- She always says outside, but it's never outside.

I could have stayed in my house more.

Shoot.

You know, when you first get into high school, you feel as though you have all this time.

It feels like yesterday, I was just walking in, cheering at the football games and all that.

And 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.

[horn beeps] [laughs] [both squealing] - You excited?

- I'm excited.

- Let's go, starters.

Starters, let's go.

Together on 3.

1, 2, 3. all: Deer.

- Energy, energy.

Let's go.

- Good.

Good, Ahmad.

Good.

- Going into my senior year, I need to, like, impress some scouts so I can get some scholarships.

- Let's go.

Push it, Ahmad.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Here we go.

[clapping] As fast as you are, you can get a whole scholarship off that right there alone.

- If I'm going to college to play basketball and I'm getting a free education, that's just-- it can't get better than that.

- Yeah.

Yeah!

There we go, Ahmad!

That's what I be talking about.

- Clearly, you can't cut the chocolate, so.

- You can't mix it either.

- [laughs] My 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.

It's a rustic chop, OK?

I always said that I kind of wanted to open my little restaurant or bakery and stuff.

So I was kind of thinking of, like, going to school and getting a psychology and a business degree.

Either double major or get a minor in business.

I feel like just--there's so many things to do this year.

So many-- - OK, but you also-- you don't have to do everything.

You're 17 right now, Emily.

You're fine.

Mmm, those look hecka good.

Those look like the ones that you could sell.

Let's sell that.

- Yeah.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ - This is what I've been waiting for all these years for school-- to get a senior year.

- ♪ Dance with me ♪ - Your senior year is your most memorable.

Senior sunrise, senior banquet, senior trip, prom.

- ♪ Come with me ♪ - Spirit days, rallies.

- All the sports events.

- It's fun to be there.

- ♪ I'm going to make you mine ♪ - It's never a bad day at cheer.

I love my teammates.

We always have fun at games.

- You're getting closer and closer to graduating, and you have to get ready for college.

- I just want to get into UC Santa Barbara.

That's the dream school.

- NYU, LSU, University of Houston.

- Howard University, Spelman.

- Florida A&M, Cal State LA, San Diego State.

- UC Berkeley or UCLA.

There's a lot of boba shops in UC Berkeley, so.

[laughs] - I don't think they realize how important your high school years are.

They learn so much.

They learn so much about themselves.

- These are young men and women who have a purpose, who want to become significant people.

- At the ending of junior year, the energy at school was good.

Like, everybody was, like, actually, like, happy, like, doing good.

Life was good.

- Everyone was so excited.

You look forward to, like, going all out in your senior year.

- We were planning for junior prom, making decorations.

Then boom.

COVID hit.

That changed everything.

- I think it was March 13th, that Friday.

It was like, no school, we're not going back.

- We begin tonight with fast-moving developments involving the coronavirus here in the US.

- They've been under quarantine on the "Diamond Princess" cruise ship for nearly two weeks.

It was supposed to contain the spread but may have done the opposite.

- This is a highly transmissible virus.

You amplify that when you put it in a closed space.

- The NBA is suspending the season.

- And of course, it's not just sports programs closing but schools as well.

More than 1,500 K-12 schools across the country that have or plan to shut down.

- Like, at first, I was like, yay, no school.

- We were like, OK, if we leave, we're going to come back to school in two weeks, no problem.

- But we just never went back.

- 98.8% of our schools have closed down.

- I don't remember April, honestly.

April went by in a blur.

- We didn't get a junior prom, and then all the school activities, we're missing out on everything.

- People have been advised to practice social distancing, which means to stay at least 6 feet apart.

- That's when all the toilet paper started selling out.

- We had lines of, like, hundreds of people.

Like, the store opened up at 8:00.

People were there at 6:30, 7:00 in line.

- June came.

June left.

July came.

July left.

- Simply said, California cannot reopen schools unless they are safe.

- You can move forward as a county if you choose to physically open your schools.

However, schools that don't meet this requirement, they must begin the school year this fall through distance learning.

[computer chimes] - Hello, 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.

- But we will be in full distance learning for the entire first quarter of this coming academic year.

When we get close to the end of October, we'll make another decision about the next coming set of weeks.

That is the answer.

We are full distance learning right now when we go back on September 1st.

[dramatic music] ♪ ♪ - Senior year.

Is there really a senior year?

I mean, sports pushed back.

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.

- I'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.

- Our 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?

[upbeat percussive music] - ♪ Can't stop, won't stop ♪ - Cam 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!

[laughs] - ♪ We are the warriors, we are the carriers ♪ - Nationally, the counselor-to-student ratio is 400 to 1.

In California, it's, like, 800 to 1.

And here at Deer Valley, when I got here, we had 2 1/2 counselors at the time.

- Yeah, that's crazy town.

- We 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.

- ♪ Fighting in this battle for too long ♪ - Cam himself has to appeal to our young people.

- ♪ The ceiling's already shattered ♪ - The more they see administrators that look like them, the more they now start to see the possibilities of what can happen for them.

- 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?

- Sure.

- Mr. 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.

- So what's going on with you?

How's your dad?

Is he doing all right?

- Yeah, he's fine now.

- Not only do you get somebody to help you with college.

You also kind of gain a friend in the process as well.

- I see you got the fresh cut.

- Yeah, I look good.

- [laughs] - Mr. Cam, that's my guy.

- This 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.

♪ ♪ Senior year is the critical year.

[gentle music] It doesn't matter what you've done up to this point.

♪ ♪ If you don't take it serious, you're not about your business this year, it's not going to happen.

- I'm already in a time crunch.

I have these certain goals for myself.

But, like, now I might not be able to accomplish them.

- Wel, I'm sitting here going to school, working part-time, and I feel exhausted.

- These students already have it in them.

These students have the potential.

- I want to be, like, a good role model for my niece and nephew.

[laughter] - It's our job to bring that out of them.

- I hope I get accepted into one of the schools that I applied to.

- I want this year to be my best year.

♪ ♪ - What do I think is going to happen?

I don't--I don't know.

I really don't know.

♪ ♪ - Counselors, not cops.

crowd: Counselors, not cops.

- Students have never been through anything like this.

So this class specifically, they're going to have to grind.

♪ ♪ It's going to be tough.

It's going to be really tough.

Nobody's ever been through anything like this before.

♪ ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ ♪ - ♪ Work all day till my feet get sore ♪ ♪ Keep on working till the whistle blow ♪ ♪ Oh, when the nighttime come ♪ ♪ It's on when the nighttime come ♪ ♪ Wear this mask on my face all day ♪ ♪ Smiling like I'm loving doing what you say ♪ ♪ Oh, till the nighttime come ♪ ♪ It's on when the nighttime come ♪ ♪ Wear this mask on my face all day ♪ ♪ Smiling like I'm loving doing what you say ♪ ♪ Oh, till the nighttime come ♪ ♪ It's on when the nighttime come ♪ ♪ It ain't really over, it has just begun ♪ ♪ We going to be all right when the nighttime come ♪ ♪ Tired of trying to figure what I might become ♪ ♪ I just want to sing my song when the nighttime come ♪ [school bell rings] [birds chirping] [train horn blows] - What is up, Deer Valley?

Welcome back to school.

My name is Mr. Cam.

My pronouns are he/him/his.

I am the college advisor at Deer Valley all year long.

I basically help with everything college-related.

I know we're in really tough times right now.

We're all in shelter-in-place.

But guess what.

We're going to get through it.

We're going to work hard, and I'm going to be here for y'all.

[funky music] ♪ ♪ - ♪ People, are you ready ♪ ♪ Let's start the show, show, show ♪ ♪ Let's start the show, show, show, show ♪ ♪ Don't worry about the present day ♪ ♪ And you can't stop us now, now ♪ ♪ You can't stop us now, now, now ♪ [computer dings] - Hello, hello, everybody.

Hi, Kadynce.

- Hello.

- All right, I'm so happy there's so many of y'all here.

Thank y'all.

All right, we're going to go ahead and get started, y'all.

So thank y'all so much for coming.

My name is Mr. Cam.

This is called College Advising Corps.

It's basically just a program to help y'all get into college.

I'm going to be your college advisor.

We'll get a little bit more into logistics in a minute.

But I do want to do an icebreaker first.

So we're going to do-- has anybody played "Hot Seat" before?

Nobody played "Hot Seat"?

OK, I'm going to explain it.

Basically, there's one person, and you get 60 seconds to ask them a bunch of questions.

So everybody puts in the chat, like, they just put, you know, questions for the person to answer.

And then the person answers them.

They have 60 seconds.

Does anybody want to go first?

- I'll go first.

- I'll go first.

- You want to go first, Kadynce?

OK. No, we're going to let you go first.

OK. You ready, Kadynce?

- Yep.

[laughter] - All right.

Ready?

3, 2, 1.

Go.

What's your zodiac sign?

- I'm a Capricorn.

- Capricorn.

Favorite fruit?

- Peaches.

- Peaches.

Do you have a dream job?

- Prosecutor for the state of New York.

- Ooh!

To New York.

OK.

Favorite cartoon?

- "Chowder."

- Nice.

Do you play any sports?

- Yeah, I cheer.

- Favorite Netflix show?

15 seconds.

- "#BlackAF."

- Nice.

Favorite video game?

- "Fortnite."

- Favorite person?

Last one.

- My granny.

- Oh!

OK. - Granny is a favorite person.

Ebei's probably a little hurt.

It's OK. [laughs] Thank you so much.

That was--that was great.

All right, I'll go next.

Ready?

Go.

[laughs] You assumed my sexuality, by the way.

But yes, I do have a girlfriend.

[laughs] Favorite brother.

Ooh, I have two brothers.

I do not have a favorite brother.

I love them both equally.

Right now, any song by Jhené Aiko.

I'm 5'11".

I used to say 6', but I'm done lying about my height.

What is my biggest fear?

Oh, my gosh.

[FaceTime ringing] My biggest fear.

I don't know, that's too deep of a question.

[inhales sharply] Sorry.

All right.

For those of y'all who don't know, I graduated from Deer Valley.

I was a Deer Valley student.

I graduated in 2015.

I played basketball.

This is me throwing a behind-the-back pass at Heritage because I was like that.

♪ ♪ I grew up in East Oakland.

I grew up on 66th Avenue.

When the housing market crashed, we went from a small duplex, where I shared a room with my brother, but my parents had their own room, to my grandma's house.

So we all moved in together, and then somehow, someway, my parents found a way to, like, buy a house in Antioch.

- We were looking, looking, looking, trying to buy a house, and then finally, boom, it happened for us.

It was amazing because we never thought we would get there.

So that was ninth grade.

- When I got to Deer Valley, I ended up kind of getting a friend group, playing basketball like I always did.

I was a high-achieving student, but I didn't have the-- what we call social capital.

And I got a lot of stuff like, you know, I forgot you were smart.

I had a lot of teachers making certain assumptions about me because of the way I dressed.

My parents wanted me to do well, but they didn't necessarily know, this is how you get to college.

When I got here, there was no college and career technician, and so there wasn't a huge college-going culture, right?

- I mean, he always got really good grades, but I mean, he really didn't have a whole lot of extra support to try to get him into college.

And there was a rude awakening because he thought he was going to get into every college he applied to, and he did not get into any of the UCs.

I don't even think he got into the state schools, actually, which, I mean, that crushed him.

- When I didn't get into a lot of really competitive schools, I was, like, shocked.

Because there was this narrative that if you work hard, then you will get there.

- It was really hard for him because we had to talk him into being OK with going to community college.

But as it turned out, he only went for two years, because he transferred.

- I went to UCLA for undergrad.

And even though I've, you know, gotten to this point and, in some ways, the system still does work for me, I see so many people it doesn't work for, especially right now.

All right, can somebody unmute themselves and let me know if you can see my screen?

Because I can't see anybody while I'm sharing it.

- Yeah, we can see it.

- OK, perfect.

Thanks, y'all.

So we can see, if we look at the month of September-October, we have, "Have your first meeting with Mr. Cam," right?

So this is our first, like, cohort meeting, but we want to have our first one-on-one meeting, right?

As you can see, if you guys look down here at the bottom of this screen, we're on the senior checklist part.

But if you actually go down here to College Research, this is a place for you to put all of the colleges and all of the information for those colleges.

So the location of the college, the size, the application deadline, how many students are admitted, the selectivity, majors you might be interested in that college, OK?

So this is where your college list is going to go.

Same thing for, like, scholarships or same thing for FAFSA, right?

For November, you want to make sure-- the UC and CSU applications are due November 30th, OK?

So I tried to make this as simple as possible for you because I know there are so many things that go into college.

I really want y'all to, like, have all of these resources in one place.

So we will go through this list more in detail as we get to these upcoming certain months.

All right, y'all.

Using a sticky note, put in something that you hope you will have accomplished by the end of the year, OK?

So I have, getting into college, I want to have my license, a scholarship for volleyball, get a new car, I want to successfully finish applying to FAFSA by the end of the year, finish the whole application process.

So some great stuff so far.

I'm really hoping that we get to the point where we are in school.

But unfortunately, I have no control over that.

All right.

I'm so happy that y'all came.

Thank you so much.

You are free to go.

- Bye.

- Bye, y'all.

- Bye, Mr. Cam.

- Bye, Mr. Cam.

See you next time.

[light music] ♪ ♪ - I don't like to keep, like, a negative mindset.

So I was kind of like, you know, we're going to be fine.

♪ ♪ We'll get some of our senior year.

No problem.

Second semester is always the semester where all the fun activities happen.

This stuff is going to pass.

Hard times don't last forever.

Like, tough people do.

♪ ♪ I've always been a good athlete.

I run the 400, the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, and then I do the 4x4 relay.

[dramatic music] ♪ ♪ I would definitely love to run track in college.

I feel like that's a part of the reason why I kept up with running, because I wanted to get a scholarship.

♪ ♪ I'd definitely love to run in the Olympics, go out there and make a mark, show people what I'm made of.

One day, if I get the opportunity.

- Tons of potential, super fast.

Body absolutely, totally built for hurdles.

We just knew that if we could just spend a little bit of time with her, work on her form for running, she'd be spectacular.

We had our race here against Heritage High School on a Wednesday.

On Thursday, they said, don't go to practice, and on Friday, they shut us down.

- The track is closed.

But I still have to practice.

I don't want to, like, mess up my form.

So I, like, created a schedule for myself and created workouts that I can do.

And then with the workouts that Coach Green is doing over Zoom, completely just put my focus on that and, like, try and push myself.

Because if I'm not the one who's going to push myself, then who can really push me?

[computer chimes] [computer chimes] - So how are you?

How have you been?

How was your summer?

- It's been pretty good.

I was busy working all summer.

- Yeah?

Where you working at?

- Chipotle.

- Nice.

OK.

So you've been working hard over there?

- I mean, it was kind of weird with the pandemic and the, like, working through that.

- Mm-hmm.

- But now I feel like it's pretty much been settled.

Now, like, that's my new normal, like, school, work.

- Yeah.

So I'm actually going to share my screen with you.

And you're on your phone, right?

- Yeah.

- OK.

So let me share my screen.

Can you see it?

- Yeah.

- So these are basically just the classes that you've taken, right?

And these are the A through G classes.

The type of student you are is an A-B student.

That's obvious.

Like, 3.5 student, right?

But we know that this semester was home and hospital, right?

So where your GPA is right now is at a 2.7, OK?

And 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.

[gentle music] - I've always been a good student, always getting pretty much all As or, like, As and Bs.

♪ ♪ But then sophomore year, I started getting sick.

I was missing school because of pain and then doctor's appointments every week, getting blood drawn.

Like, when I went back to school, I now would look at my transcript.

Being used to, like, As and Bs and seeing these Fs, even though, like, I know I didn't fail the classes, it was just frustrating to see.

Because this is also what, like, colleges are going to see.

So I'm like, there's no way I'm going to get into these schools.

All because, like, I got sick, all my plans for the future are, like, gone now.

♪ ♪ - It was crazy for her.

She didn't went to school for last year, and she was happy to come back.

And now this happened.

♪ ♪ - I love school.

It's just, now it's completely different.

I wish we could have done that in person because I feel like a lot of us need that.

A lot of us need to be back in school.

All these teachers that we have right now, we've never even met.

We've never even seen past the computer screen.

So I feel like it would be helpful to kind of, like, see people again, be in that classroom setting, sort of feel like we're going back to normal.

It's nice to hear that we might be able to do that again.

♪ ♪ - Whenever you apply to schools, we're definitely going to talk about, like, what happened that semester.

Because literally, like, this semester is so much different than every other semester.

They love a story.

I'm going to be honest.

Like, the UCs love the stories.

So I'm not going to-- I'm not going to sit here and be like, oh, you have no chance, OK?

So, you know, we're going to try and write some fire essays, and we're going to try and get it together so that, you know, we can get into some schools.

- OK. - Yeah.

How is, like, college app stuff going for you?

How is, like, your mind around that?

- I've been trying to, like, apply to scholarships.

I've been looking into certain things.

Like, honestly, like, every time I think about it, I get stressed out.

- I know.

- It's just, I feel like, with this situation, that it's like, instead of it being in person, like, us getting, like, those resources in person, now it's, like, all online and kind of, like, us doing it ourselves.

Like, it's so scary to think about.

Like, I just-- - So what we're going to do is, on Monday, we're going to have a-- we're going to have a meeting.

And I have, like, this big workbook for you that I'm going to share with you, like, in this meeting so you'll kind of have, like, a guide for all of those things, OK?

Because I know it's stressful right now.

I know.

- OK. - All right.

Cool.

I will see you there.

- OK.

Thank you.

- You're welcome.

Bye.

- Bye.

[computer chimes] Is Brianna off already or what time?

Because if not, my dad is going to bring me.

OK, bye.

I'm ready, Dad.

- Some days, it works.

Some days, it doesn't.

Most of the time, I can't get on.

Or if the internet is bad, it won't let me go on.

And then sometimes the computer freezes.

So, like, it'll take me out of my class.

And then it'll say, like, didn't engage, mark me absent or something.

So, like, if you engage, that means, like, you were in a class or, like, you were present.

And then didn't engage basically means that, like, you didn't go to class or you didn't participate.

- 9:00.

Let me put on my mask.

- OK. - OK, I'll see you later.

Bye, Sessy.

- Bye!

[somber music] - Nobody thought we would be in distance learning.

We all were not prepared.

♪ ♪ We were not prepared for the challenges that, you know, this modality would bring.

Our students were not able to quickly adjust.

Not at all.

- You know, my seniors, I'm really worried about, are they going to have the access to technology that they need?

Are they going to have the access to space so they can concentrate on their college applications, so they can concentrate on their schoolwork?

- Just staring at a screen, listening to your teacher lecture you, like, that's boring.

You get headaches from the screen radiation.

- It's kind of hard retaining information.

It takes more work to actually learn stuff.

Like, I have to go, like, reread some passages or, like, take extra notes in order for me to, like, really retain the information.

- My AP gov class and ethics class, you know, it's really, like, having in-depth conversations.

And I feel like if I'm trying to debate with somebody through a screen, it's not going to work out.

Because, like, let's say I get frustrated enough, I can just hang up.

- Leadership is being at school, like, decorating the school and then, like, making posters for, like, rallies.

And, like, how do you do leadership on the computer?

- I feel like I'm not learning enough.

I don't have that huh, that push to really do the work.

- With isolation in place, there's a huge need for us to be able to supply and meet the social-emotional needs of our children.

It's very hard not only on children, even on the adults.

Because a lot of students relied on the social network here to be successful in school.

♪ ♪ Some of our kids were getting their meals here, connecting with friends here.

The sports that they were getting was from here.

With distance learning, all of that was gone.

♪ ♪ In my mind, this is an opportunity to reimagine how we do school.

Because what was clear was, we were not meeting the needs of everybody.

[basketball thudding] - I don't like being at home.

[funky music] I'm--I'm not a home person.

Like, I like to be outside.

So, like, it's not good for me.

I don't like it at all.

It's like, oh, my God, just sitting here, like, since you're, like, not doing anything and you just sit there, you just think about, like, random things.

Because I've done my homework.

I don't have any practice.

I already did school.

Every--the whole house is clean.

No chores.

So I'm just sitting there, staring.

I'm like, what am I doing?

And I just--I don't know.

I don't know.

It just messed me up.

I'm not messing up, like, failing.

But, like, it's-- it's a drop-off, for sure.

- Once his senior year was taken from him, I think he kind of lost focus.

- He lost focus, right.

- You know, and so I think that had a big impact on how he started to look towards his schooling.

Because he's always been a straight-A student the whole time we've been together.

And so this drop-off, I know, is-- it's really affected his grades.

- From March until now, it has been nothing but a continual down spiral.

So that's why I reached out to Mr. Cam.

It was just like, what is going to happen with my son?

I need to understand.

I need to know, what is this time going to do?

Are they going to graduate?

I just didn't know.

- His mom texted me saying, can you give me a call?

And we had probably a 30-, 45-minute conversation just about Ahmad.

I told her that I'm 100% here for him and that we can definitely work together.

- Mr. Cam is the reason I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and stuff.

He'd check up on me and make sure I'm doing good.

- Ask yourself, is that really the best thing to do if you're trying to get into these schools?

- And make sure I got, like, the right information, not the wrong information.

Because, like, there's a lot of wrong information, like, that's on the internet.

And he makes sure you get the right information.

- Read through this for me.

- Mm-hmm.

- And just see which one of these applies to you.

OK?

[light music] ♪ ♪ - So and this right here is my parents, their wedding day.

These are my two younger sisters.

They're twins.

Then this is one of my older sisters, the second oldest.

This is me right here.

That's my mom up there.

Then this is my aunt's wedding.

This is my dad right here, my grandpa, my grandma right here, and then their siblings.

So this wall right here has all of our first Communion photos.

So it goes by, like, oldest to youngest.

♪ ♪ - For us, it was always family, always.

Before friends, before anything, that's your house first.

[both speaking Spanish] It's very nice, especially because I have only girls.

And that was close to us.

- Yeah, or, like--yeah.

- I know they already grow up, but that's my little babies.

That's how we call them, my little babies.

- Where are you going?

Where are you going?

- Emily, she's the one in the middle.

- Hola, abuelito.

- She always liked to be involved in everything.

- Hola, abuelito.

- Hola, mija.

- She liked to talk a lot, like me, probably.

[smooches] ¿Cómo estás?

- Bien.

- She was always happy.

And she was, you know, like, everywhere, like, a smile everywhere.

- Where are you going?

Julian!

Hello!

- Emily and I, we were pretty much inseparable.

She always goes to my apartment and just takes my clothes.

When my parents decided to move, it was because the rent was pretty high, and no one really had their space.

There was five of us sleeping in one room, all my sisters and I in one room, and then my grandpa and my parents in the other.

And the rooms were pretty small, you know.

So they started looking over here in Contra Costa County, and we ended up in Antioch.

[train rattling] [upbeat music] - Ladies and gentlemen, we will soon touch down in the beautiful Bay Area.

Please lean your seats back, cut your turntables up, and always hold a firm and forthright position.

We ask that you permanently stow all your personal baggage behind you.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's a new day.

- When the economy go bad and everybody lose their houses, we start renting.

After, like, three years, we decide to move here because it was more cheaper.

And we decide to buy a house.

♪ ♪ - ♪ Raiders and Giants, Sharks, Warriors, and 49ers ♪ ♪ The birthplace of defiance, earthquakes, and fires ♪ - Antioch is opportunity.

It does live here.

When you talk to people about why they moved here, it's, oh, well, because I got the opportunity to buy a home, the opportunity to send my daughter to a good school, experience a quality of life that is acceptable for everybody.

- You could live the suburban life you saw advertised on television here in the Bay Area, right here in the city of Antioch, with this growing African American population.

- Antioch also represents a transformation that is happening in suburban spaces across this country.

Within the past 30 years, the suburbs have become the most diverse space in American life.

The majority of Black people, Asians, and Latinos now all live in suburbs.

And yet we still think of suburbs-- when we say that word, it conjures up this idea of white space.

It is kind of the 1950s, the picket fences, the, you know, everybody knows their neighbor, and everybody looks the same because everyone is white.

And that was, of course, designed that way for a reason.

So you get a place like Antioch, and you have incredible pushback against the arrival of people who don't look like the suburbs should look.

So if you are Black, if you are brown, if you are different, you get kind of targeted.

And nowhere did it become more problematic or damaging to kids than at Deer Valley High.

Because really, that defines the future of the town, right?

So yeah, maybe you see different people in town.

But when you see the students start to look different, which represents what the future residents might look like, it was really hard to ignore that Antioch was no longer this white, small suburb but instead was a growing city with a diverse population.

[dramatic string music] - Our demographics have changed, and so people who are not familiar with children who look a certain way make assumptions about their character even before anything happens.

♪ ♪ - Ever since I was a student here at Deer Valley, Deer Valley has definitely gotten a bad rap.

They get a bad rap in the district.

They get a bad rap kind of in the Bay Area.

♪ ♪ - The school no one wanted to send their kid to.

Look at all of these Oakland and Richmond kids as they come up to this school, and they're ruining our community.

- I have met people that are like, oh, my God, you go to Deer Valley?

And I'm like, yeah.

And they're like, oh, isn't that school not good?

I'm like, no, it's a good school.

Don't talk about my school like that.

It's genuinely a good school and has good teachers, and I do learn a lot.

- When you look up the school, you see all these reviews, people saying what a horrible school it is.

And when I saw that, I felt emotional.

We're a high school.

We're kids.

- We have so much talent that goes on on our campus.

There's so many good things that happen on our campus.

[crowd cheering] - There was just this stigma around our school that stuck with us.

- The typical teenager should not have to carry that burden.

♪ ♪ [crossing bells dinging] [train horn blares] ♪ ♪ [dog barks] - Mocha.

For us, growing up, education has always been something that's really hammered into us.

Like, getting good grades is always important and stuff like that.

Especially, like, my parents being immigrants, I mean, they'll never let you forget it.

Like, I came to this country, and I sacrificed.

It wasn't an easy process.

So I can't just, like, lowball myself and not try in school.

And not only from what my parents are telling me, but I pride myself in doing well in everything that I do.

And I try my best to always do well in what I do.

I had my SAT scheduled for March 14th, but then it got canceled.

Then I scheduled again June 6th.

That one got canceled.

I scheduled it for October 3rd.

That one got canceled.

So I scheduled it again for November 6th or the 7th.

If that one gets canceled, I'm just not going to try and take it again.

[computer chimes] - There she is.

- Hi, Mr. Cam.

How are you doing today?

- I'm doing all right.

Let's start with your college list.

Let's do that.

Applying to 22 schools?

- 20--oh, I didn't even realize it was that many.

- No, it's not 22.

It's just 17, which is still a lot.

Do you have three years of science?

- For Arizona State?

- Mm-hmm.

- Yeah.

- Interesting, because I know Kadynce was asking me about Arizona State too.

- She don't want to go there.

She only applying because of me.

- Uh-huh.

I'm sure.

- Ebei, her main choice of college that she wants to go to is USC.

That was her main one, and I wanted to go to Howard.

And then all of a sudden, she wants to go there too.

And I'm like, oh, OK.

Copying me.

- No, it's not true.

She always wants to say that, but I was like, she had USC on her list, and she didn't even know what USC stand for.

You just put it on the list because you know I want to go to USC.

Whatever.

It's OK.

It's cool.

- My number one school-- Howard University.

- Like, the only school she told me that she wanted to go to was Grambling.

I never knew about Howard.

- My notebook, I have a little page where I have the colleges.

- It's definitely between Howard University or USC.

- We always joke about, like, going to Howard together and being roommates and everything.

- Wasn't really looking into going to an HBCU.

But then, like, Howard, I think that this could work for me.

- I hear really great things about their law program.

On top of that, I kind of want to go to DC.

- Plus, it's in DC.

- Major in political science.

- Political science major.

- I want to be a lawyer.

- Definitely want to go into law.

- I like arguing.

- [sighs] - [laughs] - I think you're going to be able to get into a lot of these schools just fine.

I just want to make sure that you're--like I said, you're not overwhelmed.

I mean, you can also see, right, like, when they're due.

So I hope these are accurate.

And if they are, then you don't have to feel like you need to be doing Howard's application right now if they're not due until the 15th of February.

You'll be good.

All right, let me know if you have any questions, OK?

- Thanks, Mr. Cam.

- You're welcome.

Talk to you soon.

- Bye.

- Bye.

[computer chimes] [light music] ♪ ♪ - I feel like I enjoy school better than a lot of students.

I do a lot of activities at school.

Like, I like to involve myself.

I like to keep myself in the loop.

♪ ♪ I'm an ASB officer.

I'm spirit commissioner this year.

I have so many, like, ideas that we could do, like, to promote school spirit.

So I was like, that's, like, the biggest thing that I'm looking forward to, especially.

Hey, guys.

Ebei here.

And I just came to let y'all know once again that-- not once again, but I'm here again.

Hey, Wolverines.

Ebei here once again.

Ebei here once again.

♪ ♪ That's why I kind of like to keep, like, an open mind.

Because, like, there's stuff to look forward to if you don't just keep yourself in, like, a tunnel and just think negatively.

You're just going to stay in a dark hole.

Like, there's always light at the end of the tunnel at the end of the day.

We just can't give up right now.

[dramatic music] - Good morning.

Good morning.

What's going on with you?

Where are you at?

Where's your mind at?

- My main goal is to get into a UC.

♪ ♪ - This is what I want to see!

♪ ♪ - The GPA you need?

I was like-- ♪ ♪ - Could probably get into UC if I keep, like, trying hard.

♪ ♪ - I have AP computer science and then econ, of course, and then statistics.

- Make sure you stay on them grades, though.

This class of students that I've been working really closely with, they have the potential to go to the most competitive schools.

I am 100% here for you.

Like, that is my job.

My job is to be here for you.

But I want y'all to actually start making more one-on-ones.

♪ ♪ All right, if there is nothing else, I'm going to wish y'all a great week.

Again, I hope to see most of y'all at office hours.

- Bye, Mr. Cam.

- Bye, y'all.

- Have a good week.

- Have a great week.

♪ ♪ [computer chimes] [computer dings] - Another sobering milestone in the fight against the virus.

Today the US surpassed 11 million cases.

Now, this week alone, the country reported more than a million new cases.

- This time is the most crucial it's been the entire year.

Today we have 140 COVID patients in a 213-bed hospital.

I think it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

- In the meantime, as President Trump told Americans to not be afraid, Governor Newsom was warning Californians to stay on guard.

- We'll continue not to send mixed messages as it relates to the importance and the imperative of wearing masks.

- Contra Costa County slid back into the state's red tier last week, indicating substantial spread.

- Starting Friday, all restaurants and non-essential businesses must follow a curfew, closing from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM.

[somber music] ♪ ♪ - Welcome.

This is Diane Gibson-Gray, president of the Board of Education, for our Wednesday, October 7th, special board meeting.

- You wouldn't even know that we were still having school board meetings right now if it wasn't for, like, a select few people who, like, tell you.

Because that's how a lot of stuff, like, flies over our heads.

Because we don't know what's going on at all within, like, the school or our district.

- One nation under God, indivisible, and justice for all.

We now move to action items.

Reopening of the schools.

Stephanie Anello, superintendent.

- In the beginning of the school year, they had a meeting.

They said, we're going to reevaluate in October.

Now they're going to reevaluate to see if we can go back to school.

That's basically how it's going.

- Opening our schools in a manner that protects the health and safety of students and staff is our number one priority.

And as you know, currently, Contra Costa County Department of Public Health has said that Contra Costa remains in the red tier, which indicates substantial spread of COVID 19 as measured by testing positivity rates, hospitalizations, and ICU rates.

♪ ♪ - I think that the greatest frustrations came as a result of not knowing what to expect.

And so to have mixed messages set-- one day, you think that you're going to open, but then they said, I don't know.

Hmm.

The fact that our leaders, too, had to wait on their own supervisors, and they had to wait on the next level, and then they had to wait-- so all of us were just waiting.

- I do want to go back to school.

But do I think it's going to happen?

I don't.

- We have a number of comments.

Deb Hubbard: good evening, board members, I want to urge you to vote yes on Superintendent Anello's proposal to continue in distance learning throughout the month of January 2021.

Jermaine Pope, community member: the special education kids are struggling with online learning.

At least let us go back hybrid two to three days a week.

- It's my last year at school, and I might not even be able to fully experience that.

- So at this time, I am recommending to the Board of Education that we remain in distance learning through the end of the semester, January 29th.

- So I'm going to make a motion to not reopen the schools per the superintendent's recommendation.

- I'll second that.

- All in favor, say aye.

- Aye.

- Aye.

- Aye.

- Motion passes 5-0.

Thank you very much.

And thank you to all the teachers, staff, everyone who is working during this pandemic, and especially the classified who are-- a lot are working out of class in order to make this happen.

- It was 5-0, we're not going back to school.

They said, we're going to reevaluate, like, in December to see if we can go back to school in January.

It's really crazy.

I don't know.

- I really find it hard to blame anyone.

But not knowing was the biggest source of anxiety and frustration, not knowing.

The longer we stay in this, the more, you know, you solve one problem and another one pops up.

[dramatic music] ♪ ♪ - The school board just said we're going to stay in distance learning.

Like, that would have never happened last year.

And they just cut $1.8 million in funding.

But at the same time, somehow, someway, they were going to find $375,000 to put police in our schools.

- Antioch City Council voted to partially fund school resource officers.

If approved by AUSD, the city of Antioch will fund the remaining 50% not covered by grant funding for each SRO.

- We want counselors.

We don't want cops.

You guys have three counselors on our campus who can barely, like, help the students that are there.

And then you want to bring cops on campus that are going to be paid more than the counselors?

That doesn't make sense.

- So a group of students said, you know, well, we need to protest this so we make sure that the school board doesn't pass it.

Mm.

I hope this thing goes well.

♪ ♪ What's going on, y'all?

- You say that you care about the students.

You say you care about the kids.

- We're trying to block each of the entrances.

- But then why aren't we your priority?

crowd: Say no to SROs!

- We're telling you that we don't want officers on our campuses, but you're not listening to what we have to say.

- Counselors!

crowd: No cops!

- Counselors!

crowd: No cops!

- It's just criminalizing our school, making us seem like delinquents.

- Just say no!

crowd: Say no to SROs!

- So it's really frustrating.

crowd: Say no to SROs!

- All the students are, like, voicing their opinion on it, but... crowd: Not cops!

- The school board and everyone in the district just chooses not to listen to what the students have to say.

- We need counselors, not cops!

crowd: We need counselors, not cops!

- I don't think that armed officers should be on campus.

I think that we're perfectly fine with it just being the site safety and security guards.

- Say no to SROs!

crowd: Say no to SROs!

Counselors, not cops!

- More than anything, I think it's important for the people who are in leadership to understand the issues from a student's perspective.

If the people don't understand what the students are going through, it's not going to matter.

crowd: Say no to SROs!

- Say no to SROs!

crowd: Say no to SROs!

Free of cops!

- Antioch School District!

crowd: Free of cops!

- Say no to SROs!

crowd: Say no to SROs!

- We have to change the way that we go about serving them if we expect our outcomes to get better.

- Free of cops!

crowd: Antioch School District, free of cops!

[dramatic music] ♪ ♪