450
"That's it. You're going
to Huron next year."
00:53:34.450 --> 00:53:35.650
Now I was mad.
00:53:35.650 --> 00:53:37.510
Of course, when you're young, you think,
00:53:37.510 --> 00:53:40.180
I thought my father was
the stupidest person
00:53:40.180 --> 00:53:42.450
God ever put two shoes on.
00:53:42.450 --> 00:53:47.450
I needed the structure
and my father knew it.
00:53:47.650 --> 00:53:52.650
And to him structure was
safety. And he was right.
00:53:52.930 --> 00:53:57.740
- To me, it was just all good.
00:53:57.740 --> 00:53:58.870
I had my problems.
00:53:58.870 --> 00:53:59.950
I had things that I was doing
00:53:59.950 --> 00:54:01.130
that I wasn't supposed to be doing,
00:54:01.130 --> 00:54:02.080
but at the same time,
00:54:02.080 --> 00:54:05.470
and I was rubbing shoulders
with just awesome people.
00:54:05.470 --> 00:54:09.690
I find that I learn more
about myself when I...
00:54:09.690 --> 00:54:13.680
and my culture, when I am
around people who are different,
00:54:13.680 --> 00:54:16.040
because that's when I see who I am.
00:54:16.040 --> 00:54:17.530
It's not good. It's not bad.
00:54:17.530 --> 00:54:18.790
It's just, it is what it is.
00:54:18.790 --> 00:54:21.640
But the thing is just
having this appreciation
00:54:21.640 --> 00:54:22.720
that there are different people
00:54:22.720 --> 00:54:27.193
and these different people who
live differently are valid.
00:54:28.317 --> 00:54:30.833
- He would doubt his
father around the year.
00:54:30.833 --> 00:54:32.601
- [Woman] Go upstairs Melody.
00:54:32.601 --> 00:54:33.434
(crying)
00:54:33.434 --> 00:54:34.267
- This pain is...
00:54:34.267 --> 00:54:35.693
(Indistinct)
00:54:35.693 --> 00:54:37.210
- What do the two of you do
00:54:37.210 --> 00:54:39.510
out there in the woods alone anyhow?
00:54:39.510 --> 00:54:40.730
- Nothing.
00:54:40.730 --> 00:54:43.140
- Actually mum, you should see them.
00:54:43.140 --> 00:54:45.262
Peggy was furious.
00:54:45.262 --> 00:54:46.095
- Look at that.
00:54:46.095 --> 00:54:48.400
- People talk, but they don't know.
00:54:48.400 --> 00:54:50.329
It's them that's the...
00:54:50.329 --> 00:54:51.671
(audience clapping and cheering)
00:54:51.671 --> 00:54:54.374
- Top of the show! Places
for top of the show.
00:54:54.374 --> 00:54:56.813
- [Girl] One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight.
00:54:56.813 --> 00:54:58.187
- [Boy] It's seven, eight. I think.
00:54:58.187 --> 00:55:00.843
- [Girl] And then, do
we go right from there?
00:55:01.880 --> 00:55:02.713
- Line.
00:55:02.713 --> 00:55:03.546
- [Girl] What do you mean my heart?
00:55:03.546 --> 00:55:05.330
- What do you mean my purse?
00:55:05.330 --> 00:55:08.500
Line and...line.
00:55:08.500 --> 00:55:11.019
Friends, if I may say so it is...line-
00:55:11.019 --> 00:55:11.910
- [Girl] If he's thinking-
00:55:11.910 --> 00:55:12.970
- If he's thinking about-
00:55:12.970 --> 00:55:14.910
- We could do this all night tonight,
00:55:14.910 --> 00:55:18.000
so we're gonna skip ahead
to the end of this song
00:55:18.000 --> 00:55:20.150
'cause we need to get
to some other things.
00:55:21.330 --> 00:55:23.010
Hey folks, go get in positions
00:55:23.010 --> 00:55:24.983
for the last moment of the song please.
00:55:26.670 --> 00:55:27.585
- Which is mostly in general.
00:55:27.585 --> 00:55:30.113
- I have a lot of lines,
which as you can tell.
00:55:32.240 --> 00:55:33.541
- You'll see,
00:55:33.541 --> 00:55:35.720
I actually spin a lot
before I go on this scene
00:55:35.720 --> 00:55:37.010
'cause I'm supposed to be hung over.
00:55:37.010 --> 00:55:37.950
So it's wild.
00:55:37.950 --> 00:55:38.783
- Do you actually do that.
00:55:38.783 --> 00:55:40.240
- Yes, I do that backstage.
00:55:40.240 --> 00:55:41.214
Yeah, I'm not a good actor.
00:55:41.214 --> 00:55:44.214
So I have to do something like that.
00:55:47.300 --> 00:55:49.400
- [Evelyn] Clarence Collins III,
00:55:49.400 --> 00:55:52.543
my sister's youngest son, only son.
00:55:54.226 --> 00:55:56.076
- I'm spinning so I look hung over.
00:55:57.830 --> 00:56:00.920
- Naturally gifted, an actor.
00:56:00.920 --> 00:56:02.450
I didn't know he could sing.
00:56:02.450 --> 00:56:04.460
You see, I've been in
New York most of the time
00:56:04.460 --> 00:56:06.020
that he's been growing up.
00:56:06.020 --> 00:56:08.320
So I know my nephew with the trumpet
00:56:08.320 --> 00:56:09.730
and playing with all the jazz,
00:56:09.730 --> 00:56:11.480
just blowing people off the stage.
00:56:11.480 --> 00:56:12.717
That's what I know.
00:56:12.717 --> 00:56:15.550
(trumpet blowing)
00:56:23.090 --> 00:56:25.520
So to come in and my niece
tells me Clarence is in a play.
00:56:25.520 --> 00:56:28.180
I was like, Clarence is in a play?
00:56:28.180 --> 00:56:30.193
When did Clarence started doing plays?
00:56:32.680 --> 00:56:37.680
- Where do they think they
are in Moscow and Paris?
00:56:38.240 --> 00:56:40.340
- Since there's so many of these moments
00:56:40.340 --> 00:56:41.240
that I've given you
00:56:41.240 --> 00:56:42.840
where you can play it however you want to.
00:56:42.840 --> 00:56:43.673
- Yeah.
00:56:43.673 --> 00:56:47.280
- Just...a lot of it is happening here.
00:56:47.280 --> 00:56:48.113
- Yeah.
00:56:48.113 --> 00:56:49.990
- Any moment where you
go right to the edge
00:56:51.630 --> 00:56:53.040
is a pretty dramatic thing
00:56:53.040 --> 00:56:54.413
and probably shouldn't
stay there too long.
00:56:54.413 --> 00:56:55.246
- Okay.
00:56:55.246 --> 00:56:56.079
- So it's in our family.
00:56:56.079 --> 00:56:57.760
All of us were in the theater.
00:56:57.760 --> 00:57:01.360
And I like to think that my
sister is there with him.
00:57:01.360 --> 00:57:03.250
'Cause he feels like her.
00:57:03.250 --> 00:57:04.330
She's no longer with us,
00:57:04.330 --> 00:57:07.860
but he feels like her
to me in so many ways
00:57:07.860 --> 00:57:11.200
that I get kind of teary
when I see him on the stage.
00:57:11.200 --> 00:57:14.363
She was an actor too and
did performances too.
00:57:15.470 --> 00:57:17.290
But Clarence, I don't know.
00:57:17.290 --> 00:57:19.450
What do you want me to say about Clarence?
00:57:19.450 --> 00:57:20.760
He can do anything.
00:57:20.760 --> 00:57:23.870
- I mean, this is built
for these kinds of moments.
00:57:23.870 --> 00:57:25.220
- Yeah.
- So let's use it.
00:57:26.410 --> 00:57:30.010
If you strike a great pose, then that...
00:57:30.010 --> 00:57:31.140
Think about where you are
00:57:31.140 --> 00:57:33.547
and think those people just got that
00:57:33.547 --> 00:57:37.330
and maybe now I need to
give this area or something
00:57:37.330 --> 00:57:39.150
'cause you're it right
now, you're the show.
00:57:39.150 --> 00:57:39.983
- [Clarence] For sure.
00:57:39.983 --> 00:57:41.413
- So just making sure
that everybody has access.
00:57:41.413 --> 00:57:42.246
- Okay.
00:57:42.246 --> 00:57:43.079
- You're doing great.
00:57:43.079 --> 00:57:45.259
(indistinct chattering)
00:57:45.259 --> 00:57:46.630
- This is too close to this.
00:57:46.630 --> 00:57:48.182
This is less...
00:57:48.182 --> 00:57:50.150
This is a little more
than...this is a week and a half
00:57:50.150 --> 00:57:51.831
to opening night.
00:57:51.831 --> 00:57:53.015
I'm freaking out.
00:57:53.015 --> 00:57:55.130
Like a good healthy freak out right now.
00:57:55.130 --> 00:57:56.823
We got nine days, nine days.
00:57:59.389 --> 00:58:00.760
I think out of...
00:58:00.760 --> 00:58:01.593
Oh, by the way,
00:58:01.593 --> 00:58:03.610
also a baby could come at any minute now
00:58:03.610 --> 00:58:04.660
that's in my life.
00:58:04.660 --> 00:58:06.336
My wife is expecting, so...
00:58:06.336 --> 00:58:08.990
Oren is my co-director, that's how...
00:58:08.990 --> 00:58:09.890
It's not gonna happen.
00:58:09.890 --> 00:58:12.170
So that's why we hired Oren.
00:58:12.170 --> 00:58:15.776
We've just got a lot of work to do
00:58:15.776 --> 00:58:18.013
so as long as we all do
it, it's gonna be great.
00:58:18.960 --> 00:58:23.897
But where do they think
they are in Moscow in Paris?
00:58:24.880 --> 00:58:28.493
Where do they think they are, America?
00:58:32.212 --> 00:58:35.300
(indistinct chattering)
00:58:35.300 --> 00:58:37.080
- I was born in America.
00:58:37.080 --> 00:58:39.450
I went to Ann Arbor public
schools my whole life.
00:58:39.450 --> 00:58:41.783
And I was just like a normal American kid.
00:58:42.920 --> 00:58:44.400
I don't know anything different.
00:58:44.400 --> 00:58:48.330
So my dad every two weeks,
he goes to immigration.
00:58:48.330 --> 00:58:51.000
Like we would have to like
leave the house earlier.
00:58:51.000 --> 00:58:52.470
So my dad can go drop us to school
00:58:52.470 --> 00:58:54.500
and then he would drive to Detroit.
00:58:54.500 --> 00:58:56.300
When I would call my dad
to pick me up from school,
00:58:56.300 --> 00:58:57.950
he would be back home.
00:58:57.950 --> 00:59:02.070
But then I called him one
day, he wasn't back home.
00:59:02.070 --> 00:59:03.193
- We went to...are we at?
00:59:04.520 --> 00:59:06.610
Michigan adventure
- Michigan adventure.
00:59:06.610 --> 00:59:07.763
And this is my family.
00:59:09.270 --> 00:59:11.043
It's just really cute
picture of my family.
00:59:12.810 --> 00:59:14.300
- A local father of four
00:59:14.300 --> 00:59:17.170
facing possible
deportation hours from now.
00:59:17.170 --> 00:59:21.080
Tonight, a chorus of his
supporters grows louder.
00:59:21.080 --> 00:59:22.010
Good to have you with us tonight at six.
00:59:22.010 --> 00:59:23.750
Off the top, Yousef Ajin
00:59:23.750 --> 00:59:25.797
who has lived here for 18 years
00:59:25.797 --> 00:59:27.867
and has been working towards citizenship.
00:59:27.867 --> 00:59:29.220
- [Kimberly] Local 4's Priya Mann
00:59:29.220 --> 00:59:30.840
live at the federal building downtown
00:59:30.840 --> 00:59:33.210
ahead of tomorrow's deportation hearing.
00:59:33.210 --> 00:59:34.610
Priya, what can you tell us?
00:59:35.500 --> 00:59:36.333
- Well, Kimberly,
00:59:36.333 --> 00:59:38.020
that hearing is scheduled
for about two o'clock
00:59:38.020 --> 00:59:40.640
at the McNamara Federal
Building. The family hopes
00:59:40.640 --> 00:59:41.910
there's a large crowd here,
00:59:41.910 --> 00:59:45.180
not protesting, but showing
their support for Yousef.
00:59:45.180 --> 00:59:47.840
A father of four who
could now be deported.
00:59:47.840 --> 00:59:49.290
- It doesn't just affect my dad
00:59:49.290 --> 00:59:50.490
and I don't think people realize
00:59:50.490 --> 00:59:51.757
it's just not my dad's life.
00:59:51.757 --> 00:59:54.260
It affects our whole family's lives.
00:59:54.260 --> 00:59:57.870
I felt sad, but that this could happen
00:59:57.870 --> 01:00:01.163
to a family that lived
in America for so long.
01:00:02.288 --> 01:00:03.350
It scared me.
01:00:03.350 --> 01:00:06.320
At first, I was really nervous
to start to tell people,
01:00:06.320 --> 01:00:08.960
but then I was like,
everyone's gonna find out
01:00:08.960 --> 01:00:09.850
one way or another.
01:00:09.850 --> 01:00:12.500
And it's like, it's better if people know,
01:00:12.500 --> 01:00:15.690
so people can come and
people can see like,
01:00:15.690 --> 01:00:18.610
this is what America is supposed to be.
01:00:18.610 --> 01:00:23.140
Kind of leaning on families
and like raising people up.
01:00:23.140 --> 01:00:25.320
- How have you felt
through this whole process?
01:00:25.320 --> 01:00:27.350
Through the last two weeks?
01:00:27.350 --> 01:00:28.440
- Oh, it's hard.
01:00:28.440 --> 01:00:30.290
- And have you guys gone
to visit him at all?
01:00:30.290 --> 01:00:31.603
- He doesn't want us to go.
01:00:31.603 --> 01:00:34.330
- I was planning, but
he said, "Don't come."
01:00:34.330 --> 01:00:36.730
He doesn't want the kids
to go to see him. Yeah.
01:00:38.100 --> 01:00:38.933
- Why do you think that is?
01:00:38.933 --> 01:00:42.300
- 'Cause he doesn't want us
to like see him like that.
01:00:42.300 --> 01:00:44.600
I just want people to be there
01:00:44.600 --> 01:00:48.497
and see what democracy looks like
01:00:48.497 --> 01:00:52.313
and what people can do
for each other. Yeah.
01:00:53.170 --> 01:00:55.720
- Betoul Ajin spoke
about her father, Yousef
01:00:55.720 --> 01:00:57.580
who's facing deportation.
01:00:57.580 --> 01:00:59.280
The teen's high school paper in Ann Arbor
01:00:59.280 --> 01:01:02.770
documented Yousef's
struggle to stay in the US.
01:01:02.770 --> 01:01:04.160
Reporting live from downtown Detroit,
01:01:04.160 --> 01:01:05.560
I'm Priya Mann, "Local 4."
01:01:05.560 --> 01:01:06.393
- And Priya,
01:01:06.393 --> 01:01:08.140
what an important learning experience
01:01:08.140 --> 01:01:10.920
for the young journalists
at that school paper.
01:01:10.920 --> 01:01:11.940
Do you know whether or not
01:01:11.940 --> 01:01:13.783
they'll be there in court tomorrow?
01:01:14.870 --> 01:01:16.520
- Well, that's what the family is hoping.
01:01:16.520 --> 01:01:18.360
That high school is Community High School.
01:01:18.360 --> 01:01:19.580
That's where the teen goes to.
01:01:19.580 --> 01:01:21.330
And these kids worked really hard.
01:01:21.330 --> 01:01:22.740
Officials saying they're really proud
01:01:22.740 --> 01:01:24.170
of these budding journalists.
01:01:24.170 --> 01:01:26.600
That first article really started to see
01:01:26.600 --> 01:01:30.110
that support that you're starting
to see from top officials.
01:01:30.110 --> 01:01:31.560
- [Kimberly] Real life
learning experience.
01:01:31.560 --> 01:01:32.773
Okay Priya, thank you.
01:01:33.983 --> 01:01:36.133
- What are you feeling
going up to Tuesday?
01:01:37.710 --> 01:01:40.493
- Scared. Nervous.
01:01:40.493 --> 01:01:45.493
I'm like so glad that I
told Quinn and Marci first,
01:01:45.580 --> 01:01:48.420
because it's like the support
01:01:48.420 --> 01:01:51.200
I've gotten from this is so much.
01:01:51.200 --> 01:01:52.570
It's really, really amazing
01:01:52.570 --> 01:01:55.843
to have a big support system like that.
01:01:55.843 --> 01:01:58.593
(soothing music)
01:02:01.290 --> 01:02:03.140
- Quinn and I are about to head
01:02:03.140 --> 01:02:05.700
to the federal building in Detroit
01:02:05.700 --> 01:02:08.870
to be called as witnesses
for a deportation hearing
01:02:08.870 --> 01:02:12.610
for a father of one of our students.
01:02:12.610 --> 01:02:14.487
And he is a member of our community
01:02:14.487 --> 01:02:17.370
and we will do whatever
it takes to keep him here.
01:02:17.370 --> 01:02:20.754
He's an outstanding
citizen, incredible family.
01:02:20.754 --> 01:02:21.587
- I feel-
01:02:21.587 --> 01:02:22.420
- I'm feeling...
01:02:22.420 --> 01:02:23.253
I think we're both feeling optimistic,
01:02:23.253 --> 01:02:27.533
but we're just feeling
I don't know...hold on.
01:02:29.200 --> 01:02:31.510
I feel like we wouldn't have all of...
01:02:31.510 --> 01:02:33.350
we've got 200, 300 letters.
01:02:33.350 --> 01:02:36.588
We wouldn't have if we hadn't
gone public and everything,
01:02:36.588 --> 01:02:40.232
but I'm still feeling responsible
'cause I know the family.
01:02:40.232 --> 01:02:42.500
I think the scariest moment
was yesterday when Channel 4
01:02:42.500 --> 01:02:43.618
was outside their house-
01:02:43.618 --> 01:02:44.451
- And they couldn't-
01:02:44.451 --> 01:02:46.730
- And feeling like they couldn't go home
01:02:46.730 --> 01:02:47.820
and that's like kind of
01:02:47.820 --> 01:02:51.750
maybe I helped them be in that situation.
01:02:51.750 --> 01:02:55.982
But if they win, then dad comes home.
01:02:55.982 --> 01:02:58.149
( ♪ trumpet ♪ )
01:03:00.480 --> 01:03:05.480
- So we're on our way to Yousef
Ajin's final merit hearing.
01:03:07.220 --> 01:03:11.150
And there's gonna be a rally
outside in support of him.
01:03:11.150 --> 01:03:14.110
I'm going in some ways to
support and to also to cover it
01:03:14.110 --> 01:03:15.130
for The Communicator,
01:03:15.130 --> 01:03:17.180
which is Community High
School's newspaper.
01:03:17.180 --> 01:03:20.550
This story has been
like a minefield of like
01:03:20.550 --> 01:03:22.210
ethical and moral battles
01:03:22.210 --> 01:03:25.080
that I'm still trying to figure out.
01:03:25.080 --> 01:03:26.637
There are no stories
that are black and white,
01:03:26.637 --> 01:03:28.830
but there is in this case,
01:03:28.830 --> 01:03:31.856
a family that might lose a parent.
01:03:31.856 --> 01:03:36.440
(crowd protesting indistinctly)
01:03:36.440 --> 01:03:38.590
I mean, I've always loved writing.
01:03:38.590 --> 01:03:41.330
And if this story did anything to me
01:03:41.330 --> 01:03:43.760
in terms of like a learning curve,
01:03:43.760 --> 01:03:48.080
it was that I have the power
to make people pay attention.
01:03:48.080 --> 01:03:50.840
I mean, I think that I've
made a lot of people care
01:03:50.840 --> 01:03:52.410
and that's something I
always wanna be able to do
01:03:52.410 --> 01:03:53.384
in journalism and so yeah.
01:03:53.384 --> 01:03:56.497
I do see it as a career path, I guess.
01:03:56.497 --> 01:03:58.347
I'm (indistinct). I'm always learning.
01:03:58.347 --> 01:04:00.223
So I guess that's good.
01:04:00.223 --> 01:04:02.973
(dramatic music)
01:04:15.520 --> 01:04:18.680
- To be hit with this amazing
energy from all of our kids
01:04:18.680 --> 01:04:20.490
is extraordinary not to mention
01:04:20.490 --> 01:04:22.230
seeing all the other teachers
01:04:22.230 --> 01:04:24.580
from the AAPS that have
come out to be here.
01:04:24.580 --> 01:04:25.650
It's been pretty incredible.
01:04:25.650 --> 01:04:28.470
So I'm the technical director at Community
01:04:28.470 --> 01:04:32.410
and in the theater program and
Betoul is one of my students.
01:04:32.410 --> 01:04:34.220
She's been a crew member
since freshman year
01:04:34.220 --> 01:04:36.770
and moved into a leadership position.
01:04:36.770 --> 01:04:38.550
So as of yesterday,
01:04:38.550 --> 01:04:41.430
she was at school being a leader.
01:04:41.430 --> 01:04:43.380
So she's one of my kids.
01:04:43.380 --> 01:04:45.170
- I'm doing my spot right now.
01:04:45.170 --> 01:04:48.153
I had one cue so far.
I have three more left.
01:04:49.190 --> 01:04:52.120
It's not that much, but
it's going really good.
01:04:52.120 --> 01:04:54.973
We just finished intermission,
it's about two minutes
01:04:54.973 --> 01:04:57.473
and we're gonna right back in.
01:04:58.981 --> 01:05:01.482
- Where do they think they are,
01:05:01.482 --> 01:05:03.149
in Moscow, in Paris?
01:05:04.314 --> 01:05:07.314
Where do you think you are, America?
01:05:08.920 --> 01:05:11.395
The show is historical
fiction with like people
01:05:11.395 --> 01:05:13.680
that probably definitely existed,
01:05:13.680 --> 01:05:15.280
but not people that like...
01:05:16.760 --> 01:05:17.593
That were like real.
01:05:17.593 --> 01:05:19.100
Tevye wasn't actually a person,
01:05:19.100 --> 01:05:20.500
but like there was probably a milk man
01:05:20.500 --> 01:05:22.000
with five daughters somewhere.
01:05:22.000 --> 01:05:25.410
There's definitely a person there,
01:05:25.410 --> 01:05:26.760
not just a character.
01:05:26.760 --> 01:05:27.900
Quinn was talking about it a lot,
01:05:27.900 --> 01:05:28.930
where there's a lot of things
01:05:28.930 --> 01:05:31.080
going on in the country that definitely...
01:05:31.080 --> 01:05:32.690
it's very relevant to have a family
01:05:32.690 --> 01:05:34.060
that's been living there for years
01:05:34.060 --> 01:05:35.640
just to be kicked out of somewhere
01:05:35.640 --> 01:05:39.170
or people that are prejudice
towards some people.
01:05:39.170 --> 01:05:40.940
Tevye doesn't look like me really.
01:05:40.940 --> 01:05:43.360
You realize Tevye can be really anybody.
01:05:43.360 --> 01:05:44.580
It really kind of opens your eyes like,
01:05:44.580 --> 01:05:47.603
oh wait, 'cause Tevye
could be really like,
01:05:48.700 --> 01:05:50.590
honestly, anybody like you could think of.
01:05:50.590 --> 01:05:53.590
It's just all about the
circumstances that he's put through.
01:05:54.427 --> 01:05:56.339
- [Protestors] Freedom for Yousef.
01:05:56.339 --> 01:05:58.516
Freedom for Yousef.
01:05:58.516 --> 01:06:00.572
Freedom for Yousef.
01:06:00.572 --> 01:06:02.830
Freedom for Yousef.
01:06:02.830 --> 01:06:04.240
- I know Betoul a little bit,
01:06:04.240 --> 01:06:06.320
from especially last year.
01:06:06.320 --> 01:06:08.120
I worked on "Just Desserts" with her.
01:06:10.290 --> 01:06:13.980
And I mean, it's true for
all immigrants right now,
01:06:13.980 --> 01:06:15.680
who are being...
01:06:15.680 --> 01:06:16.630
detained unfairly
01:06:16.630 --> 01:06:19.270
but especially for Yousef
who's in our community,
01:06:19.270 --> 01:06:21.050
like his family,
01:06:21.050 --> 01:06:25.460
I don't know how they
can function without him
01:06:25.460 --> 01:06:26.293
in the long-term.
01:06:26.293 --> 01:06:27.950
So I don't know.
01:06:27.950 --> 01:06:30.399
I guess that's why I'm out here.
01:06:30.399 --> 01:06:33.732
(indistinct chattering)
01:06:38.016 --> 01:06:41.933
(crowd screaming and shouting)
01:06:46.090 --> 01:06:47.377
- I'm like, so, so, so happy.
01:06:50.184 --> 01:06:51.830
- You're the daughter, right?
01:06:51.830 --> 01:06:52.711
- Yeah.
01:06:52.711 --> 01:06:54.263
- [Woman Reporter] What was
it like when you found out?
01:06:54.263 --> 01:06:56.750
- When we heard the clapping from inside
01:06:56.750 --> 01:06:59.367
and then we just knew that
he was gonna come home
01:06:59.367 --> 01:07:00.820
and my mom came out crying
01:07:00.820 --> 01:07:03.990
and it was just like
the best feeling ever.
01:07:03.990 --> 01:07:07.290
If my dad were to leave, it
would change my whole life.
01:07:07.290 --> 01:07:09.398
My brother's disabled...and
01:07:09.398 --> 01:07:14.032
it's just the best feeling he
can have his dad home again.
01:07:14.032 --> 01:07:17.865
(crowd cheering and clapping)
01:07:26.416 --> 01:07:27.761
- Responsible for the whole story.
01:07:27.761 --> 01:07:28.594
- Really.
01:07:28.594 --> 01:07:29.427
- Yeah.
01:07:29.427 --> 01:07:31.370
- Oh good, good, good. Excellent.
01:07:31.370 --> 01:07:32.460
- Thank you.
01:07:32.460 --> 01:07:35.380
He's been granted a waiver
and later in my article,
01:07:35.380 --> 01:07:37.163
I'll explain more what the waiver is.
01:07:38.020 --> 01:07:39.620
You can also include that
the department of justice
01:07:39.620 --> 01:07:41.043
has no intent on appealing.
01:07:42.550 --> 01:07:44.547
Does that all make sense?
01:07:44.547 --> 01:07:46.591
(chuckles)
01:07:46.591 --> 01:07:47.424
- [Woman] Chelsea.
01:07:47.424 --> 01:07:48.710
- [Chelsea] Hello.
01:07:48.710 --> 01:07:49.920
- [Woman] Phoebe is here.
01:07:49.920 --> 01:07:51.270
Lindsey.
- [Lindsey] Here.
01:07:52.313 --> 01:07:53.630
- [ Woman] Betoul?
- [Betoul] Here.
01:07:53.630 --> 01:07:55.021
- [Woman] Alison?
- [Alison] Here.
01:07:55.021 --> 01:07:56.130
- [Woman] Ahmad?
01:07:56.130 --> 01:07:56.963
- Hey folks,
01:07:56.963 --> 01:07:59.150
a lot of work to do, but I
need to say a few things.
01:07:59.150 --> 01:08:01.880
This is gonna be sad. It always is.
01:08:01.880 --> 01:08:03.930
But one of the beautiful
things about theater,
01:08:03.930 --> 01:08:05.470
if you do it enough,
01:08:05.470 --> 01:08:08.730
is that you are reminded
that it's not just one show.
01:08:08.730 --> 01:08:12.390
And that when you take
something down, it's not an end.
01:08:12.390 --> 01:08:14.670
It's just cleaning up to create room
01:08:14.670 --> 01:08:17.443
for another extraordinary experience.
01:08:18.310 --> 01:08:22.210
I feel lucky to direct shows here
01:08:22.210 --> 01:08:24.640
and to teach at a school that recognizes
01:08:24.640 --> 01:08:28.240
that school is not just
preparation for something else,
01:08:28.240 --> 01:08:32.560
it's not just preparation
for life, it is life.
01:08:32.560 --> 01:08:36.160
And if we work together,
life can be extraordinary,
01:08:36.160 --> 01:08:37.680
school can be extraordinary.
01:08:37.680 --> 01:08:39.630
And I feel so lucky to have been a part
01:08:39.630 --> 01:08:41.030
of this extraordinary experience,
01:08:41.030 --> 01:08:44.210
including today's work
and then making room
01:08:44.210 --> 01:08:47.120
for more extraordinary
experiences in all of your lives.
01:08:47.120 --> 01:08:48.025
So give it up for yourself.
01:08:48.025 --> 01:08:52.333
(crowd cheering and clapping)
01:08:52.333 --> 01:08:55.645
(indistinct chattering)
01:08:55.645 --> 01:08:58.850
- It's the day after the final show.
01:08:58.850 --> 01:09:00.303
And we usually do strike,
01:09:01.150 --> 01:09:03.700
which is where we take everything apart
01:09:03.700 --> 01:09:08.693
and make our theater look
like a boring space again.
01:09:10.240 --> 01:09:13.170
I've always loved CET
since my freshman year.
01:09:13.170 --> 01:09:15.133
It's just like a...really great...
01:09:17.954 --> 01:09:20.871
(trolley dragging)
01:09:27.190 --> 01:09:30.843
It's a really good stress
reliever. I think it's really fun.
01:09:34.700 --> 01:09:35.750
But it's like all back to normal.
01:09:35.750 --> 01:09:38.450
My dad back at work. It's all normal.
01:09:38.450 --> 01:09:39.790
I mean like the first couple of days,
01:09:39.790 --> 01:09:40.740
were like really weird.
01:09:40.740 --> 01:09:43.330
'cause like people were
visiting our house and stuff.
01:09:43.330 --> 01:09:46.410
I mean, I feel really affected
by it 'cause it was like,
01:09:46.410 --> 01:09:48.040
I never thought that
was gonna happen to me
01:09:48.040 --> 01:09:49.020
and then it did.
01:09:49.020 --> 01:09:53.070
So it kind of changed my whole
outlook, on kind of the world
01:09:53.070 --> 01:09:54.810
and that people were helping and stuff.
01:09:54.810 --> 01:09:57.610
But it's just, I guess all normal again.
01:09:57.610 --> 01:09:58.657
Which is good.
01:10:01.591 --> 01:10:04.341
(screen buzzing)
01:10:05.230 --> 01:10:06.083
- Good job.
01:10:07.080 --> 01:10:09.060
Now to our roving reporter, Tim
01:10:09.060 --> 01:10:11.990
with a live mini cam report
at Community High School
01:10:11.990 --> 01:10:15.270
with a politically concerned
high school student,
01:10:15.270 --> 01:10:16.320
David Morris.
01:10:16.320 --> 01:10:17.433
Now to you, Tim.
01:10:18.310 --> 01:10:20.710
- Do you think this letter
will accomplish much?
01:10:22.507 --> 01:10:25.430
- Not immediately, but
I think in the long run,
01:10:25.430 --> 01:10:26.980
I think especially since
this is a high school,
01:10:26.980 --> 01:10:28.686
a whole high school students,
01:10:28.686 --> 01:10:30.810
and these are the people
who are gonna be voting
01:10:30.810 --> 01:10:33.370
and making the decisions in a few years.
01:10:33.370 --> 01:10:34.450
This is the future generation.
01:10:34.450 --> 01:10:37.980
I think that if enough
action like this is taken
01:10:37.980 --> 01:10:39.770
that the government officials
01:10:39.770 --> 01:10:41.880
will be forced to listen to it.
01:10:41.880 --> 01:10:44.660
- Let's find out what
some other people think.
01:10:44.660 --> 01:10:45.493
- It's interesting.
01:10:45.493 --> 01:10:47.680
Whenever you get an older former student
01:10:47.680 --> 01:10:49.610
or a teacher who's been here
as long as I've been here,
01:10:49.610 --> 01:10:51.680
kids wanna hear the real dirt.
01:10:51.680 --> 01:10:53.600
They wanna hear the juicy gossip.
01:10:53.600 --> 01:10:55.210
So what was the juiciest gossip
01:10:55.210 --> 01:10:57.430
that you remember in your day?
01:10:57.430 --> 01:10:59.790
- There was some talk
about teachers and students
01:10:59.790 --> 01:11:04.390
having romantic relationships.
01:11:04.390 --> 01:11:06.100
Teachers buying drugs from students.
01:11:06.100 --> 01:11:07.056
- Oh my God.
01:11:07.056 --> 01:11:08.056
(indistinct chattering)
01:11:08.056 --> 01:11:09.080
- [Student 1] Yeah.
01:11:09.080 --> 01:11:12.360
- Let's see...teachers
smoking pot with students,
01:11:12.360 --> 01:11:15.320
teachers having sexual
relationships with students.
01:11:15.320 --> 01:11:17.990
- Those were the kind of stereotypes
01:11:17.990 --> 01:11:20.260
that we had to put up with at Community
01:11:20.260 --> 01:11:21.740
for as long as I've been here.
01:11:21.740 --> 01:11:24.140
And it sort of breaks my heart
01:11:24.140 --> 01:11:25.890
because I don't think if there...
01:11:25.890 --> 01:11:27.850
there's gotta be truth
to something one time.
01:11:27.850 --> 01:11:29.900
Everybody's...something
has to happen once.
01:11:29.900 --> 01:11:32.160
But the thought that this
would be a stereotype
01:11:32.160 --> 01:11:35.360
about Community was never okay for me.
01:11:35.360 --> 01:11:37.500
- And maybe it was a little
hold out from the '70s
01:11:37.500 --> 01:11:41.380
and kind of like sexual
revolution type stuff
01:11:41.380 --> 01:11:44.210
that perhaps there might've been
01:11:44.210 --> 01:11:46.680
a little more relaxed attitude
01:11:46.680 --> 01:11:51.230
towards informal interactions
between students and teachers.
01:11:51.230 --> 01:11:52.700
- And going over to people's houses.
01:11:52.700 --> 01:11:54.290
Like you wouldn't have
gone over a teacher's house
01:11:54.290 --> 01:11:55.690
in most schools.
01:11:55.690 --> 01:11:56.523
- No.
01:11:56.523 --> 01:11:57.356
- That would have been unusual.
01:11:57.356 --> 01:11:58.189
No...
01:11:58.189 --> 01:11:59.022
- Anybody who you came to Community,
01:11:59.022 --> 01:12:01.330
came out of a traditional system.
01:12:01.330 --> 01:12:04.590
Some teachers would
like get very defensive,
01:12:04.590 --> 01:12:05.472
like wait a second,
01:12:05.472 --> 01:12:06.870
we're are the teachers.
01:12:06.870 --> 01:12:08.750
Now let's not...you're getting...
01:12:08.750 --> 01:12:10.830
Y our dimming the lines here.
01:12:10.830 --> 01:12:14.143
And yet conceptually those lines
were supposed to be dimmed.
01:12:16.160 --> 01:12:19.440
But the reality of that was
very hard on a lot of people,
01:12:19.440 --> 01:12:20.970
kids included.
01:12:20.970 --> 01:12:22.350
- The dark side of Community High
01:12:22.350 --> 01:12:26.983
was people probably doing too many drugs.
01:12:28.090 --> 01:12:30.713
We had very poor sexual boundaries.
01:12:31.700 --> 01:12:34.120
- We haven't talked about teachers
01:12:34.120 --> 01:12:36.140
having affairs with students.
01:12:36.140 --> 01:12:39.790
That was pretty rampant too,
for the first four years.
01:12:39.790 --> 01:12:41.380
You're caught up in that moment.
01:12:41.380 --> 01:12:44.804
You don't realize that
maybe that could be harmful.
01:12:44.804 --> 01:12:47.370
- Because we took down so many structures.
01:12:47.370 --> 01:12:49.170
Yes, people were exploring
01:12:49.170 --> 01:12:52.173
and didn't realize the
consequences of what was happening.
01:12:53.120 --> 01:12:54.633
And some of it's very painful.
01:12:56.682 --> 01:13:01.682
- The school came out of that
end of the '60s sort of thing
01:13:03.180 --> 01:13:06.340
that said, okay, we'll
get rid of all rules
01:13:06.340 --> 01:13:07.790
and kind of start fresh.
01:13:07.790 --> 01:13:09.900
And then it just takes time to figure out
01:13:09.900 --> 01:13:12.260
what are the rules that are important
01:13:12.260 --> 01:13:14.880
and what are the rules
that are unimportant.
01:13:14.880 --> 01:13:17.100
- Water seeks the path
of least resistance.
01:13:17.100 --> 01:13:18.410
And so when you're a teenager,
01:13:18.410 --> 01:13:21.490
the path of least resistance
is just fine with you.
01:13:21.490 --> 01:13:24.300
It was just do whatever you wanted to do.
01:13:24.300 --> 01:13:26.850
We'd show up at school.
Did we go to class today?
01:13:26.850 --> 01:13:28.530
I don't know.
01:13:28.530 --> 01:13:30.160
- Well, freedom by itself
01:13:30.160 --> 01:13:31.330
can certainly be a dangerous thing.
01:13:31.330 --> 01:13:34.351
But I think that we
were also more empowered
01:13:34.351 --> 01:13:39.351
and we were kind of awkward
in knowing how to use that.
01:13:41.590 --> 01:13:44.754
- So over time I think
the school board said,
01:13:44.754 --> 01:13:47.890
even though we don't really
wanna get involved with them,
01:13:47.890 --> 01:13:48.940
it is a public school.
01:13:48.940 --> 01:13:52.260
So we better start making sure
they're following the rules.
01:13:52.260 --> 01:13:55.070
- If you guys have to leave
'cause it's 2:30, that's fine.
01:13:55.070 --> 01:13:56.160
Kelly, thank you so much.
01:13:56.160 --> 01:13:59.700
If anybody wants to stay,
please feel free to stay.
01:13:59.700 --> 01:14:00.533
- [Kelly] Good meeting you all.
01:14:00.533 --> 01:14:01.574
- You have to go.
- Yep.
01:14:01.574 --> 01:14:02.407
(indistinct)
01:14:02.407 --> 01:14:03.240
- [Student 1] Bye.
01:14:03.240 --> 01:14:04.184
- [Student 2] Bye Judith.
01:14:04.184 --> 01:14:05.310
(indistinct)
01:14:05.310 --> 01:14:06.710
- [Student 3] Thanks
Judith. Nice to meet you.
01:14:08.213 --> 01:14:09.140
- It's so amazing.
01:14:09.140 --> 01:14:10.630
- Isn't your daughter coming here.
01:14:10.630 --> 01:14:11.570
- My daughter is coming here.
01:14:11.570 --> 01:14:12.403
- Are you excited?
01:14:12.403 --> 01:14:13.440
- I'm so excited.
01:14:13.440 --> 01:14:14.273
- Is she?
01:14:14.273 --> 01:14:16.330
- Yes, she's really different than me,
01:14:16.330 --> 01:14:18.860
but I hope she gets you.
01:14:18.860 --> 01:14:20.260
- So that means I have four more years.
01:14:20.260 --> 01:14:21.530
Is that what you're telling me?
01:14:21.530 --> 01:14:22.390
- Maybe just one,
01:14:22.390 --> 01:14:24.727
if she can make it into
your class next year.
01:14:24.727 --> 01:14:25.669
(chuckles)
01:14:25.669 --> 01:14:29.030
My concern was when it became so popular
01:14:29.030 --> 01:14:33.210
and the lottery became
such an intense thing.
01:14:33.210 --> 01:14:34.640
- You thought we just
have the top students.
01:14:34.640 --> 01:14:36.630
- I was afraid that-
- Oh my God, never.
01:14:36.630 --> 01:14:38.920
- The students would end up being
01:14:38.920 --> 01:14:41.430
more kind of a prep school.
01:14:41.430 --> 01:14:42.263
- See, that's another-
- Student body.
01:14:42.263 --> 01:14:43.810
- That's another stereotype.
01:14:43.810 --> 01:14:47.160
And the stereotype was,
you're an elitist institution.
01:14:47.160 --> 01:14:49.730
You only teach the children of academics.
01:14:49.730 --> 01:14:53.780
We have always had the whole bell curve.
01:14:53.780 --> 01:14:56.330
But when you saw that it got very popular.
01:14:56.330 --> 01:14:58.560
That wasn't just because
really strong students
01:14:58.560 --> 01:14:59.460
wanted to be here.
01:14:59.460 --> 01:15:02.020
There were parents of
really disturbed students
01:15:02.020 --> 01:15:03.180
who wanted their kids here
01:15:03.180 --> 01:15:04.860
because they knew we were more loving
01:15:04.860 --> 01:15:06.940
and they, well, I shouldn't
say that, but we are,
01:15:06.940 --> 01:15:08.470
or maybe we're not, but I think we are.
01:15:08.470 --> 01:15:09.800
And we're small...
01:15:09.800 --> 01:15:12.260
It's a loving, sweet, supportive culture.
01:15:12.260 --> 01:15:13.320
- Right, being at a place
01:15:13.320 --> 01:15:15.430
where you're not gonna
fall through the cracks
01:15:15.430 --> 01:15:16.263
is really important.
01:15:16.263 --> 01:15:18.840
- There are kids who really
try to fall through the cracks.
01:15:18.840 --> 01:15:20.530
There are kids who will do anything
01:15:20.530 --> 01:15:21.860
to fall through the cracks.
01:15:21.860 --> 01:15:23.790
And so we're holding on
pulling them out of the cracks.
01:15:23.790 --> 01:15:25.850
- Oh, happy to see you. And you know what?
01:15:25.850 --> 01:15:27.860
We'll be in touch. We'll talk about...
01:15:29.370 --> 01:15:34.370
- Quinn has been nominated and
has won teacher of the year
01:15:34.400 --> 01:15:37.070
in the Ypsilanti/Arbor
Chamber of Commerce.
01:15:37.070 --> 01:15:41.829
It's a joint group and he
doesn't even know he's nominated.
01:15:41.829 --> 01:15:43.820
Okay. He's in Marci's office.
01:15:43.820 --> 01:15:45.810
Okay everyone.
01:15:45.810 --> 01:15:47.850
Okay, we're gonna go
up to the theater now,
01:15:47.850 --> 01:15:48.683
and when we're all in there,
01:15:48.683 --> 01:15:49.590
I'll text her and she'll find some reason
01:15:49.590 --> 01:15:53.161
to scare him to bring him in. Okay.
01:15:53.161 --> 01:15:56.494
(indistinct chattering)
01:16:05.740 --> 01:16:06.640
- He's on his way.
01:16:13.030 --> 01:16:14.147
- [Clarence] It's not him.
01:16:14.147 --> 01:16:17.647
(chattering indistinctly)
01:16:20.757 --> 01:16:23.824
- [Crowd] Surprise.
01:16:23.824 --> 01:16:27.657
(crowd cheering and clapping)
01:16:43.730 --> 01:16:45.694
- So Quinn does not know why he's here.
01:16:45.694 --> 01:16:47.620
(laughing)
01:16:47.620 --> 01:16:49.530
- Those of us who are
standing up here we represent
01:16:49.530 --> 01:16:51.407
the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti
Regional Chamber Commerce.
01:16:51.407 --> 01:16:53.480
And you have been nominated
01:16:53.480 --> 01:16:55.900
for the first ever
Teacher of the Year Award.
01:16:55.900 --> 01:16:56.733
- Oh my gosh.
01:16:56.733 --> 01:16:57.995
- And you've have won the
Teacher of the Year Award.
01:16:57.995 --> 01:16:58.982
- Oh my gosh.
01:16:58.982 --> 01:17:02.815
(crowd cheering and clapping)
01:17:06.917 --> 01:17:07.883
oh, wow.
01:17:07.883 --> 01:17:09.490
(crowd laughing)
01:17:09.490 --> 01:17:14.320
I'm so unbelievably
thankful and overwhelmed.
01:17:14.320 --> 01:17:17.055
And this has been a tough year, you know?
01:17:17.055 --> 01:17:20.840
And it's been an amazing year.
01:17:20.840 --> 01:17:22.310
It's been both.
01:17:22.310 --> 01:17:25.750
And I love you all.
Just thank you so much.
01:17:25.750 --> 01:17:27.241
I love you all. I can't believe this.
01:17:27.241 --> 01:17:28.846
This is incredible.
01:17:28.846 --> 01:17:31.439
(crowd cheering and clapping)
01:17:31.439 --> 01:17:35.022
- Get in there. Get in
there. Get in there.
01:17:36.626 --> 01:17:39.959
(indistinct chattering)
01:17:43.585 --> 01:17:44.506
- I'm so happy.
01:17:44.506 --> 01:17:45.956
I'm so happy. He deserves it.
01:17:47.192 --> 01:17:48.380
I think he does.
01:17:48.380 --> 01:17:49.430
I'm gonna go see him.
01:17:50.315 --> 01:17:53.648
(indistinct chattering)
01:17:56.530 --> 01:17:57.917
- Hi guys, we're just out here, you know
01:17:57.917 --> 01:18:00.480
having fun, doing the tug of
war and these guys are out here
01:18:00.480 --> 01:18:01.313
chilling...
01:18:01.313 --> 01:18:02.230
- [Interviewer] What's field day?
01:18:02.230 --> 01:18:04.360
- Field day is the time for all the kids
01:18:04.360 --> 01:18:07.120
to get out and get to know each
other and have fun together.
01:18:07.120 --> 01:18:09.750
And this is the way for them to have fun.
01:18:09.750 --> 01:18:12.077
Remember each other at
the end of the year.
01:18:12.077 --> 01:18:13.610
And you can, "Hey, I remember that guy
01:18:13.610 --> 01:18:14.802
I was in the tug of war with.
01:18:14.802 --> 01:18:16.656
Me and him are really good friends now."
01:18:16.656 --> 01:18:18.645
That's all it's all about.
01:18:18.645 --> 01:18:19.677
- [Howard] This is Howard Cosell
01:18:19.677 --> 01:18:22.440
live from Delhi Park in Ann Arbor.
01:18:22.440 --> 01:18:26.250
Ready to bring you the
Community High tug of war final.
01:18:26.250 --> 01:18:28.160
Here we go. It start off and.
01:18:28.160 --> 01:18:29.920
Headley's got a quick lead.
01:18:29.920 --> 01:18:32.380
Coming back, Mouradian's
recovering nicely.
01:18:32.380 --> 01:18:33.551
Now they're falling behind
01:18:33.551 --> 01:18:38.551
and (indistinct) that's it!
Headley takes the championship.
01:18:39.797 --> 01:18:44.559
Headley takes the championship.
Let's get some Headley...
01:18:44.559 --> 01:18:46.976
(indistinct)
01:18:51.310 --> 01:18:53.020
(students shouting)
01:18:53.020 --> 01:18:56.350
- This is the Community
High School tug of war.
01:18:56.350 --> 01:19:00.960
This is basically the
Olympic event for our school.
01:19:00.960 --> 01:19:05.960
It is a Forum competition that
we train for all year long.
01:19:08.144 --> 01:19:12.252
We don't have a lot of sports
in our school. This is it.
01:19:12.252 --> 01:19:15.252
(students shouting)
01:19:23.620 --> 01:19:26.430
- After the mile run,
it's food, playing around
01:19:26.430 --> 01:19:28.100
and then-
01:19:28.100 --> 01:19:30.440
- The fun games, three legged race,
01:19:30.440 --> 01:19:32.073
sack race, wheelbarrow race.
01:19:33.180 --> 01:19:36.020
(indistinct chattering)
01:19:36.020 --> 01:19:38.237
- That's what I'm taking about.
01:19:39.494 --> 01:19:41.911
(indistinct)
01:20:09.009 --> 01:20:11.130
- Ed, let's load up the buses.
01:20:11.130 --> 01:20:12.323
Let's go guys.
01:20:13.720 --> 01:20:14.553
There we go.
01:20:15.688 --> 01:20:19.021
(indistinct chattering)
01:20:20.210 --> 01:20:22.750
- So this is the Communicator
Banquet End of year.
01:20:22.750 --> 01:20:24.680
We've been doing it for a couple of years,
01:20:24.680 --> 01:20:27.570
it's a great time to
come together, celebrate.
01:20:27.570 --> 01:20:30.230
I speak a little bit,
seniors speak a little bit
01:20:30.230 --> 01:20:31.900
and just celebrate the year.
01:20:31.900 --> 01:20:34.140
So and the amazing, amazing, amazing work
01:20:34.140 --> 01:20:35.490
that the students have done.
01:20:35.490 --> 01:20:37.790
- We got all these pictures of not all,
01:20:37.790 --> 01:20:41.930
but most of the seniors, like
the graduating class of 2017.
01:20:41.930 --> 01:20:43.530
We were able to just like capture
01:20:43.530 --> 01:20:46.130
a lot of their stories about Community.
01:20:46.130 --> 01:20:50.330
Like we did these profiles on 12 seniors.
01:20:50.330 --> 01:20:52.520
So it really felt like
we were able to capture
01:20:52.520 --> 01:20:55.210
a lot of the class of
2017 before they left.
01:20:55.210 --> 01:20:57.720
- That there are very few 15-year olds
01:20:57.720 --> 01:20:59.502
and 16-year olds and 17-year olds
01:20:59.502 --> 01:21:01.810
who are diving as deep into journalism
01:21:01.810 --> 01:21:06.610
and telling as serious of
stories as these guys are.
01:21:06.610 --> 01:21:09.420
Really timely about immigration,
01:21:09.420 --> 01:21:13.150
about homelessness, about drug addiction
01:21:13.150 --> 01:21:15.510
that they...about sexuality.
01:21:15.510 --> 01:21:19.351
They take on big issues in deep ways.
01:21:19.351 --> 01:21:20.330
- So what we're gonna do is
01:21:20.330 --> 01:21:22.860
we're gonna hear from some seniors.
01:21:22.860 --> 01:21:27.060
So seniors speeches are always
a big part of our banquet.
01:21:27.060 --> 01:21:28.920
And then I'll give some closing words
01:21:28.920 --> 01:21:30.920
and then you guys can
finish the rest of the cake.
01:21:30.920 --> 01:21:34.113
And as soon as the cake
is gone, you can leave.
01:21:34.113 --> 01:21:36.166
(crowd laughing)
01:21:36.166 --> 01:21:37.810
- The truth is that this year
01:21:37.810 --> 01:21:38.840
you offered me the greatest
01:21:38.840 --> 01:21:40.360
and most challenging learning experience
01:21:40.360 --> 01:21:42.450
I've ever had the opportunity to face.
01:21:42.450 --> 01:21:44.620
You asked me to understand
somebody's story.
01:21:44.620 --> 01:21:47.250
Somebody far removed from
my own lived experience
01:21:47.250 --> 01:21:49.010
and tell it to the world.
01:21:49.010 --> 01:21:51.710
Writing about Yousef and his
family only further instilled
01:21:51.710 --> 01:21:52.890
an idea that you said to me
01:21:52.890 --> 01:21:55.460
on my first ever day in Communicator.
01:21:55.460 --> 01:21:56.690
"Your voice matters.
01:21:56.690 --> 01:21:57.930
The stories you tell matter.
01:21:57.930 --> 01:22:00.410
And the people you write
about matter even more."
01:22:00.410 --> 01:22:01.243
I'm reminded of this
01:22:01.243 --> 01:22:02.990
every time you say those
words to a freshmen
01:22:02.990 --> 01:22:05.880
looking for a voice or to a
senior questioning theirs.
01:22:05.880 --> 01:22:07.760
I hope you never stop
repeating them Tracy,
01:22:07.760 --> 01:22:09.724
it's nice to be reminded.
01:22:09.724 --> 01:22:12.474
(crowd clapping)
01:22:14.660 --> 01:22:17.993
(indistinct chattering)
01:22:28.484 --> 01:22:32.317
(crowd clapping and cheering)
01:22:47.700 --> 01:22:50.350
- About five years ago, when
I was thinking about retiring,
01:22:50.350 --> 01:22:51.183
I said to myself,
01:22:51.183 --> 01:22:53.170
Judith just don't fall in
love with this new batch.
01:22:53.170 --> 01:22:54.400
Just don't fall in love with them.
01:22:54.400 --> 01:22:55.970
There'll just be a few kids
01:22:55.970 --> 01:22:57.640
that you'll know for a year or so.
01:22:57.640 --> 01:23:00.950
And I sorta kept it together
for about 20 minutes
01:23:00.950 --> 01:23:02.400
and then it was all over.
01:23:02.400 --> 01:23:04.030
And then I watched that group.
01:23:04.030 --> 01:23:06.690
They graduated maybe last
year or the year before.
01:23:06.690 --> 01:23:07.700
I don't remember.
01:23:07.700 --> 01:23:09.410
It's wonderful to watch these kids grow up
01:23:09.410 --> 01:23:11.490
and be on stage with them at graduation.
01:23:11.490 --> 01:23:14.470
I think that's another
measure about the family.
01:23:14.470 --> 01:23:17.000
When you hear kids talk at graduation,
01:23:17.000 --> 01:23:18.810
about how much they
love their Forum leader
01:23:18.810 --> 01:23:23.320
or their school or the class
itself, that tells you a lot,
01:23:23.320 --> 01:23:25.990
there's something really
special about those kids
01:23:25.990 --> 01:23:28.090
and their 30 second moments
01:23:28.090 --> 01:23:31.482
talking about how much
they've loved this four years.
01:23:31.482 --> 01:23:34.820
(crowd clapping)
01:23:34.820 --> 01:23:37.780
- I'd just like to thank
my friends, my family,
01:23:37.780 --> 01:23:38.870
my teachers for supporting me.
01:23:38.870 --> 01:23:40.460
I don't think I'd be standing on the stage
01:23:40.460 --> 01:23:41.293
without any of you.
01:23:41.293 --> 01:23:43.920
- So it's really impossible
for me to put my experience
01:23:43.920 --> 01:23:46.350
at Community into any correct words,
01:23:46.350 --> 01:23:48.120
let alone 30 seconds of them.
01:23:48.120 --> 01:23:49.910
- All the awesome friends and classmates
01:23:49.910 --> 01:23:51.980
I've gotten to know over the years,
01:23:51.980 --> 01:23:53.780
all the amazing teachers I've had,
01:23:53.780 --> 01:23:54.920
you especially Judith.
01:23:54.920 --> 01:23:56.180
- Staying there for four years
01:23:56.180 --> 01:23:59.190
has been one of the best
decisions I've ever made.
01:23:59.190 --> 01:24:01.560
If not for its supportive
and flexible environment,
01:24:01.560 --> 01:24:04.120
I wouldn't have been able
to grow as much as I have.
01:24:04.120 --> 01:24:06.040
- And the last thing I wanna mention
01:24:06.040 --> 01:24:07.850
is that I had a reputation in the school
01:24:07.850 --> 01:24:09.559
for always wearing a hat today.
01:24:09.559 --> 01:24:12.571
Today, that hat comes off.
01:24:12.571 --> 01:24:16.404
(crowd cheering and clapping)
01:24:26.296 --> 01:24:27.129
- [Announcer] Hannah Rubinstein.
01:24:27.129 --> 01:24:30.411
- I wanna start by thanking
the amazing Community teachers.
01:24:30.411 --> 01:24:32.250
They've given me so much.
01:24:32.250 --> 01:24:35.860
For example, literally gave me
life, shout out Anne Thomas.
01:24:35.860 --> 01:24:38.100
(crowd cheering)
01:24:38.100 --> 01:24:39.760
They sacrifice so much
01:24:39.760 --> 01:24:42.030
and while you might not
know it from the ceremony,
01:24:42.030 --> 01:24:44.240
since basically everyone
has thanked teachers,
01:24:44.240 --> 01:24:46.240
they are so often overlooked,
01:24:46.240 --> 01:24:48.270
but they are the reason
we are all here today.
01:24:48.270 --> 01:24:51.512
And they are the reason that
I've loved the past four years.
01:24:51.512 --> 01:24:54.262
(dramatic music)
01:25:11.000 --> 01:25:12.290
- [Anne] Some of the
teachers you have known
01:25:12.290 --> 01:25:13.200
since you were a baby.
01:25:13.200 --> 01:25:14.033
- [Hannah] Yeah.
01:25:14.033 --> 01:25:15.300
- [Anne] Judith held
her when she was a baby,
01:25:15.300 --> 01:25:16.200
you know, I mean...
01:25:16.200 --> 01:25:19.050
she really has grown up
with Community High School.
01:25:19.050 --> 01:25:20.030
This is "Hannah-Rama".
01:25:20.030 --> 01:25:21.260
- I didn't choose the name.
01:25:21.260 --> 01:25:22.780
- We...
01:25:22.780 --> 01:25:23.950
- My aunt chose the name.
01:25:23.950 --> 01:25:26.050
It's all helped us put it together.
01:25:26.050 --> 01:25:27.090
'Cause people do these things.
01:25:27.090 --> 01:25:28.399
- This is what you do...
01:25:28.399 --> 01:25:33.399
- Junior prom, senior prom
and Halloween in the hallways.
01:25:35.370 --> 01:25:37.110
I was in jazz for the
first couple of years.
01:25:37.110 --> 01:25:40.403
Yeah, I did it all. That's
Forum my freshman year.
01:25:41.650 --> 01:25:42.880
And that was Communicator
01:25:42.880 --> 01:25:45.860
when we went to the Democratic debate
01:25:45.860 --> 01:25:47.070
and that's my friend Sophia
01:25:47.070 --> 01:25:52.020
in the halls we wrote and
filmed a short film about corn.
01:25:52.020 --> 01:25:53.390
- When you have to put all this together
01:25:53.390 --> 01:25:55.170
and look at your life
01:25:55.170 --> 01:25:58.690
as just a series of photos
that makes you think back over.
01:25:58.690 --> 01:26:00.768
I am really gonna miss her.
01:26:00.768 --> 01:26:02.914
We rode to school every day.
01:26:02.914 --> 01:26:06.470
We walked into that building every day,
01:26:06.470 --> 01:26:08.390
we walked out many days
01:26:08.390 --> 01:26:12.690
and just sometimes you
ate lunch in my room,
01:26:12.690 --> 01:26:13.610
in the beginning.
01:26:13.610 --> 01:26:17.020
And then you spread your wings
and you did all your stuff.
01:26:17.020 --> 01:26:17.853
But...
01:26:17.853 --> 01:26:19.060
All right.
01:26:19.060 --> 01:26:23.050
- If we want society to have the benefits
01:26:23.050 --> 01:26:26.880
of all of the productivity
and all of the...
01:26:26.880 --> 01:26:29.750
Just the gifts that people have to offer,
01:26:29.750 --> 01:26:32.690
if we wanna make those gifts
available to everybody,
01:26:32.690 --> 01:26:34.500
all of those gifts available,
01:26:34.500 --> 01:26:37.900
we have to have schools like Community
01:26:37.900 --> 01:26:40.370
and schools different from Community
01:26:40.370 --> 01:26:43.450
so that people can fulfill themselves.
01:26:43.450 --> 01:26:45.700
- What I walked away from that school with
01:26:45.700 --> 01:26:49.470
is confidence in that I
can take care of myself.
01:26:49.470 --> 01:26:50.420
That was a big one.
01:26:55.228 --> 01:26:57.270
That who I was was basically okay.
01:26:57.270 --> 01:27:00.610
- I want people to know how rigorous
01:27:00.610 --> 01:27:04.230
and academic and caring and loving we are.
01:27:04.230 --> 01:27:07.020
Because all that goes with the cool stuff
01:27:07.020 --> 01:27:08.620
and the relationships that we build
01:27:08.620 --> 01:27:10.363
and the connections that we make.
01:27:12.340 --> 01:27:14.290
Those aren't opposing forces.
01:27:14.290 --> 01:27:17.950
You can be very, very
academic and rigorous
01:27:17.950 --> 01:27:20.580
and demanding and inspirational
01:27:20.580 --> 01:27:23.780
and be loving and compassionate
and fun and silly.
01:27:23.780 --> 01:27:26.800
They all go together. They're
all part of the same thing.
01:27:26.800 --> 01:27:28.220
- Something special about that,
01:27:28.220 --> 01:27:30.110
when you bring people together,
01:27:30.110 --> 01:27:32.920
they're all like 100% -
they on top of their game
01:27:32.920 --> 01:27:34.540
and then they can bring that to the table.
01:27:34.540 --> 01:27:37.890
And then the kids all loved
their...it was phenomenal.
01:27:37.890 --> 01:27:40.240
I mean, I don't think
I'll ever see that again.
01:27:42.150 --> 01:27:43.950
And I've been in education 30 years.
01:27:45.009 --> 01:27:46.910
I don't think I'm gonna see that again.
01:27:46.910 --> 01:27:51.150
- Upfront, when you shift from
being a large failed school,
01:27:51.150 --> 01:27:55.490
that's losing connection with
its students and families
01:27:55.490 --> 01:27:57.160
to a set of small schools,
01:27:57.160 --> 01:27:59.310
there's an investment you have to make.
01:27:59.310 --> 01:28:02.660
And my guess is if you want it to turn
01:28:02.660 --> 01:28:05.430
every high school students' experience
01:28:05.430 --> 01:28:07.210
into one like those at Community,
01:28:07.210 --> 01:28:09.630
you could do it for the
same price in a second
01:28:09.630 --> 01:28:13.500
if you're willing to
take the political risks
01:28:13.500 --> 01:28:16.263
of changing the existing structure.
01:28:17.200 --> 01:28:20.260
- The school has changed over times.
01:28:20.260 --> 01:28:23.230
And I think it's...why it's successful is,
01:28:23.230 --> 01:28:25.870
is it's changed with the times
01:28:25.870 --> 01:28:28.510
to meet the expectations of the times.
01:28:28.510 --> 01:28:30.780
A lot of those early alternative schools
01:28:30.780 --> 01:28:33.370
couldn't get past being hippie schools.
01:28:33.370 --> 01:28:36.780
And when nobody wanted
a hippie school anymore,
01:28:36.780 --> 01:28:37.880
they were out of luck.
01:28:38.933 --> 01:28:40.640
- I just have this...
01:28:42.126 --> 01:28:44.410
well the word that comes
to mind is rhapsodic,
01:28:44.410 --> 01:28:47.253
that's a little strong,
but I did teach English.
01:28:48.260 --> 01:28:52.300
Just this memory of what we were,
01:28:52.300 --> 01:28:57.110
and that we didn't do it for nothing.
01:28:57.110 --> 01:28:58.110
Because there it is.
01:28:59.300 --> 01:29:00.678
There it is.
01:29:00.678 --> 01:29:04.011
(indistinct chattering)
01:29:09.070 --> 01:29:10.320
- Look at you.
01:29:10.320 --> 01:29:12.181
Hi, good morning.
01:29:12.181 --> 01:29:14.893
- [Girl] Hi Leah.
- [Girl 2] Hi Leah.
01:29:17.027 --> 01:29:18.630
- All right. She sees her friends.
01:29:18.630 --> 01:29:21.890
So first day of high school. In my day,
01:29:21.890 --> 01:29:24.754
I don't think people showed
up quite so early for school.
01:29:24.754 --> 01:29:27.120
- I hate basketball. (indistinct)
01:29:27.120 --> 01:29:30.702
- And there were a lot more
kids smoking cigarettes.
01:29:30.702 --> 01:29:31.910
(chuckles)
01:29:31.910 --> 01:29:34.210
And I don't see any
kids smoking cigarettes
01:29:34.210 --> 01:29:37.500
or adults smoking
cigarettes, nobody's smoking.
01:29:37.500 --> 01:29:39.963
- Wow. Wow.
01:29:43.130 --> 01:29:44.411
- Are you ready for us?
01:29:44.411 --> 01:29:45.744
Yeah come on in.
01:29:47.281 --> 01:29:50.614
(bright dramatic music)
01:29:54.154 --> 01:29:56.445
- Welcome back and welcome
to Community everybody.
01:29:56.445 --> 01:29:58.510
(indistinct)
01:29:58.510 --> 01:30:01.187
(crowd cheering)
01:30:01.187 --> 01:30:04.410
Thank you all for all of you.
01:30:04.410 --> 01:30:05.380
Every single one of you
01:30:05.380 --> 01:30:07.300
makes this amazing place for all of us
01:30:07.300 --> 01:30:10.950
to come and spend the biggest
part of our day everyday
01:30:10.950 --> 01:30:12.300
at Community High Shool.
01:30:12.300 --> 01:30:13.450
Teachers and students, everyone
01:30:13.450 --> 01:30:15.977
I wanna thank you for making
this a place we all love...
01:30:19.437 --> 01:30:24.437
So thank you for (indistinct)
01:30:24.929 --> 01:30:27.762
(uplifting music)
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 94 minutes
Date: 2020
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 10-12, College, Adults
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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