Allowing gifted and twice-exceptional students to build on their strengths and deeply pursue their greatest interests not only provides opportunities for them to experience significant academic and creative growth and success, but also an avenue to demonstrate and share their expertise with peers, thus providing additional experiential opportunities.
High school students William and Dylan are filmmakers. Each of their projects in Bridges Academy’s Young Expert Program (Badges), which gives students the opportunity to engage with individualized learning in an area of interest, involves writing, directing, editing, and producing their own original films. Not only are these part of their work at Bridges Academy, but they also were used for their respective applications to film school.
William and Dylan each worked on the other’s films—both thrillers—and both students stress the importance of collaboration in filmmaking. Dylan asserts that a filmmaker must have an expertise while also working well with others who have strengths in complementary areas.
Already the process of scripting, casting, scheduling, producing, filming, editing, and scoring requires interdisciplinary proficiencies in the scope of one single project. And leveraging student passion and interest as a learning tool creates strong pathways to student success. But beyond sharing their own films and experiences with peers, William and Dylan are passing their wisdom on to fellow students in a form of a new, collaborative project.
The Badges program features roundtables that often are led by the students themselves. At a recent session, the two filmmakers (William stresses one shouldn’t say “aspiring”—just say “I am a filmmaker”) led 10-12 other students with interests in varying aspects of filmmaking through an exploratory discussion regarding their respective interests.
One student is a musician who is interested in scoring a film. Another is an animator who could produce graphics. A couple of students act, a couple more are writers and are interested in the script process. One student does voiceover work, while another focuses on still photography but is interested in expanding to film.
Dylan and William went around the room and had mini conversations with each attending student, learning about their interest areas, exploring the motivations behind those interests, and talking about how the various skill sets could fit together on a film project. They entered into earnest dialogues with all students and encouraged conversation within the group, sharing lessons from their own experiences while also incorporating ideas from other students to further the discussion.
A couple of students expressed only passing interest in filmmaking early in the discussion, with one admitting he was just there to hang out with his friend. But Dylan and William still engaged those students, and before long they were as enthusiastic as the rest of the group about the prospect of working together on a new film.
Still, some students expressed reservations about their own abilities. Dylan quickly provided context and comfort, saying, “Everyone is awkward at the thing they want to do.”
So genres, potential plots, and even would-be film titles were debated. And as the students’ respective interests were fleshed out via the group discussion, potential roles on the film began to crystalize.
“It’s really magical when people come together to make this single piece of art happen,” Dylan says. “Everyone’s voice is in it.”
Mentors are present throughout the discussion, but they provide guidance, feedback, and nudging only when necessary; they even stand off to the side physically. This discussion clearly is driven by William, Dylan, and the rest of the students in the room — as are their existing projects, and as will be their next film. This empowerment is key in enhancing the learning experience and allowing students to discover and hone real-world skills. It also illustrates how providing the framework and goals for learning, while allowing students to explore within that framework and achieve goals via their own paths, motivates students to engage with their curriculum.
[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#835ba6″ class=”” size=””]”It’s really magical when people come together to make this single piece of art happen.”[/perfectpullquote]
The trajectory of Dylan and William exemplifies the Young Expert program at work. During their first year in the program, Dylan explored creative writing and William worked on digital editing. The two developed a dialogue around their love of cinema history, obscure movies, and filmmaking in general. In their second year, each broadened their interest to include pathways of film production, including directing and screenwriting. Now in their third year, each is beginning to move toward young expertise, and leading peer groupings such as this roundtable displays evidence not just of their knowledge and experience, but of their enduring understandings and increased confidence.
The students continue to lead these discussion as the project progresses, and their sense of self-efficacy is strong.
“There is no other way to get good at [something] than doing it,” William says.
Dylan concurs.
“At the end of the day, just go out there and do it.”
Editor’s note: Bridges Academy’s Laura Bahr contributed to this piece. Bridges Academy is part of the Bridges Education Group, which also oversees 2e News.
