I am a science teacher at an urban high school in New Jersey and a graduate student at Rutgers GSE. This web site was created as the final project for the Digital Media Production course that I took in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University.

The purpose of this story was to spread word that many spectacular things are happening in urban schools. People, who have never been exposed to urban schools in any context, often construct their opinions based off of movies. In fact, this is very similar to how people attempt to educate themselves on history by watching movies, even though facts are often lost due to modifications by screenwriters. My personal goal was to provide my audience with a true depiction of urban schools and students that attend these schools. I aspire to dispel any stereotypes and misconceptions associated with urban schools and to communicate the truth – not the negative messages that screenwriters and Hollywood moneymakers sell.

Furthermore, I wanted to highlight how inquiry-based teaching and learning increases students' motivation and achievement. I am very proud of my students. Even though they were only in their freshman year of high school, they were still able to successfully carry out this project.

I want to acknowledge that I have used some Google images, have edited three YouTube clips that had no restrictions, have photographed, videotaped and audiotaped my students (with their parents permission) and have used one of Rachel Sussman's photographs (she has given me her permission) in order to accomplish this project.