NH students shed light on drop-out rate

New Haven (WTNH) - A group of students in New Haven is taking on a controversial topic through film. Their documentary puts the spotlight on the high school graduation rate with results that may surprise some.

Not only have the group of students made the movie, but they've also do all the reasearch and conduct the interviews themselves. In choosing to talk about the city's graduation and drop out rate, the kids admit some may not like what they've put on the big screen.

These New Haven high schoolers are finding out making a movie is no Hollywood story; its hard work.

"We had it all planned out in the beginning," Tishanna Jones, a youth producer for the documentary, said."But it was just so much work."

Twelve weeks ago these students chose the city's double digit dropout rate as the topic for their documentary.

Now its done and titled "Pushed," because these youth producers claim they've discovered some students are pushed out of school.

"Some people just do it to give a kid another alternative," Kenny Brown, a youth producer for the documentary, said. "Or do it just to make themselves look good. It could be a number of things."

This is the latest project of Youth Rights Media, a non-profit organization which each year teaches high schoolers media production.

This year's group focused not only on the drop out rate but also how the high school graduation rate is calculated. The documentary maintains in New Haven the numbers don't reflect what is really happening.

The youth producers expect school administrators won't be pleased with their conclusions.

"I think they're not going to like it, but it's their problem and they need to change it," Divinia Hardy, a youth producer for the documentary, said. "If you put it in their face, maybe they'll actually pay attention to it."

Hardy said doing the documentary was an eye-opener for many of those involved.

"It's amazing how much we really dont know, how much is really going on that we aren't aware of," Hardy said.

The documentary premieres tonight at the Yale University Art Gallery Auditorium . Tickets are $5. Youth producers will engage in a question and answer session and also give speeches about what they've learned.