The 10th grade class presented their personal projects to a panel of evaluators Wednesday, April 25. Learners presented over a year’s worth of work to a panel of evaluators as well as created a display that outlined their process.
One learner, Robert Marquez, presented his project on the art of filmmaking. This project showcased passion, growth mindset, and grit. His presentation board was extremely creative, neat, and well-designed, and came complete with a mini marquee sign with the title of his movie, “Short Film, Huge Message.” The inspiration for his video came from the song, “Out Loud,” by Gabbie H.
Robert, with the guidance of his mentor, Ramon Hamilton, storyboarded, planned, filmed and edited a powerful short movie, which evoked strong emotions from all of us in the room. The process was not without challenges, as stated in his well-written report.
“When I started the personal project I was going to do my project on whatever would make my family proud, but then I decided to ask myself what would make ME happy. It was extremely hard for me to revolve my personal project around filmmaking because I was embarrassed that being behind a camera was my passion. None of my family has ever followed through with their big dreams. They didn’t ever want to risk losing everything they had just to give up in the end. The hardest part about this project was overcoming my fear of failure.”
Robert persevered, even after his initial main character dropped out midway through filming, but didn’t give up on his dream. He created a movie that is culturally and socially relevant, with a powerful message. Robert impressed his evaluators with his passion, heart, and talent. Robert is the epitome of what can happen when a school creates a culture and community where learners are Free to Think and Inspired to Lead.
Here is a link to his video.
Ninth graders — it’s time for you to begin thinking about what passion you’d like to explore! Be on the lookout for more information.