College Bound

Client: Bronx Letters Foundation

About the Project

This was our third project with Bronx Letters (gallery of previous videos embedded below).

This film highlighted another key focus area at the school—success after graduation. Many Bronx Letters students are the first generation to consider college and the processes of applications, financial aid and school choice is daunting. Bronx Letters goes to great lengths to support its students in this process: Starting in sixth grade, students go on college overnight trips; Every senior is required to apply to at least one higher education institution; and a dedicated college counselor is available to walk students and parents through the application process, from start to finish.

We wanted our video to focus on the emotional nature of this process. In addition to learning about the steps Bronx Letters takes to help its students, viewers also get to be in the moment with Moesae Sanders as she learns she got accepted to her top school. This video debuted at Bronx Letters Foundations’ annual gala.

Bronx Letters

The Bronx Academy of Letters (BAL) is a middle and high school located in the South Bronx, New York. A self-described “community school,” when you ask students how they would define it, the same word comes up again and again — “home.”

Bronx Letters has created a uniquely supportive environment for students who often face great challenges outside the school walls. BAL is located in the heart of the “poorest congressional district in the country” (a true, but reductive, common trope that both students and faculty both smart at), which means resources are scarce even though needs are immense. To address this, the school was founded on a unique model: In addition to standard (insufficient) support from the school system, BAL has a non-profit arm — The Bronx Letters Foundation -- that raises funds to provide the unique programming and experiences that help BAL students succeed.

Our relationship with Bronx Letters has been a special collaboration. Through years of working together, we have had the opportunity to see middle schoolers become college students, shy high school freshmen become mentors and performers as seniors. Each new project we have embarked on has highlighted a different aspect of this unique school, and we can’t wait to dive into the next one.

Return to Portfolio

Previous Collaborations

Elevating Student Voices

A special collaboration between Root Media, BAL’s writer-in-residence and students to create a student-written, group poem about life in the South Bronx, N.Y.

Project Page

Foundations of Success

More than a parent-teacher organization, BAL is supported by its board and foundation, which help provide a richer education for students.

Project Page

Bronx Academy of Letters

Located in the heart of the South Bronx, N.Y. the Bronx Academy of Lettes is more than just a public school.

Project Page

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