Elgin High students take part in PBS documentary
Elgin High School Science teacher Deb Perryman's environmental science class was filmed for a week in April by PBS as part of an upcoming documentary, called "American Cities: A Rebirth".
According to a report by the California-based Media Policy Center, the documentary, which has yet to air, looks into the impact of built environment on public health, and the changes that must be made for a healthy future.
A number of the senior students involved did some "citizen journalism" for the Daily Herald, describing their individual projects, and what it was like to be followed around by camera crews for a week. Here are their takes.
Name: Amy Juzwin
Hometown: Hanover Park
My partner and I decided to look at how cisterns could be used in Elgin to help conserve water. We originally thought that we would have install new cisterns. We learned by talking with city council member Dave Kaptain, that the historical homes in Elgin already have cisterns installed.
One of our teachers, Mrs. Trimble, e-mailed a neighborhood group to find out if any of the residents had cisterns. We were overwhelmed with the amount of e-mail we received from people who not only had cisterns but reported clean water still in them. We decided that we wanted to visit some of these homes to take data and pictures.
We had a great time meeting the homeowners and informing them about the importance of their cisterns. We were amazed at how many people did not even know how a cistern works. We also contacted a company called the Rain Brothers and they are interested in coming to Elgin to help people get their cisterns working, install new cisterns and educate people on their importance.
PBS filmed one of our visits to a home with a cistern. It was an interesting experience because all of the conversation that was filmed was real but it had to be reenacted several times to get the "perfect footage". In a way, we had to do a little acting, which seemed staged.
Name: William Thorne
Hometown: West Chicago
Age: 18
Over the time I spent through Elgin working on this project, particularly downtown, I have come to realize how great of a place the city is. Whether in the filming, especially at the Chamber of Commerce and attending the Master Sustainability meeting at the Centre; or the time spent waiting on the crew downtown, and advertising for the workshop, I've found myself drawn to Elgin for the place that it is - a city renewing itself, and a town rich with its own unique history.
Name: Ingris Sandoval
Hometown: Elgin
Age: 18
I felt grateful that PBS wanted to film us. It was more than just students making a project; it was more like people getting involved in the community, looking for better solutions. My presentation (Forest and the Coherence with Life) contains opinions on how to create a better environment for the Elgin Community. I describe the benefits of tress, both physical and spiritual. I hope I can apply that to my life and the people that surround me. I want to help create a more "sustainable community."
Name: Brad Garret
Hometown: Elgin
Age: 18
It was such a great experience working to PBS. It was so much fun going around Elgin to film for the documentary. I learned so much from the experience. People always watch movies, but they never realize how much work goes into filming each segment. I was always one of those people, but now I got to see first hand what it takes to make a movie. The community workshop was so much fun too.
It's such a good feeling to know that the things you do could actually make a difference in people's lives. Our group made a survey which was sent out through the city. We learned a lot from the survey about our community and the needs of the people. Overall it was a fun week I will never forget.
Name: Pedro Rodriguez
Hometown: Elgin
My topic was endangered species. We thought it went really well. The number of people in attendance was disappointing. The people that attended were wonderful and I would like to thank them for going. The PBS crew was really cool to work with. They were all really nice.
I was nervous when I heard some of the segments they filmed were going to be on television but I think it made it a lot better. The whole experienced with camera crews was something different but it was really fun. The aspect I love the most was that they were really into it. The crew was really interested in our presentations.
Name: Kelly Valin
Hometown: Elgin
Working with PBS was an experience all in itself. Harry and Dale, the producers for the documentary, were two great guys. They were the mentors for my group. My group and I created a survey based on information that Harry and Dale needed for the film. The survey was distributed to the Elgin Chamber of Commerce and its mailing list. We received a substantial amount of replies - 364 in total!
Along with giving us the survey to do, Harry and Dale decided to take us around Elgin for a lot of filming. We had two full days of filming with them. The filming schedule was demanding but it was worth it. By working with PBS I have gained some more confidence in myself.