Big Island Weekly

On Thursday, January 26, 2012, a Big Island-produced documentary on charter schools and education reform will have its broadcast premiere on PBS Hawaii, Channel 10 at 9 p.m. The film, entitled "Class of 2010,” will air under PBS Hawaii Presents, a venue for local independent filmmakers to share stories about their communities to a statewide audience. The feature length documentary was a year-long project of HAAS Productions, the digital media program that is based out of Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science public charter school and sponsored by the Pahoa non-profit Arts & Science Center. The film had its debut screening on August 27th, 2010 at the Historic Hilo Palace Theater.

Over a year after its first screening, “Class of 2010″ has been re-edited and remastered for public television by SHOOTZ studios in Honolulu.

“It’s been a long time coming,” says Gloria Baraquio, Executive Producer of the documentary. “It’s just that the kids, the school, and the directors have worked so hard on this. We feel like a broader audience needs to see it.”

Gloria Baraquio, also known as a co-host and co-producer of “Living Local with the Baraquios,” was the founder of HAAS Productions in August of 2008.

After moving to Kalapana in 2004, Baraquio fell in love with the Puna community and especially the HAAS charter school. She started teaching Language Arts at HAAS in 2007 and found kids who were excited about making videos. A year later, she began HAAS Productions from the ground up, finding donations and grants that would sustain the program. In August of 2009, the Hawaii County Non-Profit Grant awarded $20,000 to HAAS Productions; $25,000 for the following year, and $20,000 again for the 2011-12 school year.

The first purchases were four HD camcorders and two Apple computers. Baraquio recalls, “When we got the grant in 2009, we had a few ideas of how we could use the funding. Our Campus Director suggested we make a video about charter schools, since no one really knows what charter schools are or why they’re important. So I asked the kids what they thought about filming their experience at HAAS and living in Puna, and they were stoked about it!”

At that time, HAAS and charter schools across the state were threatened to close, due to drastic budget cuts. This was the premise for the film.

Baraquio knew that she couldn’t complete the project without her colleague Erik Bathen of SHOOTZ studios, who has produced for “Living Local,” “Da Braddahs,” and a number of other productions. Bathen has a love for the Big Island and a passion for teaching filmmaking, so Baraquio hired him as her Director of Photography, even if it meant flying him from Honolulu to Hilo every month. “Erik has an eye for beauty, and the film is gorgeous because of him,” says Baraquio.

The students did research on charter schools and came up with a long list of people to interview, including students, parents, teachers, principals, politicians, and superintendents. Students came up with story ideas, conducted their own interviews, and filmed slices of their personal lives. Bathen visited every month for five days at a time to film almost all of the interviews, campus life, and Puna living. At the end of the school year, between his footage and the students’, they had over 60 hours of video to make a full-length film.

Focusing primarily on HAAS and surrounding schools in Puna, "Class of 2010" explores what a charter school is, how charter schools are funded, what efforts politicians and the DOE are making in educational reform, and where the future of education is headed. The film follows the trials and triumphs of HAAS and its graduates, who are all trying to find success in their own ways. By highlighting the socioeconomic issues they face in East Hawaii, the film emphasizes the fact that every community is unique and that schools should therefore be locally governed.

"Class of 2010" is co-directed by Gloria Baraquio and Erik Bathen, and co-produced by students Courtney Campbell, Akela Quin, Bailey Wooldridge, Tyler Flower, Raskassa Johnson, and Kayla Greenberg. The film includes Administrators Steve Hirakami, Gail Clarke, and Patrick Baker, as well as Mayor Billy Kenoi, Councilwoman Emily Naeole, District Superintendent Mary Correa, Charter School Administrator Maunalei Love, Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, Dr. Manulani Meyer, and more.

Bailey Wooldridge, only 14 years old at the time, conducted over 20 interviews for the film. Now a 16-year old sophomore at UH Hilo, Wooldridge says the film helped her reflect on what she wants out of her own education. “I think we have a really powerful message, and it’s important for people to realize that education is not just reflected through test scores; education takes place in all facets of life.”

Director of Photography, Editor, and Co-Director Erik Bathen faced challenges in juggling this Big Island film with his work on Oahu, but he is delighted to have completed a project that seemed “a bit overwhelming at the start”. He hopes the film will generate some motivation in the area of education reform and charter schools.

For Baraquio, who now lives in Honolulu and teaches digital media at Hawaii Technology Academy charter school, the film is very close to her heart. “It’s a love song to Puna, and more importantly, it’s a tribute to all the teachers and supporters of education reform, those unsung heroes who work day in and day out to make the world a bit more loving and a lot more conscious.”