A documentary crew visited three Denair students in May. Watch the final product
Three young Denair residents talk about their lives in a 15-minute documentary released online last week.
Denair High School Principal Kara Backman had the idea for the video, titled “UNIFED: A Day in the life of Alex, Conner and Adrianna.” It was filmed in May at their schools and homes by GoodCity Concepts of Cleveland, which was hired by the Denair Unified School District.
The goal was to capture teen life in a typical rural American town.
One subject, Alex Flores , is the son of immigrants from Mexico and was a high school senior at the time of the filming. He is about to start veterinary studies at the University of California, Davis.
Adrianna Snyder, then a high school junior, lives with the aunt and uncle who adopted her and with an autistic cousin. She hopes to someday be a psychiatrist.
Connor Prock, then an eighth-grader, is part of a longtime dairy farming family and is raising his own beef cattle. He plans to play football for Denair High.
Backman said she hopes to show the film on the district’s social media sites, at school events and at large conferences.
“I was thrilled to see it,” Backman said in a news release. “I think it paints a true picture of our students and staff. I was emotional.”
She said it was submitted for a film festival in Ohio, and she expects to hear soon if it’s accepted.
Teens delve into government
The Modesto area sent 14 high school students to statewide Boys State and Girls State gatherings this summer. The American Legion sponsors the program, where students learn hands-on how local and state government works.
Post 74 chose the area’s delegates. The girls, who convened at Claremont McKenna College, east of Los Angeles, were:
- Catherine Charles, Gregori
- Bergen Foshay, Enochs
- Isabella Mendez, Downey
- Margaret Peterson, Modesto
- Samantha Rich, Davis
- Grace Sanders, Beyer
The Boys State delegates to Sacramento State University:
- Paramveer Brar, Enochs
- Aron Cameron, Oakdale
- Matthew Goss, Gregori
- John Nunnally, Beyer
- Nathan Oh, Gregori
- Peter Palombi, Beyer
- Daniel Vermeulen, Beyer
- Ethan Wetzel, Gregori
And finally ...
Tammy Brecht Dunbar, a fifth-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Manteca, will travel to some distant place through a Fulbright award.
She and 75 other educators were chosen for the 2018-19 version of the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program at the U.S. State Department. It starts with graduate-level online study through the fall, followed by a February orientation in Washington, D.C., where travel assignments are made. Dunbar said she hopes for Asia or Africa.
This is one of many honors for Dunbar, who also is a technology instructor at Teachers College of San Joaquin. Microsoft Corp. named her one of its Innovative Educator Experts for 2015. She was the Manteca district’s Teacher of the Year in 2006 and Woman of the Year in the 12th Assembly District in 2016.
Names of Note recognizes individuals and organizations for their achievements and contribution to their communities. Submit items to jholland@modbee.com.
This story was originally published August 4, 2018 at 12:20 PM with the headline "A documentary crew visited three Denair students in May. Watch the final product."