Flushing International High School, Flushing, NY

This fall, New York City added yet another international high school to its remarkable list of vibrant small high schools for "newcomers" which have taken up residence in the city's various boroughs. Flushing International High School opened its doors in September 2004 with a ninth grade class of roughly 110 students, representing 20 different nationalities and 16 different languages.

For their student action research project, a group of 15 students and their teacher spent the second semester working with a professional videographer to create a documentary film of their school's first year, capturing shared triumphs and struggles, big and small. Their story begins with interviews with classmates for whom speaking English in front of a video camera is daunting. One also quickly learns that this new school for newcomers squeezes into four classrooms at the end of a corridor in a large-three story public middle school. The two seem worlds apart.

Final Products Our documentary video Click here to download the Windows Media Player. Objectives of documentary and types of shots Planning our interviews

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