Education

TOWN DESTROYER explores the ways we look at art and history at a time of racial reckoning. The story focuses on a dispute over historic murals depicting the life of George Washington: slaveowner, general, land speculator, President, and a man Seneca leaders called “Town Destroyer” after he ordered their villages destroyed during the Revolutionary War. The murals, at San Francisco’s George Washington High School, were painted in 1936 by left-wing artist Victor Arnautoff, a student of Diego Rivera. The murals both praise Washington and–rare for the time—critically depict him overseeing his slaves and directing the bloody seizure of Native lands. Most controversial is a provocative image of a dead Indian–life-size, eye-level, and at the center of the school. Opponents of the murals–led by Native American parents–demand the School Board order them painted over. For them, the murals’ graphic depictions of slavery and genocide are racist and harm students, Native students in particular. Defenders of the murals warn of the dangers of censoring priceless works of art, and urge the Board to ‘teach the murals.’ Heated debates spill into the community and make national headlines.

War tragically pushed Asmaa out of her home country, Syria, where her destiny had been written as a wife and mother with only 16 years of age. Asmaa rebuilt her adult identity as the neighborhood storyteller and began using reading aloud to children for fun as a bridge to tackle critical issues in her new community at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.

The Secret Song chronicles the final months of Doug Goodkin’s fabled 45-year career teaching music to children in San Francisco. Goodkin’s time-tested methods are thrown into disarray as the pandemic forces schools into “distance” learning, and a music program that always prioritized singing and learning “through the ear, not through the eye” has to adapt to an online format. The film shows the dynamism and adaptability that all teachers find and bring forth in the classroom, and how a sense of belonging helps us surmount hardships and adversity.

SENTENCED is a vulnerable and immersive exploration on the epidemic of childhood illiteracy. A braided series of character driven stories from the POV of ethnically diverse adults and their families — who have never learned to read… and a forceful yet tender tale of how literacy could free children from the cycles of generational poverty.

Produced at the Harrison School for the Arts

Produced at Harrison School for the Arts.

Produced at Rowlett Academy.

Produced at Rowlett Academy.

Produced at Rowlett Academy.

After a rebellious young farm girl’s parents refuse to let her travel to the city, she must take extreme measures in order to escape her mundane life. Produced at Riverview High School

A teenage girl, tired of going unnoticed in high school, changes her appearance for a chance to fit in, ultimately pushing away her secretly crushing best friend. Produced at Riverview High School

A confidently precocious, home-schooled girl begins to doubt herself and her social skills in the wake of life changing news. Bay Haven Elementary.

produced at Suncoast Technical College

When a young girl’s attempt to cut her life short gets interrupted by a singular text, she decides

to delay her plans and go out for one last conversation. 

Produced at Riverview High School.

Produced by Booker High VPA

produced at Suncoast Technical College

produced at Suncoast Technical College

produced by Booker High VPA

produced by Booker Animation

A precocious & imaginative young girl & her outgoing best friend embark on a daily musical journey of learning about life, inclusion, growth & themselves while exploring her grandmother’s magical garden, learning from the garden’s residents & sharing their experiences while under the mentoring & watchful eye of Mr. Sun in the sky.

YOUTH V. GOV is the story of America’s youngest citizens taking on the world’s most powerful government. Twenty-one courageous youths lead a groundbreaking lawsuit against the U.S. government. They assert that it has willfully acted over 6 decades to create our climate crisis, thus endangering their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property. If these young people are successful, they’ll not only make history, they’ll change the future.