- 5 days ago
In the East Bay community of Antioch, California, the students of Deer Valley High School and their college advisor, Mr. Cam, are filled with expectations as they near their final year of high school. But when COVID lockdowns threaten their hopes for senior year, Mr. Cam’s students must grapple with a changed world amid the challenges of applying to college.
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00:00She always says outside, but it's never outside.
00:09She could have stayed in my house more.
00:12Shoot.
00:14You know, when you first get into high school, you feel like you have all this time.
00:20It feels like yesterday I was just walking in, cheering at the football games and all that.
00:26And now it's time to see who I want to be, what I want to be, which college I want to attend, what I want to do.
00:43You excited?
00:44I'm excited.
00:46Let's go, starters, starters. Let's go. Together on three. One, two, three.
00:50Energy, energy.
00:52Good. Good, Ahmad. Good.
00:55Going into my senior year, I need to, like, impress some scouts so I can get some scholarships.
01:01Let's go. Push it, Ahmad. Let's go. Let's go. Here we go.
01:06As fast as you are, you can get the whole scholarship off of that right there alone.
01:09If I'm going to college to play basketball and I'm getting a free education, that's just, you can't get better than that.
01:15Yep.
01:17Hey!
01:18Here we go, Ahmad! That's what I be talking about!
01:24Clearly you can't cut the chocolate, so you can't mix it either.
01:30My parents, they've always wanted us to go to college, so that's what I hope to do once I get out of high school.
01:38It's a rustic chop, okay?
01:42I always said that I kind of wanted to open my little restaurant or bakery and stuff.
01:47So, I was kind of thinking of, like, going to school and getting a psychology and a business degree.
01:53Either double major or get a minor in business.
01:55I feel like there's so many things to do this year.
02:00So many.
02:01Okay, but you also, you don't have to do everything.
02:04You're 17 right now, I'm like, you're fine.
02:07Mm.
02:09Those look hecka good.
02:11Those look like the ones that you could sell.
02:12Let's sell that.
02:14Yeah.
02:15This is what I've been waiting for all these years for school, to get a senior year.
02:29Your senior year is your most memorable.
02:32Senior sunrise, senior banquet, senior trip, prom, spirit days, rallies, all the sports events.
02:42It's fun to be there.
02:44It's never a bad day at cheer.
02:46I love my teammates.
02:47We always have fun at games.
02:49You're getting closer and closer to graduating and you have to get ready for college.
02:54I just want to get into UC Santa Barbara.
02:56That's the dream school.
02:58NYU, LSU, University of Houston.
03:02Howard University, Spelman.
03:04Florida A&M, Cal State LA, San Diego State.
03:08UC Berkeley or UCLA?
03:10There's a lot of boba shops in UC Berkeley.
03:12I don't think they realize how important your high school years are.
03:17They learn so much.
03:18They learn so much about themselves.
03:21These are young men and women who have a purpose.
03:25Who want to become significant people.
03:28At the ending of junior year, the energy at school was good.
03:31Everybody was actually happy, doing good.
03:35Life was good.
03:36Everyone was so excited.
03:38You look forward to, like, going all out in your senior year.
03:42We were planning for junior prom, making decorations.
03:45Then, boom.
03:48COVID hit.
03:49That changed everything.
03:51I think it was March 13th that Friday.
03:56It was like, no school, we're not going back.
03:59We begin tonight with fast-moving developments involving the coronavirus here in the U.S.
04:04They've been under quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise ship for nearly two weeks.
04:09It was supposed to contain the spread, but may have done the opposite.
04:13This is a highly transmissible virus.
04:16You amplify that when you put it in a closed space.
04:20NBA is suspending the season.
04:22And, of course, it's not just sports programs closing, but schools as well.
04:26More than 1,500 K-12 schools across the country that have or plan to shut down.
04:32Like, at first, I was like, yay, no school.
04:34We were like, okay, if we leave, we're going to come back to school in two weeks, no problem.
04:38But we just never went back.
04:4298.8% of our schools have closed down.
04:46I don't remember April. Honestly, April went by in a blur.
04:48We didn't get a junior prom, and then all the school activities were missing out on everything.
04:54People have been advised to practice social distancing, which means to stay at least six feet apart.
05:01That's when all the toilet paper started selling out.
05:04We had lines of, like, hundreds of people. Like, the store opened up at eight.
05:07People were there at 637 in line.
05:11June came, June left.
05:14July came, July left.
05:16Simply said, California cannot reopen schools unless they are safe.
05:22You can move forward as a county if you choose to physically open your schools.
05:32However, schools that don't meet this requirement, they must begin the school year this fall through distance learning.
05:41Hello, everyone. I appreciate you being on this call with us today, being in this virtual space, knowing that we're not sure exactly how the year will progress.
06:02But we will be in full distance learning for the entire first quarter of this coming academic year.
06:11When we get close to the end of October, we'll make another decision about the next coming set of weeks.
06:17That is the answer. We are full distance learning right now when we go back on September 1st.
06:22Senior year is really senior year. I mean, sports pushback can't go out. Everything is online. And then thinking about colleges, college admissions, staying on top of that, SAT. It's just a whole lot.
06:40I'm really worried about my seniors. This year specifically, distance learning, the coronavirus. We have people worried about their health. We have people worried about their safety. They're not allowed to just be a kid and focus on college.
07:01Our system was not built to go into distance learning. We were not at all. But at the end of the school year, our students have to be ready to go to college. And we were asking ourselves, who could help us?
07:22Can't stop, won't stop.
07:30Cam was one of my students. I saw him at the front door of the school. And I was like, wait, what? Hold on. What are you doing here? He's like, I'm going to work here. I'm so excited.
07:41We are the warriors. We are the carriers.
07:45Nationally, the counselor to student ratio is 400 to 1. In California, it's like 800 to 1.
07:51And here at Deer Valley, when I got here, we had two and a half counselors at the time.
07:56Yeah, that's crazy town.
07:58We need more counselors. We need more people who are experts in college admissions. Those are the things our students need. And so that's why I chose to become a college advisor.
08:08Oh, fighting in this battle for too long. Cam himself has the appeal to our young people. The more they see administrators that look like them, the more they now start to see the possibilities of what can happen for them. Oh.
08:25If you put it on this page, you'll be able to tell me every application deadline all at once. I'll do it with you. You want to do it together?
08:34Sure.
08:35Mr. Cam, like, he actually has, like, a relationship with us. He knows all of us by name. It's very important to him, and that makes it important for us too.
08:42So what's going on with you? How's your dad? Is he doing all right?
08:45Nah, he's fine now.
08:46Not only do you get somebody to help you with college, you also kind of gain a friend in the process as well.
08:52I see you got the fresh cut.
08:53Yeah, I look good.
08:54Mr. Cam, that's my guy.
08:58This is what I want to see. To be at the school that I graduated from and to give a student a college advisor, that means a lot to me.
09:07Senior year is the critical year.
09:17It doesn't matter what you've done up to this point.
09:25If you don't take it serious, you're not about your business this year, it's not going to happen.
09:31I'm already in a time crunch. I have these certain goals for myself.
09:36But, like, now I might not be able to accomplish them.
09:39When I'm sitting here going to school, working part-time, then I feel exhausted.
09:44These students already have it in them. These students have the potential.
09:49I want to be, like, a good role model for my niece and nephew.
09:52It's our job to bring that out of them.
09:55I hope I get accepted into one of the schools that I applied to.
09:59I want this year to be my best year.
10:04What do I think is going to happen? I don't know. I really don't know.
10:08I really don't know.
10:13Hustlers not tough! Hustlers not tough!
10:16Students have never been through anything like this.
10:18So this class specifically, they're going to have to grind.
10:24It's going to be tough. It's going to be really tough.
10:26Nobody's ever been through anything like this before.
10:30I would've done anything like this.
10:43Work all day till my feet get slow, keep on working till the whistle blows.
10:49Oh, when the nighttime come.
10:52It's on when the nighttime come.
10:56I'm on my face all day, smiling like I'm never knew what you say.
11:00Oh, until the nighttime comes.
11:03This is someone when the nighttime comes.
11:05I wear this mask on my face all day, smiling like I'm never knew what you say.
11:11Oh, until the nighttime comes.
11:14This is someone when the nighttime comes.
11:16It ain't really over, it has just begun.
11:19We gonna be all right when the nighttime comes.
11:22Tired of trying to figure what I might become.
11:25I just want to sing my song when the nighttime comes.
11:42What is up, Deer Valley?
11:43Welcome back to school.
11:45My name is Mr. Cam.
11:46My pronouns are he, him, his.
11:48I am the college advisor at Deer Valley all year long.
11:51I basically help with everything college related.
11:54I know I'm in really tough times right now.
11:56We're all in shelter in place, but guess what?
11:58We're gonna get through it.
11:59We're gonna work hard, and I'm gonna be here for y'all.
12:00People, are you ready?
12:26Let's start the show, let's start the show, let's start the show, show, show, show, show.
12:34Don't worry about the president.
12:38He can't stop us now, now, he can't stop us now, now, now.
12:43Hello, hello, everybody.
12:44Hello.
12:45Hello.
12:46All right, I'm so happy there's so many of y'all here.
12:51Thank y'all.
12:52All right, we're gonna go ahead and get started, y'all.
12:55So thank y'all so much for coming.
12:57My name is Mr. Cam.
12:58This is called College of Eisencore.
13:00It's basically just a program to help y'all get into college.
13:02I'm gonna be your college advisor.
13:04We'll get into a little bit more into logistics in a minute, but I do want to do an icebreaker
13:09first.
13:10So what we're gonna do, has anybody played Hot Seat before?
13:14Nobody played Hot Seat?
13:15Okay, I'm gonna explain it.
13:16Basically, there's one person and you get 60 seconds to ask them a bunch of questions.
13:20So everybody puts in the chat, like, they just put, you know, questions for the person
13:24to answer, and then if the person answers them, they have 60 seconds.
13:27Does anybody wanna go first?
13:29I'll go first.
13:30You wanna go first, Cadence?
13:31Okay, no, we're gonna let you go first.
13:32Okay.
13:33You ready, Cadence?
13:34Yep.
13:35All right, ready?
13:36Three, two, one, go.
13:37What's your zodiac sign?
13:38I'm a Capricorn.
13:39Capricorn.
13:40Favorite fruit?
13:41Peaches.
13:42Peaches.
13:43Do you have a dream job?
13:44Prosecutor for the state of New York.
13:45Ooh, to New York.
13:46Okay.
13:47Favorite cartoon?
13:48Chowder.
13:49Nice.
13:50Do you play any sports?
13:51Yeah, I cheer.
13:52Favorite Netflix show?
13:53Yeah, I cheer.
13:54Favorite Netflix show?
13:55Yeah, I cheer.
13:56I cheer.
13:57I cheer.
13:58I cheer.
13:59I cheer.
14:00I cheer.
14:01I cheer.
14:02I cheer.
14:03I cheer.
14:04What's your favorite Netflix show?
14:0515 seconds.
14:06Black AF.
14:07Nice.
14:08Favorite video game?
14:09Fortnite.
14:10Favorite person?
14:11Last one.
14:12My granny.
14:13Oh, okay.
14:14Granny is a favorite person.
14:16Ebby's probably a little hurt.
14:17It's okay.
14:19Thank you so much.
14:21That was great.
14:22All right, I'll go next.
14:23Ready?
14:24Go.
14:28You assumed my sexuality, by the way.
14:30But yes, I do have a girlfriend.
14:33Favorite brother?
14:34Oh, I have two brothers.
14:36I do not have a favorite brother.
14:37I love them both equally.
14:38Right now, Any Song by Jenea Aieko.
14:42I'm 5'11".
14:43I used to say six foot, but I'm done lying about my height.
14:47What is my biggest fear?
14:49Oh my gosh.
14:50My biggest fear?
14:53I don't know.
14:54That's too deep for a question.
14:55Sorry.
14:56All right.
14:57For those of y'all who don't know, I graduated from Deer Valley.
15:01I was a Deer Valley student.
15:02I graduated in 2015.
15:04I played basketball.
15:05This is me throwing a behind the back pass at Heritage.
15:08Because I was like that.
15:10I grew up in East Oakland.
15:18I grew up on 66th Avenue.
15:21When the housing market crashed, we went from a small duplex, where I shared a room with
15:28my brother, but my parents had their own room, to my grandma's house.
15:32So we all moved in together, and then somehow, someway, my parents found a way to like, buy
15:36a house in Antioch.
15:39We were looking, looking, looking, trying to buy a house, and then finally, boom, it happened
15:44for us.
15:45It was amazing, because we never thought we would get there.
15:49So that was ninth grade.
15:52When I got to Deer Valley, I ended up kind of getting a friend group, playing basketball
15:57like I always did.
15:59I was a high-achieving student, but I didn't have the, what we call social capital.
16:04And I got a lot of stuff like, you know, I forgot you were smart.
16:09I had a lot of teachers making certain assumptions about me because of the way I dressed.
16:14My parents wanted me to do well, but they didn't necessarily know this is how you get
16:18to college.
16:19When I got here, there was no college and career technician, and so there wasn't a huge
16:24college-going culture, right?
16:26I mean, he always got really good grades, but I mean, he really didn't have a whole lot
16:30of extra support to try to get him into college.
16:33And there was a rude awakening, because he thought he was going to get into every college
16:39he applied to, and he did not get into any of the UCs.
16:43I don't even think he got into the state schools, actually.
16:48Which, I mean, that crushed him.
16:53When I didn't get into a lot of really competitive schools, I was, like, shocked.
16:58Because there was this narrative that if you work hard, then you will get there.
17:03It was really hard for him, because we had to talk him into being okay with going to community college.
17:10But as it turned out, he only went for two years, because he transferred.
17:15I went to UCLA for undergrad.
17:17And even though I've, you know, gotten to this point, and in some ways this system still does work for me,
17:26I see so many people it doesn't work for, especially right now.
17:30All right, can somebody unmute themselves and let me know if you can see my screen?
17:33Because I can't see anybody while I'm sharing it.
17:36Yeah, we can see it.
17:37Okay, perfect. Thanks, y'all.
17:39So we can see if we look at the month of September, October, we have have your first meeting with Mr. Cam, right?
17:46So this is our first, like, cohort meeting, but we want to have our first one-on-one meeting, right?
17:51As you can see, if you guys look down here at the bottom of this screen, we're on the senior checklist part.
17:57But if you actually go down here to college research, this is a place for you to put all of the colleges
18:03and all the information for those colleges.
18:05So the location of the college, the size, the application deadline, how many students are admitted,
18:12the selectivity, majors you might be interested in that college, okay?
18:16So this is where your college list is going to go.
18:19Same thing for, like, scholarships or same thing for FAFSA, right?
18:23For November, you want to make sure this UC and CSU applications are due November 30th, okay?
18:29So I tried to make this as simple as possible for you because I know there's so many things that go into college.
18:34I really want y'all to, like, have all of these resources in one place.
18:39So we will go through this list more in detail as we get to these upcoming certain months.
18:45All right, y'all, using a sticky note, put in something that you hope you will have accomplished by the end of the year, okay?
18:51So I have getting into college, I want to have my license, a scholarship for volleyball, get a new car.
19:00I want to successfully finish applying to FAFSA by the end of the year, finish the whole application process.
19:05So some great stuff so far.
19:08I'm really hoping that we get to the point where we are in school.
19:12But unfortunately, I have no control over that.
19:16All right.
19:17I'm so happy that y'all came.
19:18Thank you so much.
19:19You are free to go.
19:22Bye.
19:23Bye, y'all.
19:24Bye, y'all.
19:25See you next time.
19:26I don't like to keep, like, a negative mindset.
19:46So I was kind of like, you know, we're going to be fine.
19:51We'll get some of our senior year, no problem.
19:53Second semester is always the semester where all the fun activities happen.
19:59This stuff is going to pass.
20:00Hard times don't last forever.
20:01Like, tough people do.
20:06I've always been a good athlete.
20:09I run the 400, the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, and then I do the 4x4 relay.
20:23I would definitely love to run track in college.
20:27I feel like that's a part of the reason why I've kept up with running.
20:32Because I wanted to get a scholarship.
20:40I'd definitely love to run in the Olympics.
20:43Go out there and make a mark.
20:44Show people what I'm made of.
20:46One day.
20:47If I get the opportunity.
20:49Tons of potential.
20:51Super fast.
20:52Lottie absolutely, totally built for hurdles.
20:55We just knew that if we could just spend a little bit of time with her,
20:58work on her form for running, she'd be spectacular.
21:03We had our race here against Heritage High School on a Wednesday.
21:06On Thursday, they said, don't go to practice.
21:11Then on Friday, they shut us down.
21:20The track is closed.
21:23But I still have to practice.
21:25I don't want to, like, mess up my form.
21:27So I, like, created a schedule for myself and created workouts that I can do.
21:36And then with the workouts that Coach Green is doing over Zoom,
21:40completely just put my focus on that.
21:43And, like, try and push myself.
21:45Because if I'm not the one who's going to push myself, then who can really push me?
21:48So how are you? How have you been? How was your summer?
22:10It's been pretty good. I was busy working all summer.
22:14Yeah, where are you working at?
22:16Chipotle.
22:18Nice. Okay. So you've been working hard over there?
22:20I mean, it was kind of weird with the pandemic and, like, going through that.
22:25But now I feel like it's pretty much been settled now.
22:28Like, that's my new normal, like, school, work.
22:31Yeah. So I'm actually going to share my screen with you.
22:34And you're on your phone, right?
22:36Yeah.
22:38Okay. So let me share my screen. Can you see it?
22:40Yeah.
22:42So these are basically just the classes that you've taken, right?
22:44And these are the A through G classes.
22:45The type of students you are as an AB student. That's obvious, like, 3.5 student, right?
22:51But we know that this semester was home and hospital, right?
22:56So where your GPA is right now is at a 2.7. Okay?
22:59And, again, that's a 2.7, like, with an asterisk because it's like, yeah, that's my GPA, but, like, obviously something was going on here.
23:11I've always been a good student, always getting pretty much all A's or, like, A's and B's.
23:20But then sophomore year, I started getting sick.
23:25I was missing school because of pain and then doctor's appointments every week.
23:31Getting blood drawn.
23:33Like, when I went back to school, I now would look at my transcript.
23:37Being used to, like, A's and B's and seeing these F's, even though, like, I know I didn't fail the classes.
23:42It was just frustrating to see because this is also what, like, colleges are going to see.
23:48I'm like, there's no way I'm going to get into these schools.
23:51All because, like, I got sick. All my plans for the future are going to, are, like, gone now.
23:56It was crazy for her. She didn't went to school for last year, and she was happy to come back.
24:06And now this happened.
24:10I love school. It's just now it's completely different.
24:17I wish we could have done that in person because I feel like a lot of us need that.
24:21A lot of us need to be back in school.
24:23All these teachers that we have right now, we've never even met.
24:27We've never even seen past a computer screen.
24:30So I feel like it would be helpful to kind of, like, see people again, be in that classroom setting.
24:36Sort of feel like we're going back to normal.
24:39It's nice to hear that we might be able to do that again.
24:48Whenever you apply to schools, we're definitely going to talk about, like, what happened that semester.
24:53Because literally, like, this semester is so much different than every other semester.
24:57They love a story.
24:58I'm not going to be honest.
24:59Like, the UC system loves a story.
25:00So I'm not going to sit here and be like, oh, you have no chance.
25:04Okay.
25:05So, you know, we're going to try and write some fire essays.
25:08And we're going to try to get it together so that, you know, we can get into some schools.
25:14Okay.
25:15Yeah.
25:16How is, like, college app stuff going for you?
25:18How is, like, your mind around that?
25:20I've been trying to, like, apply to scholarships.
25:23I've been looking into certain things.
25:25Like, honestly, I, like, every time I think about it, I get stressed out.
25:29I know.
25:30It's just, I feel like it's this situation that it's, like, it's instead of it being in
25:35person, like, us getting, like, those resources in person, now it's, like, all online and kind
25:39of, like, us doing it ourselves.
25:41Like, it's so scary to think about.
25:43Like, I just.
25:44So what we're going to do is on Monday, we're going to have a, we're going to have a meeting.
25:49And I have, like, this big workbook for you that I'm going to share with you, like, in
25:53this meeting.
25:54So you'll kind of have, like, a guide for all of those things.
25:57Okay.
25:58Because I know it's stressful right now.
25:59I know.
26:00Okay.
26:01All right.
26:02Cool.
26:03I will see you there.
26:04Okay.
26:06You're welcome.
26:07Bye.
26:08Bye.
26:11Is Brianna off already or what time?
26:13Because if not, my dad is going to bring me.
26:15Okay.
26:16Bye.
26:24I'm ready, dad.
26:25Bye.
26:26Bye.
26:27I'm ready.
26:38I'm ready.
26:39I'm ready.
26:40I'm ready for this.
26:41Bye.
26:42I'm ready for this.
26:43All right.
26:44The system still working good?
26:45On the computer?
26:46Some days it works, some days it doesn't.
26:49Most of the time I can't get on.
26:50Or if the internet is bad, it won't let me go on.
26:53And then sometimes the computer freezes.
26:56So like, it'll take me out of my class.
27:00And then it'll say like, didn't engage,
27:04mark me absent or something.
27:06So like if you engage, that means like you went to class
27:08or like you were present.
27:10And then didn't engage basically means
27:12that like you didn't go to class or you didn't participate.
27:14What time did you get up today?
27:19Um, nine.
27:21I'm gonna put on my mom.
27:31Okay.
27:32Okay, I'll see you later.
27:37Bye, Ceci.
27:44Nobody thought we would be in distance learning.
27:47We all were not prepared.
27:52We were not prepared for the challenges that,
27:57you know, this modality would bring.
28:01Our students are not able to quickly adjust.
28:05Not at all.
28:06You know, my seniors, I'm really worried about,
28:09are they gonna have the access to technology that they need?
28:11Are they gonna have the access to space
28:13so they can concentrate on their college application,
28:15so they can concentrate on their school work?
28:18Just staring at a screen,
28:19listening to your teacher lecture you.
28:20Like, that's boring.
28:22You get headaches from the screen radiation.
28:25It's kind of hard retaining information.
28:28It takes more work to actually learn stuff.
28:30Like I have to go like reread some passages
28:32or like take extra notes in order for me
28:35to like really retain the information.
28:37My APGov class and ethics class, you know,
28:40it's really like having in-depth conversations.
28:42And I feel like if I'm trying to debate
28:44with somebody through a screen,
28:45it's not gonna work out.
28:46Cause like, let's say I get frustrated enough,
28:48I can just hang up.
28:50Leadership is being at school,
28:51like decorating the school and then like making posters
28:54for like rallies and like,
28:56how do you do leadership on the computer?
28:58I feel like I'm not learning enough.
29:02I don't have that push to really do the work.
29:08With isolation in place,
29:10there's a huge need for us to be able to supply
29:14and meet the social emotional needs of our children.
29:17It's very hard, not only on children,
29:19even on the adults.
29:20Because a lot of students relied on the social network here
29:27to be successful in school.
29:32Some of our kids were getting their meals here,
29:34connecting with friends here.
29:36The sports that they were getting was from here.
29:39With distance learning, all of that was gone.
29:44In my mind, this is an opportunity to reimagine how we do school.
29:53Because what was clear was,
29:54we were not meeting the needs of everybody.
30:09I don't like being at home.
30:11I'm not a home person.
30:14Like I like to be outside.
30:16So like, it's not good for me.
30:18I don't like it at all.
30:20It's like, oh my God, just sitting here,
30:24like since you're like not doing anything
30:26and you just sit there,
30:27you just think about like random things.
30:32Cause I've done my homework.
30:34I don't have any practice.
30:36I already did school.
30:38Every, the whole house is clean.
30:40No chores.
30:45So I'm just sitting there staring.
30:49I'm like, what am I doing?
30:51I don't know.
30:54I don't know.
30:55It just messed me up.
30:58I'm not messing up like failing,
31:00but like it's, it's a drop off for sure.
31:03Once his senior year was taken from him,
31:07I think kind of lost focus.
31:09He lost focus, right.
31:10You know?
31:11And so I think that had a big, big impact
31:13on how, how he started to look towards his schooling.
31:16Cause he's always been a straight A student
31:18the whole time we've been together.
31:20And so this drop off, I know is, is, is really, uh,
31:24it's really effective.
31:25He's great.
31:28From March until now,
31:29it has been nothing but a continual down spiral.
31:33So that's why I reached out to Mr. Cam.
31:35It was just like, what is going to happen with my son?
31:37I need to understand.
31:38I need to know what is this time going to do?
31:41Are they going to graduate?
31:42I just didn't know.
31:44His mom texted me saying, can you give me a call?
31:46And we had probably a 30, 45 minute conversation
31:49just about Ahmad.
31:51I told her that I'm 100% here for him
31:54and that we can definitely work together.
31:56Mr. Cam is the reason I'm doing
31:57what I'm supposed to be doing and stuff.
31:59And check up on me and make sure I'm doing good.
32:01Ask yourself, is that really the best thing to do
32:04if you're trying to get into these schools?
32:06And make sure I got like the right information.
32:07Not the wrong information.
32:08Cause like there's a lot of wrong information.
32:10Like that's on the internet.
32:12He makes sure you get the right information.
32:14Read through this for me.
32:16And just see which one of these applies to you.
32:19Okay.
32:20So then this right here is my parents, their wedding day.
32:38These are my two younger sisters, they're twins.
32:41Then this is my, one of my older sisters, the second oldest.
32:44This is me right here.
32:45That's my mom up there.
32:47Then this is my aunt's wedding.
32:50This is my dad right here.
32:52My grandpa, my grandma right here.
32:55And then their siblings.
32:56So this wall right here has all of our first communion photos.
32:59So it goes by like oldest to youngest.
33:05For us, it was always family.
33:08Always.
33:09Before friends, before anything.
33:12That's your house first.
33:13It's very nice, especially because I have only girls.
33:20And that was close to us.
33:23Yeah.
33:24Like, yeah.
33:25I know that they already grow up, but that's my little babies.
33:28That's how we call them, my little babies.
33:31Where are you going?
33:32Where are you going?
33:33Emily, she's the one in the middle.
33:36She always liked to be involved in everything.
33:39Hola, abuelito.
33:40Hola, mija.
33:41She liked to talk a lot like me, Bobby.
33:46She was always happy.
33:48And she was, you know, like, everywhere.
33:51Like, a smile.
33:52Everywhere.
33:53Where are you going?
33:55Julian!
33:58Hello!
34:00Emily and I, we were pretty much inseparable.
34:03She always goes to my apartment and just takes my phone.
34:06When my parents decided to move,
34:08it was because the rent was pretty high,
34:10and no one really had their space.
34:12There was five of us sleeping in one room.
34:16All my sisters and I in one room,
34:17and then my grandpa and my parents in the other.
34:19And the rooms were pretty small, you know?
34:21So they started looking over here in Contra Costa County,
34:24and we ended up in Antioch.
34:30Ladies and gentlemen,
34:31we will soon touch down in the beautiful Bay Area.
34:35Please lean your seats back,
34:37cut your turntables up,
34:39and always hold a firm and forthright position.
34:43We ask that you permanently
34:45store all your personal baggage behind you.
34:48Ladies and gentlemen,
34:49it's a new day.
34:50When the economy goes bad,
34:52and everybody loses their houses,
34:54we start renting.
34:56After, like, three years,
34:58we decide to move here
35:00because it was more cheaper,
35:02and we decide to buy a house.
35:04Antioch is opportunity.
35:05It does live here.
35:06When you talk to people about why they moved here,
35:07it's, oh, well, because I got the opportunity to buy a home,
35:09the opportunity to send my daughter to a good school,
35:11experience a quality of life that is acceptable for everybody.
35:13You could live the suburban life you saw advertised on television here,
35:17and you could live the suburban life you saw advertised on television here,
35:22and you could live the suburban life you saw advertised on television here,
35:33here in the Bay Area,
35:35right here in the city of Antioch,
35:37with this growing African-American population.
35:42Antioch also represents a transformation that is happening in suburban spaces across this country.
35:49Within the past 30 years,
35:51the suburbs have become the most diverse space in American life.
35:56The majority of Black people, Asians, and Latinos now all live in suburbs,
36:00and yet we still think of suburbs when we say that word.
36:03It conjures up this idea of white space.
36:05It is kind of the 1950s, the picket fences,
36:10the, you know, everybody knows their neighbor,
36:12and everybody looks the same because everyone is white.
36:14And that was, of course, designed that way for a reason.
36:17So you get a place like Antioch,
36:19and you have incredible pushback against the arrival of people who don't look like the suburbs should look.
36:25So if you are Black, if you are brown, if you are different, you get kind of targeted.
36:32And nowhere did it become more problematic or damaging to kids than at Deer Valley High.
36:38Because really, that defines the future of the town, right?
36:42So yeah, maybe you see different people in town,
36:44but when you see the students start to look different,
36:46which represents what the future residents might look like.
36:50It was really hard to ignore that Antioch was no longer this white, small suburb,
36:57but instead was a growing city with a diverse population.
37:06Our demographics have changed,
37:07and so people who are not familiar with children who look a certain way
37:11make assumptions about their character even before anything happens.
37:19Ever since I was a student here at Deer Valley,
37:21Deer Valley has definitely gotten a bad rap.
37:24They get a bad rap in a district, they get a bad rap kind of in the Bay Area.
37:28The school no one wanted to send their kid to.
37:36Look at all of these Oakland and Richmond kids as they come up to this school,
37:41and they're ruining our community.
37:44I have met people that are like, oh my God, you're at Deer Valley?
37:47And I'm like, yeah.
37:48And they're like, oh, isn't that school not good?
37:49I'm like, no, it's a good school.
37:51Don't talk about my school like that.
37:52It's generally a good school and has good teachers, and I do learn a lot.
37:56When you look up the school, you see all these reviews,
38:02people saying what a horrible school it is.
38:05And when I saw that, I felt emotional.
38:08We're a high school, we're kids.
38:11We have so much talent that goes on on our campus.
38:13There's so many good things that happen on our campus.
38:18There was just this stigma around our school that stuck with us.
38:22The typical teenager should not have to carry that brick.
38:25The typical teenager should not have to carry that brick.
38:27Those who create fun with our school are organizing a bike and,
38:30they're missing our continent on our campus,
38:32without theبر orgalia.
38:33This was fun completely.
38:44You had to go.
38:46Mocha!
38:48What did you get there?
38:50For us, growing up, education has always been something that really
38:54and something that really hammered into us.
38:57Like, getting good grades is always important
38:59and stuff like that.
39:00Especially, like, my parents being immigrants.
39:03I mean, they'll never let you forget it.
39:05Like, I came to this country and I sacrificed.
39:08It wasn't an easy process.
39:10So I can't just, like, lowball myself
39:13and not try in school.
39:15And not only from what my parents are telling me,
39:17but I pride myself in doing well in everything that I do.
39:21And I try my best to always do well in what I do.
39:24I had my SAC scheduled for March 14th,
39:27but then it got canceled.
39:29Then I scheduled it again June 6th.
39:30That one got canceled.
39:31I scheduled it for October 3rd.
39:34That one got canceled.
39:35So I scheduled it again for November 6th and the 7th.
39:38And if that one gets canceled,
39:39I'm just not going to try and take it again.
39:42There she is.
39:44Hi, Mr. Carol. How are you doing today?
39:46I'm doing all right.
39:47Let's start with your college list.
39:49Let's do that.
39:51Applying to 22 schools.
39:53Oh, 20. Oh, I didn't even realize it was that many.
39:55No, it's not 22.
39:56It's just 17, which is still a lot.
40:00Do you have three years of science?
40:03For Arizona State?
40:05Mm-hmm.
40:05Yeah.
40:07Interesting.
40:08Because I know Cadence was asking me about Arizona State too.
40:12She don't want to go there.
40:13She only applying because of me.
40:15Uh-huh.
40:15I'm sure.
40:16Maybe her main choice of college that she wants to go to was USC.
40:23That was her main one.
40:24And I want to go to Howard.
40:26And then all of a sudden, she wants to go there too.
40:29And I'm like, oh, okay.
40:31Copy me.
40:32No, it's not true.
40:33She always wants to say that.
40:34But I was like, she had USC on her list.
40:37And she didn't even know what USC stand for.
40:39You just put it on the list because you know I want to go to USC.
40:42Whatever.
40:43It's okay.
40:43It's cool.
40:44My number one school, uh, Howard University.
40:47Like, the only school she told me that she wanted to go to was Grambling.
40:50I never knew about Howard.
40:52My notebook, I have a little page where I have the colleges.
40:56It's definitely between Howard University or USC.
40:59We always joke about, like, going to Howard together and being roommates and everything.
41:02I wasn't really looking into going to an HBCU.
41:05But then, like, Howard, I think that this could work for me.
41:09I hear really great things about their law program.
41:13On top of that, I kind of want to go to DC.
41:15Plus, it's in DC.
41:17Major in political science.
41:19Political science major.
41:20I want to be a lawyer.
41:21Definitely want to go into law.
41:23I like arguing.
41:27I think you're going to be able to get into a lot of these schools just fine.
41:32I just want to make sure that you're, like I said, you're not overwhelmed.
41:35I mean, you can also see, right, like, when they're due.
41:38So I hope these are accurate.
41:40And if they are, then you don't have to feel like you need to be doing
41:45Howard's application right now, if they're not due until the 15th of February.
41:50You'll be good.
41:51All right.
41:51Let me know if you have any questions.
41:53Okay.
41:54Thanks, Mr. Cam.
41:56You're welcome.
41:57Talk to you soon.
41:58Bye.
41:59Bye.
42:08I feel like I enjoy school better than a lot of students.
42:11I do a lot of activities at school.
42:13Like, I like to involve myself.
42:14I like to keep myself in the loop.
42:19I'm an ASB officer.
42:20I'm spirit commissioner this year.
42:22I have so many, like, ideas that we could do, like, to promote school spirit.
42:26So I was like, that's, like, the biggest thing that I'm looking forward to, especially.
42:31Hey, guys.
42:32Evie here.
42:33And I just came to let y'all know once again that, not once again, but I'm here again.
42:38Hey, Wolverines.
42:40Evie here once again.
42:41Evie here once again.
42:42That's why I kind of like to keep, like, an open mind.
42:49Because, like, there's stuff to look forward to if you don't just keep yourself in, like,
42:54a tunnel and just think negatively.
42:57You're just going to stay in a dark hole.
42:58Like, there's always light at the end of a tunnel, at the end of the day.
43:04We just can't give up right now.
43:13Good morning.
43:14Good morning.
43:15What's going on with you?
43:16Where are you at?
43:17Where's your mind at?
43:18My main goal is to get into a UC.
43:24This is what I want to see.
43:28The GPA you need, I would like.
43:32I could probably get into a UC if I keep, like, trying hard.
43:39I have AP Computer Science.
43:42And then Econ, of course.
43:44And then Statistics.
43:46Make sure you stay on them grades, though.
43:47This class of students that I've been working really closely with, they have the potential
43:51to go to the most competitive schools.
43:53I am 100% here for you.
43:55Like, that is my job.
43:55My job is to be here for you.
43:57But I want y'all to actually start making more one-on-ones.
44:07All right.
44:07If there's nothing else, I'm going to wish y'all a great week.
44:12Again, I hope to see most of y'all at office hours.
44:15I wish we can.
44:16Bye, y'all.
44:17Have a good week.
44:18Have a great week.
44:19Another sobering milestone in the fight against the virus.
44:30Today, the U.S. surpassed 11 million cases.
44:32Now, this week alone, the country reported more than a million new cases.
44:37This time is the most crucial it's been the entire year.
44:42Today, we have 140 COVID patients in a 213-bed hospital.
44:47I think it's only going to get worse before it gets better.
44:49In the meantime, as President Trump told Americans to not be afraid,
44:53Governor Newsom was warning Californians to stay on guard.
44:56We'll continue not to send mixed messages as it relates to
45:00importance and imperative of wearing masks.
45:03Contra Costa County slid back into the state's red tier last week,
45:06indicating substantial spread.
45:08Starting Friday, all restaurants and non-essential businesses
45:12must follow a curfew closing from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
45:26Welcome. This is Diane Gibson-Gray President of the
45:43Board of Education for our Wednesday, October 7th special board meeting.
45:51You wouldn't even know that we were still having school board meetings right now if it wasn't for,
45:54like, a select few people who, like, tell you.
45:59Because that's how a lot of stuff, like, flies over our heads.
46:04Because we don't know what's going on at all within, like, the school or our district.
46:11One nation, under God, ends invisible, and justice for all.
46:17We now move to action items, reopening of the schools.
46:22Stephanie Alinello, superintendent.
46:24At the beginning of the school year, they had a meeting.
46:27They said we're going to reevaluate in October.
46:31Now they're going to reevaluate to see if we can go back to school.
46:36That's basically how it's going.
46:38Opening our schools in a manner that protects the health and safety of students and staff is our
46:43number one priority. And as you know, currently Contra Costa County, Department of Public Health,
46:48has said that Contra Costa remains in the red tier, which indicates substantial spread of COVID-19,
46:56as measured by testing positivity rates, hospitalizations, and ICU rates.
47:00I think that the greatest frustrations came as a result of not knowing what to expect.
47:14And so to have mixed messages set, one day you think that you're going to open, but then they said,
47:24I don't know. Hmm.
47:28The fact that our leaders too had to wait on their own supervisors, and they had to wait on the next
47:33level, and then they had to wait. So all of us were just waiting.
47:36I do want to go back to school, but do I think it's going to happen? I don't.
47:42We have a number of comments.
47:45Deb Hubbard. Good evening, board members. I want to urge you to vote yes on Superintendent
47:49Anello's proposal to continue in distance learning throughout the month of January 2021.
47:55Jereen Pope, community member. The special education kids are struggling with online learning.
48:00At least let us go back hybrid two to three days a week.
48:03It's my last year at school, and I might not even be able to fully experience that.
48:08So at this time, I am recommending to the Board of Education that we remain in distance learning
48:14through the end of the semester, January 29th.
48:18So I'm going to make a motion to not reopen the schools for the superintendent's recommendation.
48:24I'll second that.
48:25All in favor, say aye.
48:27Aye.
48:28Aye.
48:28Aye.
48:29Aye.
48:30Motion passes 5-0.
48:32Thank you very much.
48:33And thank you to all the teachers, staff, everyone who's working during this pandemic,
48:40and especially the classified who are a lot of working out of class in order to make this happen.
48:47It was a 5-0, we're not going back to school.
48:50They said we're going to reevaluate in December to see if we can go back to school in January.
48:55It's really crazy.
48:55I don't know.
49:00I'm really finding hard to blame anyone, but not knowing was the biggest source of anxiety
49:07and frustration.
49:08Not knowing.
49:08The longer we stay in this, the more you solve one problem, another one pops up.
49:14The school board just said we're going to stay in distance learning.
49:24That would have never happened last year.
49:27And they just cut $1.8 million in funding, but at the same time, somehow, someway, they were going to
49:36find $375,000 to put police in our schools.
49:40Antioch City Council voted to partially fund school resource officers.
49:45If approved by AUSD, the City of Antioch will fund the remaining 50% not covered by grant funding
49:51for each SRO.
49:53We want counselors.
49:53We don't want cops.
49:54You guys have three counselors on our campus who can barely, like, help the students that are there,
50:00and then you want to bring cops on campus that are going to be paid more than the counselors?
50:04That doesn't make sense.
50:06So, a group of students said, you know, well, we need to protest this so we make sure that the
50:11school board doesn't pass it.
50:14I hope this thing goes well.
50:19What's going on, y'all?
50:21You say that you care about the students.
50:23You say you care about the kids.
50:26But then, why are we your priority?
50:31We're telling you that we don't want officers on our campuses,
50:34but you're not listening to what we have to say.
50:41It's just criminalizing our school, making us seem like delinquents.
50:47Say no to SRO!
50:47Say no to SRO!
50:49So, it's really frustrating.
50:51Say no to SRO!
50:53All the students are, like, voicing their opinion on it, but the school board and everyone in the
50:59district just chooses not to listen to what the students have to say.
51:03We need counselors, not cops!
51:06We need counselors, not cops!
51:08I don't think that armed officers should be on campus.
51:10I think that we're perfectly fine with it just being the site safety and security guards.
51:14Say no to SRO!
51:16Say no to SRO!
51:18Cops words, not cops!
51:20More than anything, I think it's important for the people who are in leadership to
51:24understand the issues from a student's perspective.
51:29If the people don't understand what the students are going through, it's not going to matter.
51:35Say no to SRO!
51:37Say no to SRO!
51:39Say no to SRO!
51:40Say no to SRO!
51:42Free up cops!
51:44We're going to close the door.
51:46Free up cops!
51:48Say no to SRO!
51:50We have to change the way that we go about serving them if we expect our outcomes to get better.
51:54Free all cops!
51:56Free up school district!
51:58Free all cops!
52:24First but off.
52:26I will sane but never let me do this!
52:27Betterύ!
52:29pasta
52:29Fine news.
52:29It's good!
52:30To be continued!
52:31Let's go to SRO!
52:32Local私たちはimamкогоmaat Zuoyama.
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