KCET’s Magazine show, SoCal Connected wanted to do a portrait of the transformation of Locke High School—to see whether or not the Green Dot takeover was really benefiting the Locke students.
But rather than trying to grapple with assessing the whole school, they decided to tell the larger story through the lens of the individual stories of three kids: Joanna, Damon and Bryan, all interesting kids, but also all teenagers who have each been through serious traumas.
The first chapter of the story ran on December 4. (And that segment just won the regional Edward R. Murrow Award for best news documentary.)
The second chapter is running tonight at 7 p.m.
I’ve seen a preview of much of tonight’s episode and really recommend watching. It’s a terrific show—filled with drama and emotion.
Here are notes from the first episode that ran in December.
A month before the filming, Joanna’s brother was shot to death and it sent her into a tailspin.
Bryan is a music talent who lives in a one bedroom place with his father and sister. Bryan sleeps on the couch. His sister sleeps on the floor. His dad is a single father. Sometimes they don’t have money for food, Bryan says.
One of Bryan’s source of pain is the fact that his mother ran out on the family. The Locke music teacher talks about how sometimes Bryan is so distraught that sometimes he doesn’t come to school.
When asked what he wants for his future, he says, “My dream would be to have a decent life. Just a decent life.”
Damon, a tall good lucking, basket ball player, also lost a parent, but in his case, his mother died when he was fourteen. He moved in with his grandmother and stopped caring about school. But now all that is starting to change at Locke.
PS: According to the So Cal producers, viewers had such strong reactions to the first episode that some of them reached out to help the three kids. One viewer donated an electric keyboard to Bryan Ordaz, the musical kid who lost his mom. And producer Scott Budnick offered internships to the three at Warner Bros.
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PPS: While we’re on the subject of local education, LAUSD Sup Ray Cortines and teachers union president A.J. Duffy are fighting about the 160 teachers in the district who, as it turns out, have been getting paid not to work while their fitness to teach is determined.
Details here and here.