"Louder Than A Bomb," "Soul Boy" A Hit With PSUSD Students

Students from all over Coachella Valley packed the Palm Springs High School auditorium Wednesday morning to screen the documentary "Louder Than A Bomb" and "Soul Boy." Both films were received with enthusiastic applause by the students.

At left are two of the stars of the documentary, Nate Marshall and Novana Venerable.

The event was sponsored by the Palm Springs International Film Festival whose Programming/Education Outreach Coordinator is Ken Jacobson.

Following the screening, Jennifer Juarez, a student in Matt Hamilton and David Vogel's Digital Storytelling Class at Cathedral City High School, had a chance to interview "Louder Than A Bomb" director Greg Jacobs.

Jennifer: Why did you decide to do this documentary?

Director Greg Jacobs: I was driving by Wrigley Field in Chicago one night, in March of 2005, and I happened to pass by a club called The Metro. The marquee said "Louder Than A Bomb High School Slam Poetry Finals Tonight." There was a line of kids of every shape, size and color all the way down the street. It was so strange to see that kind of diversity on the north side of Chicago on a Saturday night--and for poetry. That meant there were kids inside reading their own poetry. We just thought that was a really interesting thing going on that we didn't know about so we decided to take a look.

Jennifer: What was your biggest challenge?

Director Greg Jacobs: The biggest challenge was how to go about telling the story. It took two years to edit it, and while we had done hundreds of other documentaries, we had never done a feature documentary before. It took a long time to figure out how to tell the story.

Jennifer: How did you pick the high students who are the stars of the documentary?

Director Greg Jacobs: We went the year before to the finals and decided we would take the measure of who was there and who was coming back. We knew that to make a documentary like this, the poems had to be great and the kids had to be interesting as well as great performers. Nate, Nova and the others just jumped out at us in the finals, and they were coming back. It was so obvious they were the great ones to follow. We picked them and only followed them, and they are unbelievable.

Palm Springs Unified Students Tackle Bullying Issues

Palm Springs Unified School District school board member Shari Stewart told a group of students at the Tolerance Education Center (TEC) Monday morning Dec. 6, 2010 that it was "enlightening and really opened up my eyes" after hearing 90 minutes of PSUSD students talk about their experiences of bullying in and out of school.

Fellow board member Justin Blake called the event "groundbreaking" and "something that will change society.”

The event was a symposium for tolerance, empathy and compassion sponsored by the Palm Springs Unified School District, the TEC, and the Digital Arts Technology Academy of Cathedral City High School.

The premise was simple: gather student leaders from the four district high schools to talk about bullying and to take steps to empower other students to stand up and say, “Bullying needs to end. And we’re going to end it.”

I’ve been a high school teacher in California for 22 years, the last 10 at Cathedral City High School. I had no idea bullying was such a deep and insidious problem. In preparation for the symposium, I conducted two hours of interviews with students from Mt. San Jacinto and Cathedral City High School about bullying.

There was the story of a CCHS sophomore girl who had her lunch punched to mulch every day in elementary school, and she went hungry. There is still pain in her face when she recalls those times, many years ago.

There was the girl at Mt. San Jacinto whose brother was kicked in the stomach and thrown in a trash can by his relatives. “Family shouldn’t do that to family,” she said, as her voice faded away in indignation.

There was the student who stood up for “the nerd” and got suspended and placed on probation. And then there was the bully himself, who, when finally confronted by his victim, eventually relented and became, instead, a friend.

And finally there was my student, someone I see everyday in English Class and later in the day in digital storytelling Class, who stood up Monday morning, among a theater full of her peers, and, through tears and a choking voice, told her story:

“Hi everybody. My name is Marisa Smith and I go to Cathedral City High School. And I've never really had any bullying done to me, but something happened to my sister a couple weeks ago.

“She was being pushed in the P.E. lockers and called names, and it made me really mad because it was two girls that were doing this to her. It wasn’t just one girl.

“And what made me even madder was that nobody said anything, and you guys all know how crowded the lockers get.

“Not one person did anything for her, and it just makes me mad that that’s how kids are. You know nobody will stand up and say anything because it’s just one person. If it’s everybody, those kids are gonna step down.”

The tables were turned Monday at the symposium--on purpose. Adults were there to listen to students, students who shared their stories and talked in calm and measured voices about their hurt and outrage.

One of the most strident voices was Kendra Ongalibang, a senior at Desert Hot Springs, whom my colleague David Vogel calls “the next Oprah,” for her intelligence and her passion and her charisma.

On her own volition, Kendra has started an anti-bullying campaign that she takes to the middle schools. It is such a game-changer that at the end of the presentation, she has bullies standing up and apologizing to their classmates. After the symposium, Kendra shared her expertise with other student leaders in the hallway of the TEC, sowing the seeds of change.

Kendra makes us all accountable for bullying; in this case, you really are part of the problem if you are not part of the solution. We’re all those kids in the locker room, standing there, watching someone be bullied. But we don’t have to be.

If we are decisive and determined and shoulder to shoulder, we can make them step down.

-Matt Hamilton

Kathy DeRosa Begins Fourth Term as Cathedral City Mayor

Cathedral City High School Journalism students Olivia Reynolds, Gabe Jimenez, and Sandra Bahena interviewed Mayor Kathy DeRosa following her swearing in Dec. 1, 2010 at the Cathedral City council chambers. All three are students in Matt Hamilton and David Vogel's digital storytelling class at Cathedral City High School.

Kathy DeRosa sworn in for fourth time as mayor of Cathedral City from Matt Hamilton on Vimeo.

DATA joins with PSUSD and Tolerance Education Center to Battle Intolerance

In this current social climate, where division seems to triumph commonality and national voices divide us rather than unite us, the Palm Springs Unified School District, in conjunction with the Tolerance Education Center (TEC) and the Digital Arts Technology Academy (DATA) at Cathedral City High School, presents a symposium on Tolerance, Empathy and Compassion.

This student symposium will be held Dec. 6, 9-11 a.m. at the Tolerance Education Center in Rancho Mirage. The TEC is located at 35147 Landy Lane in Rancho Mirage. The phone number is (760) 328-8252.

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010, a press conference at the TEC was held to present details about the Dec. 6. event.

Tolerance, Empathy and Compassion Symposium Scheduled for Tolerance Education Center, Dec. 6, 2010 from Matt Hamilton on Vimeo.

David Vogel profiled on KPSP Local2

After a storied career in Hollywood, former President of Walt Disney Studios David Vogel has spent the last three years working with Cathedral City High School teacher Matt Hamilton in the Digital Arts Technology Academy's Digital Storytelling Class.

Even though he is "retired," Vogel spends every day in class with the students and can often be found on weekends working with these same students at different events around the Coachella Valley.

Recently, KPSP Local2 profiled Vogel for their Eye on the Desert program.

Fiesta Days in Palm Springs, Day 2

Cathedral City High School Digital Arts students Spencer McQuinn, Jennifer Juarez, Tanya Sanchez, Lupita Fuentes, and Sandra Behana documented some of the performers in last weekend's Fiesta Days celebration in Palm Springs. The festival, Sept. 19-20, celebrated the Latino culture and heritage. The students are in Matt Hamilton and David Vogel's digital storytelling class at CCHS. In an interview conducted by the students, La La Romero talks about being a female singer for a new demographic and MC Magic talks about his introduction to the talk box.

Fiesta Days, Palm Springs from Matt Hamilton on Vimeo.

Fiesta Days in Palm Springs

Los Fabulocos was just one of the musical groups that performed on stage at the Fiesta Days in Palm Springs, Sept. 19-20 at O'Donnell Golf Course. The pictures in this audio slideshow were taken by Cathedral City High School photojournalists Gabe Jimenez and Denny Keat. Fiesta Days was a celebration of Latino heritage and culture. The group includes accordian player and vocalist Jesse Cuevas, legendary blues guitarist Kid Ramos, drummer Mike Molina, and bass player James Barrios.

Fiesta Days, Los Fabulosos from Matt Hamilton on Vimeo.