♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -The story of education here in Memphis, as is the case for a lot of urban centers, is that it's a story of the haves and the have nots.

Depending on the ZIP code that you grow up in, that can determine so much of your future.

How do we go about making sure that every child in this city has the opportunity to have a top-notch education within public schools?

-Education is the civil rights movement of the 21st century.

The future of the country will be determined by what happens in our schools.

It's that important.

We should be saying, what would it take to open up a school that would be successful?

So kids come away inspired and teachers see themselves as creative workers who can get kids engaged and motivated to learn.

[ Camera shutter clicks ] The problem is not the kids.

The problem is the way we treated kids.

The problem is our lack of vision.

What we should have been focused on -- how to get kids excited about learning.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -Good morning.

Good morning.

-Hey.

Good morning.

-Good morning, Mr. Terrill.

-I'm just getting a little teary-eyed.

-This is a great experience today.

Yeah.

So, Terrell, you're a rock star.

You've been waiting your whole life for today.

This is -- This is all about you, man.

So, um, we're glad that he's here.

You know we love him, right?

-Yes.

-And we're going to take good care of him.

-I appreciate you all.

-Yeah, absolutely.

-I want a hug.

[ Chuckles ] -Okay.

I love you.

-I love you, too.

[ Indistinct chatter ] ♪♪♪ -Good morning, Yetis and welcome to your morning announcements.

And happy first day of school.

Please head straight to advisory after your tour.

Have a great day.

♪♪♪ -So, there's like a little walk-through area now where you get picked up through right back here.

This is cool, isn't it?

-I long to be in this laboratory.

I'm nervous, but I'm glad to be here, though.

I'm really glad to be here.

-I mean, it's freshman year high school.

But the way you look at this, every single last person in this building, including staff, it's all our first year.

So nobody has any more experience than anybody else.

So if you look at it that way, hopefully you're like, I'm learning just like you're learning.

So we're learning together.

I'm sure there's some things that y'all will teach me as well.

You'll be just fine.

-You know, everyone is a learner for life.

♪♪♪ -Naomi, I'm looking for a seat.

-Yeah.

[ Indistinct chatter ] ♪♪♪ -Huh?

-Who are you looking for?

-Um, I can't remember my advisor's name, right?

-Who's the teacher?

Do you remember?

-Um, I can't -- I can't really remember her name.

-Was it a male or female?

-Female.

-Miss Wallace?

-Um, I think so.

-She's right down there.

-Okay.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

-I'm not saying it's a bad thing.

How did you get in?

-Oh, um, well, I, I, I walked inside and, um -- -No.

You're okay.

You're not in trouble.

I'm just -- I just want to know for your sake, so.

-Oh, Ms. Spickler was, um, bringing kids up here to go to their classes, so I came up with the -- -So she was downstairs?

-Yes.

-Does everybody know each other's name?

-Students: No.

-So you got to give me an adjective that describes you.

[ Bowl chimes ] Nice Nicky.

-Um... -So you've got to hold it like this?

[ Bowl chimes ] -Uh, Positive Paul.

[ Bowl chimes ] -Radiant Rachel.

[ Bowl chimes ] -Lazy Luka.

-We have been waiting for you for a very long time.

This is an incredible opportunity for you.

It's an incredible opportunity for our staff and it's an incredible opportunity for Memphis.

This is something that you're a part of that is brand new.

This week is all about moving forward in a positive direction to kind of reshape and rethink education and rethink high school in America.

-My friends, they found Crosstown.

And they were like, "We heard about a school."

It was like they were so excited.

And I was like, "Let me try this out."

You know, maybe I could beat the game.

Then, I heard about it was a lottery.

I was like, I really hope I get in.

And now I'm in here and I'm excited.

-You can take it.

-Excuse me.

-Yeah.

-That's yours.

You gotta take that cup.

You're going to fill it up.

You're going to put a tape over it.

And that's our -- That's our specimen.

I want to be a doctor in emergency medicine.

Then you have so many stories.

When you come home, you're like, listen, I had the craziest day today.

I saw this dude.

His foot was sewn to his head.

It was crazy.

But, like, if you got, like, a boring 9-to-5 job, like, literally "The Office," it's like, "We sold paper today.

I did good."

Who wants that?

You can't tell no story.

It's boring.

Your dinner parties are boring.

-Beat you this time.

I promise.

On my birthday.

What's up?

♪♪♪ Unh-unh!

Yeah, I saw you.

You moved your arm.

-You're not going to beat me.

♪♪♪ -I chose to come to Crosstown because it was an opportunity for me to start a new beginning.

Crosstown has the stuff that I want to do.

I go to the studio and make music, I can do art, I can do all of these things that I couldn't do in other schools.

In my old school, like wherever we were in the hallways, you had to be in a single-file line reading a book no matter what.

If we wasn't reading a book, then we'd get in trouble.

It felt like a boot camp.

-In middle school, you had to be a one-note student, you know?

And Le'Cedric is not a one-note student.

He's a several note student.

[ Laughs ] [ Le'Cedric thuds ] -Good morning, Yetis.

This is week three of school.

Ideally, you come in, your teachers go, here's our problem.

Here's our timeline.

Have at it.

Have at it.

This is where we sort of help you guys get into the project-based learning mindset.

-Most of what we do as workers is in some sort of project.

And so most of the work that students do at Crosstown High will be based around projects.

Exploring through the lens of math and science or through the lens of literature and history.

-I have detention.

Lunch detention.

♪♪♪ -We started noticing Paul around the fifth or sixth grade, just not, you know, not feel as comfortable in his own skin and start to worry, dealing with a lot of anxiety.

And so we do have to build up his confidence.

[ Cat meows ] We chose Crosstown because of the project-based learning model that we thought would be perfect for somebody as creative as Paul, and we felt like he will flourish if you give him the opportunity to create for himself.

♪♪♪ -When you have a group of people who are living outside of the laws of Earth, what laws do they have to follow?

As humans, we just kind of gave ourselves the property rights of Mars.

We just kind of said, "Ah, Mars, we own it.

Let's go terraform it."

♪♪♪ -I don't understand what they mean by what goal.

-Where is this our goal?

Like, what's the project?

The project is to design a rocket ship that can go to Mars.

-The next question after how do we get to Mars, is how do we survive on Mars?

So, I have some people already in this paradigm of thought.

Have a student who's making a dome that they're going to put on Mars, and they have ants.

Ants are going to be the people.

-I will keep her there momentarily, until I find a way to clean her without hurting her.

♪♪♪ Basically, the students are helping each other learn.

We're going to be doing actual real-life type situations.

We'll be trying to figure out ways for people to survive on Mars.

Different type of learning.

-He already knows that his high school education is very important.

He grew up in a family where everybody's in jail.

I remember his dad called and he said, "Can you take Terrell?

Because his mama's locked up, now I'm gonna be locked up."

All these bridges.

I know we had some struggles.

We had times when the lights was cut off, no food, no rent.

That's one thing I always push you.

I know sometimes I can be hard, but I push you because the struggle that I've been through, I don't want you to have to struggle.

You're smart, you're bright, you're intelligent.

You don't have to worry about family.

Live your life.

Family don't know how to do what you do.

[ Indistinct conversations ] -Basketball, soccer, and cross-country tryouts are all starting this week.

Make sure you touch base with... -Why do you have that?

-Because you said microliters.

-She said milliliter.

-I heard microliters.

-That's why she put up the flag.

That.

-It's okay.

We all make mistakes.

-You already got one for your side.

-The thingumajig?

-Alright.

-Hey, guys, y'all have got to get along.

That's all I can tell you.

-Some things I just can't take at the moment.

I don't even understand the simplest things.

Yes, school is amazing, but it is stressful.

I just... My brain feels like spaghetti.

♪♪♪ -It's kind of messy because our teachers are trying to figure out how to do project-based learning.

And we're trying to figure it out.

Like none of us have project-based learning before.

I don't think they've taught project-based learning before.

So, um, we want to learn from them, but they're trying to learn too.

So it's like, uh, can you help us out?

Y'all just threw us in a tank with some sharks.

And be like, "Figure it out."

-We did do that.

And you guys, it's hard because you're the first class and our expectations are like super way up by here, right?

The students were just like, "You're not teaching us.

We're not learning anything in here.

All about Mars, we're sick of Mars, and you're not really teaching us."

-I've been missing work, and it's all confusing, because okay, like, I gotta do this, now I gotta do this.

Oh, I'm missing this.

I gotta do that.

They're going so fast.

-Where I come from, it's very structured.

It was very much pencil, paper, lecture, answer, teacher, stuff like that.

And you come to Crosstown, it's completely different.

-You will live here.

You will do this often.

-You will live in this.

-Ideate.

Prototype.

Ideate.

Prototype.

Ideate.

Prototype.

Ideate.

Prototype.

-I had a very smart student tell me the other day that going to Crosstown doesn't feel like going to school.

But you know what the interesting thing was, is she was like upset about that.

-You don't like the teachers.

Why?

-They would not help me.

Like they would -- They would tell me to like, go look for it myself.

And if I'm telling you I don't understand... -Uh-huh.

-I expect you to... -Help you out.

-Make me understand.

Help me understand.

-Uh-huh.

-You don't really know that you're learning.

So it's like tricking you into learning.

A lot of people don't like that because, you know, we all come from, like, traditional settings.

They want that ache of actually, like, feeling that they're learning, you know, that little -- that little pulse in their head.

-Mm.

-I feel like that's simpler.

Like, I get you forget the information, but, like, I kind of forget that information anyway.

-Mm-hmm.

-I don't care about rockets, so.

-Is it that the choice of the project, if it was something that you had a choice that you wanted to do, would be better?

-I mean, I don't know.

-I'm asking for real.

Like, what do you expect to see?

-Alright, honestly, I didn't know what to expect.

-Yeah, I didn't either.

-I am tired, and I will admit it.

I do not care.

[ Laughs ] -I"m tired too, but, you know...

I mean, if you're living for breaks, then you might want to reconsider your career choice.

-The shade is thrown.

Okay.

-Tell you what...

I think you're a great teacher.

I think you should be in the career.

But I mean -- -Oh, but just not here.

-Breaks?

-Oh, okay.

-Breaks -- the thing is -- -What am I in the middle -- -[ Laughs ] -I don't want to be in this.

I'm watching a music video.

-No, what I'm saying -- No, but this is a real discussion, though.

Like, the thing I see the most is -- is the martyrdom, is, like -- is teachers assuming that they need to be martyrs to do their job effectively, and I just disagree.

You do not have to destroy yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally to do this job effectively.

You're not going to do any good for the next generation of kids if you wear yourself out on this one.

-I know -- This is my thing.

I like this idea of this school and this model, and I want it to work.

In order for it to work, it takes a lot of work.

So like, it, um...

I've been in some really tough situations, and, like, this school is so positive, and, uh, I just want it to work, and the city needs it so badly.

The fact that we have all these different, uh, socioeconomic groupings of kids together, like, you just don't have that at any school that I've seen.

Um, I just want it to work, and so I'm going to put the energy in.

♪♪♪ My intent was never to do education.

I was going to do research.

Actually, I wanted to be a doctor at first.

Then I went into research, a research doctor.

You know, it was always a fight as far as, like, being, like, the only African-American student in the lab that I felt kind of sidelined.

The last doctor I worked for, I was like, "You know what?

I gonna just go into education.

And then I'm going to teach a bunch of people come in here and like take over because you guys suck."

-This is a picture of Nikki when she was in elementary school.

[ Chuckles ] She just started making A's and B's, and, you know, she was such a nice kid.

And each -- the teachers would -- I thought they was pulling raffles to see who would get her in their class.

My background was I loved science, and I was the biology major, the pre-med major.

So we used to spend all our time watching PBS and all those other good shows.

[ Chuckles ] I always taught them, don't let anyone tell you you can't do a thing.

You get out there and try it anyway.

So that's -- that's pushed her through life like that.

All of them.

I tell them, you know, "Don't talk yourself out of it.

Just go give it a try anyway."

-Man.

This is Melrose High School.

This was my, um, first major teaching assignment.

I was here for four years.

I found out through working here there's a lot of barriers within our, you know, African-American community.

Um, a lot of our kids have been traumatized.

They've come through some bad experiences, and it's hard to overcome that and to see beyond what they see every day.

And I -- I had some geniuses.

I mean, geniuses, but they were just stuck in the drug life.

Like, I was like, "Dude, if you took this -- this -- this mind you have --" I remember there's one kid, and he's not alive anymore.

But I was like, "If you take this mind and apply this to something positive, like, you know, do you know what you could do?"

I mean, a beautiful mind.

♪♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] -I have nothing from you this quarter.

You see?

What's been going on?

♪♪♪ -Things have been happening since I was a kid.

♪♪♪ My biological father passed away.

And my little brother.

And my other little brother.

And my little cousin.

I had, like, friends who passed away from gun violence.

Like, I was just scrolling through Instagram and I saw "RIP Antoine" and stuff.

I was like, "What's going on?"

I hit up my friend, like, "What happened to Antoine?

And why nobody told me?"

He was like, "Antoine got shot."

I was like, "Why?"

He was like, "Because he's saying stuff about somebody in a gang and stuff, and he got shot by them."

I was like, "Dang."

And I just hung up the phone and started crying because I lost my friend.

That just changed me over the years.

♪♪♪ -This is hard work.

We've asked you to do something that hasn't been done before in Memphis.

There are going to be some things that we likely will not get right.

And we're going to need to iterate and iterate and iterate.

Want to talk just a little bit about how we got here.

When we look at statistics in Memphis, 15.7% of students that took the high school English exam were proficient.

If you look at math this last year, 9.1% were proficient, 90-plus percent were not even on grade level.

Everything that happens in schools is geared towards improving that score, and that's the best that we can do.

So there has to be this fundamental shift.

We have 150 students, all with diverse backgrounds, and we need to figure out how to connect with each of those students and personally elevate each of their stories.

And we need to show academic growth.

If we cannot do that at the end of year one, then people will ask, "What is the point, and what are you trying to accomplish?"

-I definitely never saw myself as a school founder.

I'm a mom who wants a better school for my kids.

A very small percentage of high-school kids actually feel engaged in their education.

The things that we are asking students have a lot more to do with passing standardized tests and jumping hurdles than they do helping young people make meaning of their lives.

The world is constantly changing, and if we want school to be a place that feels relevant to young people, then it has to be responsive to what is happening in the world and what's happening in their lives.

I was on a trip down to New Orleans and I saw an XQ billboard, and it, you know, had the #RethinkHighSchool.

I looked up the website, saw that it was this design challenge to design the high school of the future.

And a week later, there were about 30 people gathered in a room at Cowork Memphis to ask, what are the real issues at play in our community that a high school might be able to address?

There were educators, there were business leaders, community leaders, and it was really a process of inquiry.

We did the research on adolescent learning, and we talked to probably 200 students over the course of our application.

♪♪♪ Every student we talk to, they don't want to just sit and listen.

They want to actually do things.

They want to be hands-on.

And so that's really why we went with a project-based approach.

-They also wanted to be in diverse classrooms.

They wanted to be able to solve big problems that were impacting them with people that didn't look like them.

-It absolutely was non-negotiable that it had to mirror the demographics of the surrounding area of the community, because otherwise, what's the point?

This can be a model for how other schools could do it.

♪♪♪ -So, without further ado, let's cut a ribbon.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] -Alright, what we're about to do, because I've had like 1,000 complaints like, "I've learned nothing this quarter."

So, that's how you feel?

I'm going to show you how that is not true.

Okay?

So what I want you to do is, I'm going to pass out an EOC test.

It's this big, old test that you have to take at the end of the year.

I hear these grumblings and rumblings of, like, "We haven't learned anything."

I'm trying to show them that we actually did cover these standards that are required by the state.

Alright.

Take one.

Pass around.

[ Indistinct conversations ] Now, you're going to use your reasoning skills to answer this test.

-She's like, "Because y'all think you're not learning anything, have this test," and it's, like, a standardized state test.

-I get this test, and I take it, and I'm just, like -- I'm answering the stuff subconsciously.

Like, I'm not even realizing that I'm having no problem answering these questions.

-We did it.

And I was like, "Wow, it was super easy," and I finished it with no problem.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

[ Indistinct conversations ] I think they were surprised, like, "Wow.

You know, I actually can answer these questions."

Like, yeah, you can because now you can critically think about it.

[ Chuckles ] ♪♪♪ -Today is the day.

Poetry-slam Friday.

Um, could we play maybe a little smooth jazz?

-Yeah, yeah.

-If Leif gets up there and he knocks it out of the park, right, we're just going to -- as loudly as we can, just... [ Fingers snapping ] Right?

Yes.

Okay.

Right?

If you want to, you can talk like you really love poetry, right?

But no one's requiring you to do that.

-Is it right?

It lets us accurately see all the sea.

But is it the best for both you and me?

-Dictatorship by map.

Still disheartening ones with little voice.

Causing wars without a choice.

Filling the minds of children, influencing the world into enslaved mentalities.

[ Fingers snapping ] -Alright, Paul, what you got for us today?

-Uh, it's a free verse, except it -- it does rhyme.

-Alright.

A rhyming free verse from Paul.

-Um, a rectangle filled with sea, people, dirt.

Our projections bend and recreate the Earth.

Like the lens of a camera, maps can reshape.

Flatten and rip the globe, fix it with tape.

Inside the glass classroom, the Mercator lives.

Sizes distorted, a viewpoint it gives.

The North much larger, Europe in the center.

Northern countries having the world in their tenor.

Gall-Peters is able to fix the size, but shapes of countries Gall-Peters defies.

Goode homolosine tears and separates.

It can show an ocean, but it can't show a lake.

Each map projection has its ups and downs.

It's the world on paper, when the world is round.

-Ooh.

Ooh!

[ Cheers and applause ] Are you kidding me?

-Paul!

Paul!

-Are you kidding me?

-Paul!

-Are you kidding me?

-Oh, gosh, Paul.

-What?!

[ Cheers and applause ] -Paul, Paul, I don't know if I have socks on anymore.

I think I -- just shoes, pants, shirt.

That's it.

No socks.

Great job.

Great job, Paul.

-Aw, yes.

-Best ever.

-Yes.

[ Indistinct conversations ] -Right there?

-Pardon the interruption.

Le'Cedric Lewis, please come to the main office.

Le'Cedric Lewis, please come to the main office.

-Le'Cedric has been chronically tardy to class.

One of the classes he has, he goes to the class after lunch, and then he has advisory immediately after that class in the same exact room, and he's still late to the class.

Quite frankly, this has been happening since maybe week 2 or 3 of the -- of the academic year.

And so we're trying to do our best so that Le'Cedric doesn't end up in an alternative school.

You have hit a point where it's become overt, right, noncompliance, where it's become chronic tardiness, right?

I mean, there was a core group of teachers this morning all huddled around talking about, like, the harms that you've caused and then trying to figure out ways to, like, put you on a right path, right?

So, how the harm will be repaired.

Let's have you write, uh -- do a written apology.

-I don't want to be in here.

I don't understand this, and I want to get back to class.

I can do my work so I can finish.

-Right.

-It's literally interrupting my day, and I'm having a bad day.

-Yeah.

So, this is interrupting your day.

Do you think it's interrupting my day?

-I mean, you the dean, so, I mean, this your job.

-Like, he doesn't understand... -His -- His -- -...like -- -I don't think that he really understands his... -Involvement in things.

Exactly.

-Yeah.

-That's it.

That's -- Yeah.

So I-I'm trying to get at that piece of, like -- because he's like, "Yeah, I'm late to class, but I don't get how it's causing -- like, how that's a harm."

You're good to go for now.

-Man, he kept me in there like a prison sentence.

-No.

Hit me.

-You good.

You good.

You good.

You good.

You're good.

-Nah, hit me.

What's up?

-You're good.

You're good.

You're good.

-You been talking s--- since the beginning of the year.

I'm right here.

What's up?

-You're good.

You're good.

You're good.

You're good.

-Relax.

Relax.

Relax.

Relax.

-Done all that talking, bro.

-He just going to talk.

He not about to fight you.

Relax, man.

Chill.

You good.

Just walk down there.

Grab Le'Cedric.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -What it sounds like is that maybe some boundaries and some lines may have been crossed.

And the first thing that we do is we always hold our mirror up.

And by that I mean reflect on who you are, what you did, and how you can change the situation.

And let's try to avoid any finger pointing or blaming and things of that nature.

-But you have got to be accountable.

You have to acknowledge when you do things that you shouldn't do.

And it's as simple as, like I said, "I messed up.

I'm sorry."

And leave it alone.

-Yeah.

-Alright?

Alright, Mr. Lewis.

-Alright.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -People been switching up on me.

Like, people who I, like, be cool with or call my friends, they will switch up and act all weird and stuff, acting like they -- they don't want to be my friends.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [ Cheering ] ♪♪♪ [ Cheering indistinctly ] ♪♪♪ -Blue!

[ All cheering ] -So, you ready for tomorrow?

-I mean, you know, school.

I'm never satisfied with anything.

Got to keep hustling.

Because when you stop, you done.

You out of the game.

You get eaten.

♪♪♪ -Good morning, y'all.

I'm Scovia Rushing.

I've been here for 13 years, and I'm originally from South Sudan.

[ Indistinct conversations ] -What was the journey like?

-The journey there was very, uh -- very hard and dangerous, right, because other people are trying to kill you.

So you have to be very careful in how you maneuver.

-If I'm attempting to solve a global refugee crisis and I've never even situated myself, although not physically, right, into the shoes and the lived realities of individuals who are refugees, there will be a disconnect in the product and the artifact that is produced by me to solve this particular issue.

-My nieces and nephews don't know their maternal grandmother, and that's the same thing with my kids.

So it is hard, especially on holidays, on birthdays, and knowing that your kids are growing up without knowing that part of the family.

-I-I think it's -- it's something new to me.

I didn't really know, like, what exactly the word "refugee" meant.

S-Sometimes doing these projects can feel challenging, like everything's kind of, like, happening at once, but I-I feel like I'm -- I'm excited about the exhibition.

-The idea is for them to develop real narrative stories that they're going to tell in a gallery experience on exhibition night.

To, like, listen to that experience, to, like, live in that experience and then to take it and then run with it.

And that's one of the reasons we have the countdown clock up in my room.

Just a sense of urgency.

I want to see an integration of that -- that content knowledge, those key concepts and terms that we've learned about, into your writing, right?

-So I want to put, like, the message, like, they are traveling, they are here.

Let them -- well, not let them in, but, like -- -Who are you talking about specifically?

-Refugees, you know.

-Which ones?

-Just awareness of the ones trying to come to America.

-Right, so here's my thing.

Saying refugees in general, that doesn't help.

Pick a single group.

Find a group of individuals who are trying to -- trying to immigrate to this country, who need -- who are looking for refugee status, or asylum seekers, right?

-Right.

-Focus on them.

Because if you just say, "Help the refugees," that's like me saying, "Clean up the oceans."

Doesn't really help because you can't take a direction from it.

They need to show their work.

You cannot tell a student to do something and say, "It's important that you do this," and at the very end, go, "Alright, cool, and throw it in your desk drawer."

It has to be seen.

[ Clock beeping ] -If you have a visa card, you're, like, somewhat of a citizen of the United States, so you will have some rights.

-Okay.

-Like, some rights that Americans have in the United States.

-So you're -- you're focusing on the fact that it -- it's really hard to get visas or it takes a long time to get visas and -- -Or it's really hard, like, in general.

-Okay.

So your goal is to kind of show that whole problem and that -- okay, good.

So there's a lot of potential for data to be here.

But how can you connect someone visiting your exhibit to the human story behind it?

-[ Humming ] -Oh, this is fresh.

-Mm.

-Okay.

This is good, Ced.

-Appreciate it.

Like, I'm going to just cut out images of Ecuadorians, put it in, like, the continent.

-So you going to grab images of Ecuadorians in these other locales?

-Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Just like -- Like, yeah, yeah.

-So, like, somebody who -- -Who, like, live in, yeah, this area, where they live in -- -Origin.

Okay.

And maybe showing some of that -- like, how the United States -- their transition has affected them.

-Right.

-Okay.

This is a good start.

When is this -- When is the final thing due?

-Next week.

-Like Monday?

-Yes, sir.

-You got seven days to knock this out.

That's what's up.

-[ Speaks indistinctly ] -Yeah.

I'm proud of you, bro.

-Thank you.

-The proposal of my project -- it's a game so you can go through their journey.

And the first one to fall loses.

I was thinking about putting this map on top of the Twister, like this, you know?

You start with your right foot in their country they were born in... -Right.

-...and you go on with your left foot, your right hand, and so on and so forth.

-Right.

[ Applause ] -Um, I-I really -- I really like that.

-So I'm going to give my information through the form of a realistic fiction pop-up book.

I don't know the legitimate story of Scovia.

So, of course, I'm going to have to add some fiction components to this.

-Uh, why can't you just ask Scovia?

-But, I mean, I don't know every legitimate thing.

And then talking to her would take forever because I also have to do this.

-It wouldn't take forever.

Everyone else is talking to people.

We wanted you to make it nonfiction... -Oh, I didn't know.

-...through and through.

Some of you need to go back and continue ideating.

Some folks have an immense amount of research that you need to do so that your project can be thoroughly fleshed out.

♪♪♪ -Action.

-There are all these -- -I think it's good.

♪♪♪ -[ Speaks indistinctly ] Is Terrell down there?

Terrell, it's Scovia.

-So I remember you said that, like, when you were in the refugee camps, you didn't really see yourself as a refugee.

Like, you -- -Mm-hmm.

-You weren't really aware of what was going on because of your age.

-Yes, just didn't understand the concept of refugee camps or dictators.

You know, I was just a little girl.

-I just got some information from Scovia.

I started interviewing her again.

So I just actually got, like, different idea.

I've decided to make a hologram.

-A hologram?

-Yes.

Somewhat like this.

♪♪♪ -It's cute the first two weeks.

But now you're just tired.

You're really tired.

For no reason.

You sleep a whole 12 hours and you'll still be tired, because you just got more stuff to do when you come back to school.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -When I got the text -- or, e-mail about Ced, I'm like, "Aw, man, what happened?"

You know, not only because of the personal relationship, but also I feel like 10 days for anything in the space where we were talking about restorative justice, um, was too much, because he's wrong as hell, but he's also hurt as hell.

And so how do we make it a teachable moment?

-[ Crying ] -95% of our students will participate.

Now, there's a 5%.

They're currently -- they can still get there, but they're still in the blueprint phase.

And so we're having them redevelop their ideas.

And if they can come around by early next week -- and I mean, like, on Monday -- and they're like, "I can get this done by Wednesday," then yes.

-I just lost a project group member, uh, in Le'Cedric, you know.

-But is it possible for him to do what he was going to do?

Like, work on it from home?

-We would definitely engage him, if it's cool, in preparation, because I do think it's a dynamite opportunity for him to get to -- even in this time.

"Oh, my God."

We're talking about mindfulness.

He's sitting at home.

He's got a lot of time to meditate.

-[ Laughs ] True.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -In a city like Memphis, who is under court order to examine the disparity between white students and Black students and the suspension rates and males and females and the suspension rates, it was something that we needed to, like, draw a line in the sand then and say, "We're going to do things differently."

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ There was a little bit of clashes of opinion, and in the end, I had to make the decision to reduce that suspension because I felt like that was truly in the best interest of Le'Cedric.

The video that I saw showed him swinging.

I don't think that he actually acted, um -- -Right.

-At least, the video footage was a little grainy, but when I looked at the video, that's not what I saw.

-Right.

-Um... a-and so, like I said, you know, and I think you know, that I care deeply about Le'Cedric, and I, um, work with him, and I talk to him daily, and I think that he has great potential, but I think that a five-day is more appropriate.

-You know, I think it was a defining moment because it gave the school administration the courage to forgive, but to also break tradition.

Like, I knew that we have been punishing too heavily and too specifically.

Most of the folks getting longer suspensions were Black, and it was creating what felt like at the time, a not-so-safe environment.

-You kind of lost track a little bit, you got into a fight, got into -- you know, all that kind of stuff.

But we want this to build to you doing something... -Big.

-...really remarkable.

-What it forced us to do is lean into restorative justice and create the space for them to do some healing, as opposed to, like, further harming them.

[ vowl.

ft. Shiloh's "Pure Imagination" plays ] -♪ And let's do ♪ ♪ What we do ♪ ♪ In your imagination ♪ [ Clock beeping ] -Stressing out?

-Yes, sir.

Because it's like everyone else is getting their things done.

Not really me.

I have this.

This is, like, my complete first time making a hologram, and every component of math is vital if you want to project the image in the correct way that's not distorted.

And these sides are what I need to actually make the 45 degrees accurately.

-The...

This is outside of my wheelhouse, buddy.

I don't know anything about this.

I wish I could help you.

♪♪♪ -Probably the easier way would just be to find "X" over here and just use the Pythagorean theorem.

And then you would have all your sides.

-So, using the Pythagorean theorem, that's how I'll find the sides?

-Mm-hmm.

-"A" squared plus "B" squared is "C" squared.

-Alright.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] [ Tools whirring ] ♪♪♪ -Hi!

-How are you guys?

-We interviewed people who go to school here, and we asked them questions like, "Have you ever experienced prejudice or had difficulty fitting into social norms or felt like you didn't belong?"

And these are their responses.

-Her family had to pack in one minute in a small suitcase, pretty much, like, everything that they were going to carry for the rest of their lives.

-Okay.

-You're, like, a family.

You're going to America, and your electricity is out.

So you'll have one minute.

And go.

-Okay.

-And thinking about, like, what can you sell.

-They come into America to find jobs and new lives for their family.

-He was born in Thailand, and then he moved to the U.S. -Please stand on one foot.

Can you please tell me the language of -- one of the official languages of Sudan before you place your left foot into Kenya?

It was, like, kind of a struggle to get to those places, and you're struggling to get to that place on the map thing.

Come on.

You got this.

-[ Chuckling ] Rachel, help me.

-Come on.

You got this.

You may move your right foot onto Canada.

You are allowed to move one limb.

Yes.

You have completed your journey.

[ Applause ] -It was a workout.

[ Chuckles ] -Good job, Rachel.

This is a pretty cool, little experiment.

-It was fun.

-Yeah.

-I did a hologram... -Okay.

-...and it tells your story.

Well, it shares your story.

-Shares.

♪♪♪ -Oh, I see it.

-Thank you so much for coming out to support my hologram project, and thank you for viewing Scovia Rushing's story.

-Oh!

[ Vacuum whirring ] -All in all, like, I think it was a tremendous first -- first go of things.

Like, huge energy.

Parents were appreciative.

It's good stuff.

So, um -- -Can we do, like, a team -- -We need to do it.

Like, you know -- -"Sweaty Yetis" on three.

One, two, three.

-Sweaty Yetis!

-Sweaty Yetis!

-Whoo!

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -Check, check, check.

Testing.

Testing.

Testing.

At the beginning, in, like, April, I found it very hard.

I was very stressed about the pandemic and everything.

-I just really didn't realize, like, how much I depended on, like, my everyday conversations and, like, interactions with people.

It's like this awkward emptiness.

-It's hard to just turn your camera on and start talking in a Zoom class.

You know, um, it's hard for me to do that because I don't like looking at myself in my webcam.

I'm having a hard time right now doing it.

-We're all, at this point, struggling in our own way, and so recognizing that and being real with our students and truthful, I think is -- is extremely powerful.

[ Elevator bell dings ] I dressed up in our Yeti mascot and then created a video.

I was trying to speak to our students and say that, like, we know that you miss us and we miss you greatly, and we are looking forward to returning to some sense of normalcy...

If we fall a little bit behind academically but we save the mental health of our students, then -- then we will have -- we will have conquered this.

♪♪♪ -This is, like, an animated movie that I actually spent like a year working on.

I was kind of trying to make it kind of a little bit about the pandemic.

-What are you doing here?

-I'm dreaming, I guess.

-Hey, wait.

-Come on.

-♪ Hold up, wait a minute ♪ ♪ Hold up, wait a minute ♪ ♪ Hold up, wait a minute ♪ ♪ Hold up, wait a minute ♪ ♪ Hold up, wait a minute ♪ ♪ Hold up, wait a minute ♪ ♪♪♪ -Reminder -- all students must be tested and wait for results before returning to class.

Good morning, Yetis.

Seniors, don't forget that today is your final presentation of learning.

Have a great day.

-Now you're, like, full adult young men and young women who are confident and can speak and advocate for yourself.

You're going to run into so many obstacles, and having that ability to, like, be able to go around people when they say no, um, when you think it's impossible to keep plowing forward, just to see you all in that space and the growth you've had in that moment, it's been like, super powerful for me.

Um, and you guys, that's a life skill that I think you're going to do so much more and greater than I ever -- ever was able to do.

It was always a challenge and a fight to get to the next level, for me.

[ Voice breaking ] But if I had, like, a group of teachers that were really behind me and supporting me and pushing me and making sure I get to that next level, I would have been... [ Sniffles ] I'm going to start crying.

♪♪♪ -Hey y'all, I'm Hayley Harris, and this is my "Presentation of Learning: A Reflection of My Crosstown High Experiences."

Freshman year, it was just kind of all over the place.

It was very new, but it was, like, super developmental for us.

-I'm going to Sewanee next year, and I'm -- I'm not quite sure what career I'm going to pursue.

However, I'm very interested in film.

-Constant Library is a project that we're working outside of school.

We talk about what's going on in the world.

We even met with some of the members of the Black Panther organization, Miss Cleo Silvers.

-I plan to go to Rhodes College.

I am a part of the Bonner Scholarship, so I am a Bonner Scholar, and I plan to be a pediatrician.

-Whatever happens, "Dr. Carroll" is going to be on my degree.

-As a Black student, I learn about things every single day that make me uncomfortable, but never do I once feel like I shouldn't be learning it, because we have to put ourselves in these uncomfortable situations so we can know how to move forward.

And to me, like, if life was supposed to be this comfortable, then what is the use?

[ Applause ] -Love you.

-I love y'all, too.

♪♪♪ -Back then, you know, I thought I was -- I was the s---.

I thought I was the s---, man, and -- -You were with the s---, too.

-Yeah, I was with it, too.

-Mm-hmm.

-I was tough.

-I was walking around school like I owned it.

I was about that life.

-I was the same way.

Like, my last couple years of high school, I was with the s---, too.

Like, was almost, like, living a double life because I was... uh, doing well enough in school, but... -Uh-huh.

-...I think, culturally, I wanted to present myself that same way -- the same way.

Why do you feel like we feel the pressure to do that?

-When you come from -- like, you come from South Memphis.

I come from South Memphis.

Um, I grew up around the area, like, famous rappers grew up.

Like Moneybagg Yo, CEO, Big30, like Pooh Shiesty, all of them.

Like, I see that around my community.

A lot of times they praise them like they're gods almost, because they made it out the 'hood and made money.

You want to be exactly like that.

Like, okay, they made money like this.

They made money by thugging and, like, rapping about guns and drugs and stuff.

And you kind of feel subjected to be like that.

You -- You feel forced to be like that.

-I'm so impressed by you.

Like, your poise, the way you -- you know, the way you are presenting yourself, I feel like I'm meeting a new Cedric.

So what's next, bro?

Like -- -I'm going to college.

Um.

Community college.

Yeah.

-So proud of you, man.

For real.

Um, you almost make me want to cry, sir.

-[ Chuckles ] Look, I made myself cry, man.

-[ Chuckles ] "Dear Terrell, I'm delighted to inform you of your acceptance as a member of the entering class of 2022.

You have been awarded the Rhodes Award Scholarship, which is renewable each year for four academic years.

We are confident that you will make important contributions to Rhodes while developing the intellectual and leadership skills for which Rhodes graduates are known."

I'm honored to say that I received a full ride, so it's like I'm being paid to go there.

[ Chuckles ] -I have applied to Harvard University.

The application has been downloaded by the college.

I applied to Rhodes College, early action, and I have been accepted.

I have applied to Spelman College, regular decision.

It has been downloaded by the college.

And I have applied to Yale University, and that application has been downloaded to the college.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -It is my honor and great privilege to welcome you to the first ever Crosstown High graduation.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪♪ -I want you all to realize how different of a person you are today than you were four years ago.

And everything that you've accomplished in these last four years have been nothing short of amazing.

-Rachel Elise Carroll.

[ Cheers and applause ] -Rachel!

-Paul Coffield!

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪♪ Le'Cedric Santana.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪♪ Everett Embry.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪♪ -That's my boy!

That's my boy!

[ Cheers and applause continue ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ -Seniors, please rise.

[ Cheers and applause ] You may now move your tassel from the right to the left.

[ Cheers and applause ] -♪ It's your thing ♪ -♪ It's your thing ♪ -♪ Do what you wanna do now ♪ ♪ I can't tell you ♪ ♪ Who to sock it to ♪ [ Vocalizes ] ♪ It's your thing ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪