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GREENBURGH, N.Y. – A Greenburgh filmmaker is headed to Connecticut’s international film festival – right after his finishes his SAT.
Jackson Davis will watch the showing of “Chase,” the one-minute short he directed, Saturday at the Westport Youth Film Festival. But first, the Woodlands High School junior must take the SAT at a nearby Connecticut testing location.
“It’s going to be exciting,” he said.
Davis, who is planning to major in film when he goes to college, created the one-minute movie in December with a group of friends from 10 A.M. Production Studios. The short film-turned-public service announcement has a simple message, the director said.
“Everything’s not as it seems,” he said.
Filmed in Greenburgh, the piece begins with Woodlands student Reece Williams chasing classmate Stephen Doyle III through a dirt path in the woods. After the pair hurdle fences and tree branches and make their way onto a football field, Williams finally catches up to the panicked Doyle. That’s when the audience is hit with a twist.
“You build up your expectations of what’s happening and at the end you realize it’s something totally different than what you expected,” Davis said. “It questions your initial thoughts.”
“Chase” made its public debut last month at the Greenwich Youth Film Festival. While Davis and the 10 A.M. Productions team walked away empty-handed, the film got a great reaction from the audience, Davis said. And the festival turned out to be a valuable learning experience.
“We got to see how much more work has to be done to be where we want to be,” Davis said.
While he is hoping for better results Saturday at the Bijou Theatre in Bridgeport, Davis said just being accepted into the international competition has been rewarding.
“The fact we even got accepted into the festival is an accomplishment,” he said. “It’s very humbling.”
Comments (9)
Woodlands Senior Jaquan Furse won second place, and $750, in the recent Network for Teaching Entrpreneurship (NFTE) competition.
Don't know how his SAT scores factored in the business plan that he developed, or if the judges took it into consideration.
Mr. Williams, thank you for the update on Jaquan, I'm happy to hear that he placed! What a prize to receive, not just financially, but an accomplishment to forever boost his resume. Any, all and every public exposure of our children's successes should be highlighted. When my children are in Woodlands, I will encourage them to take every opportunity presented to them (scholastic, athletic and artistic).
That being said...
With our budget passing, do you have any idea when we will we reinstate our High and Wide program or a similar program for our gifted students? Has there been any Board discussion on this issue? Some of our high school students (talented in more ways than academic and scores of course) have benefited from this program in their lower grades but it was cut...now I'd like my children in the lower grades to be able to benefit from it as well, if they qualify.
Call me. My phone number is on the web site.
Terry,
Your points are well taken. However, the students and schools are judged by the standardized test scores. It is a reality that in many places from civil service tests to academic placement tests to tests within the universities, as Drs. Jonathan Farley and Edward Frankel pointed out last Friday at Woodlands High School, achievement matters. Dr. Farley specifically said that students should take no more than 4 courses per semester and at least 1 easy course to ensure that you master the minimal load and get As. He stressed the importance of As in career development and making a living. That is not to say that scores on tests or grades in class are everything. They are not. However, they are a very large piece of the academic puzzle and so long as we don't have to give up any academic or personal goals why not show children, parents and community members that we can strive to improve?
Are you happy with the 1385 average SAT score? I would like to see admin and BOE work together to help kids improve scores all around and that we can show the community the ROI (return on investment) on their tax dollars.
Amy
I am happy that our students get accepted to top colleges, in spite of the districts average SAT score. That is the true measue of return on investment as it relates to education.
Amy:
Don't know how standardized tests relflect talent. You are a scientist so please provide proof. A number of "elite" colleges are moving away from the standardized test model (Colby comes to mind). Do you know something they don't?
Also don't quite understand your Jeremy Lin or Barber twin reference, as I don't know what their scores were. We can assume (although we shouldn't) that Lin's were decent as he did go to and graduate from Harvard, but what does that have to do with the initial point of this discussion, which was that there are more talented students at Woodlands in addition to Jackson Davis? Is Jackson a talented filmmaker because of standardized test scores? Is he amy less talented if his test scores don't meet a certain benchmark?
I can tell you this. This year's graduating class has acceptances to Cornell, Dartmouth, Tufts, MacCauley Honors of CUNY, Franklin & Marshall, The Cooper Union, Duke, Georgia Tech, Morehouse and other elite schools typically associated with high SATs. This is not an anomaly, but is typical of our acceptances over the years. So if we assume that Lin had great test scores because he went to Harvard, we will also assume (not that it proves anything) that our students also scored high, given the quality of the institutions that accepted them.
-Terry Williams
President, Greenburgh Central School District #7
There are plenty more like Jackson Amy.
Terry, I agree and that's why I come out and support the kids of Greenburgh. I also believe that kids in Greenburgh can do better on standardized test to reflect their talent. Does Jeremy Lin's parents just accepted his love and talent for basketball? No, they wanted him to get a good education so that if he is injured he has a plan B. What about Tiki and Ronde Barber? They also strive to be scholars while being athletic. We need to expect our kids to be best scholars they can be and still pursue what they love...that's our job.
Now this is some of the finest students Greenburgh has to offer! Bravo to these talented kids!