Hollister
– A local high school counselor is piecing together the lives of
four San Benito High School students in his spare time, and hopes
to have a documentary on their experience as freshmen completed by
the summer.
Hollister – A local high school counselor is piecing together the lives of four San Benito High School students in his spare time, and hopes to have a documentary on their experience as freshmen completed by the summer.
“This has definitely been a learning experience for me, and I hope for the students as well,” Tim Pipes said.
Last year Pipes, a guidance counselor at SBHS, set out to film a documentary about four freshmen recommended by their junior high counselors as young people who might be interesting to follow for a year. The film is designed to fulfill professional development requirements that all SBHS staff must participate in, and was funded entirely by Pipes himself.
“I have between 10 and 13 hours of film that I’ll be editing this year,” he said. “I got kind of a late start because we’re so busy in the fall with the beginning of school, so I’m just starting to really sit down with it.”
SBHS has been particularly interested in its freshmen recently, and how best to reach them. Educators have said that many freshmen have a little trouble adjusting to the demands of high school life or even just the sheer size of the campus, and some slip through the cracks. SBHS’ own reports have shown that freshmen are more likely to get in trouble or suffer academically then their older counterparts, and in the Healthy Kids Survey freshmen reported feeling less connected to their school than older students.
Last year Pipes followed the four students at school, home and extracurricular activities like football games and dances. One thing he learned for sure, he said, is that no two freshmen are alike.
“Each of us has our own unique experience, and those experiences will affect us very differently,” he said. “These are not cookie-cutter years for students.”
Pipes said he hopes the students involved took the opportunity to learn a bit about themselves, as well.
“They’re certainly less camera shy,” he said.
Depending on his duties at school, Pipes hopes to have the film edited by the end of the year, though he isn’t quite sure whom he will show it to or what he will do with it.
“I think it would be really neat to do something else and see what these kids are doing when they’re seniors, but this takes so much time I don’t know if that’s possible,” he said.
Pipes had hoped to include interviews with local residents, particularly senior citizens, about their freshman year of high school regardless of whether or not they attended SBHS. No one has yet responded, but he is still hoping a few people will volunteer. Anyone interested can contact Pipes at
tp*****@co*****.net
.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
ds****@fr***********.com
.
