Sacred Soil: The Piney Woods School Story (2024) Movie Script

[birds chirping]
[typing on keyboard]
[bell tolling]
[tolling continues]
[loud tolling]
- [final toll]
- [golf cart whirring]
- [room chatter]
- [William Crossley] Morning.
[students]
Good morning.
[William] So I thought I was going
to talk about something else,
but the session we had on Wednesday,
um, has been sticking with me.
And so,
I went back to chapter 12
of Mission Mississippi.
I wanna share just
a portion of it with you.
"Another principle to be followed
is that..."
[clears throat]
"...it is fearlessness that enables us
"to put ideas into practice.
"In order to move the race forward,
"one must be willing
to go against the majority
and be content to stand alone."
Laurence Jones has literally lived out
and exemplified this final idea.
That of establishing good will,
but being ever fearless,
in opening new horizons
for his people
in this section of Mississippi.
Going it alone,
as it were, in the early days.
We've been dealing with this issue
of fear and fearlessness.
Here's the rub,
as I was thinking through this.
I want all of you to have
the kind of fearlessness
that allows you to be leaders.
But that kind of fearlessness...
is one that is not about you.
It's a fearlessness for
something bigger than you!
It's a fearlessness for
something other than you!
Laurence Jones, right,
founded this place in
the days of segregation.
A fearlessness, as it was chronicled,
going it alone.
[choir vocalizing]
I wish all of us
the freedom of fearlessness
that's not for us,
but for something bigger than us.
- Repeat after me. I will be...
- [students] I will be...
- [William] Honest... trustworthy...
- [students] Honest... trustworthy...
- [William] ...and respectful.
- [students] ...and respectful.
- [William] I will not...
- [students] I will not...
- [William] ...lie, cheat...
- [students] ...lie, cheat...
- [William] ...or steal.
- [students] ...or steal.
[William]
Live life exponentially,
practice love, have integrity,
keep the faith, strive for excellence,
and be empowered.
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
God bless you.
- You're in the hands of Miss Crossley.
- [Monica Crossley] Good morning, everyone.
[students]
Good morning.
[vocalizing continues]

[vocalizing ends]
[school bell ringing]
Said I'm beautiful
[school chatter]
Said I'm beautiful, yeah
- [indistinct chatter]
- Said I'm beautiful
[Beautifuh by Dear Silas playing]
Said I'm beautiful
Yo, damn it, did it for me
Battling self, could never defeat
Told myself I'm beautiful
while I gritted my teeth
Self was lying to me,
I was considered a creep
Told myself you do not
deserve beauty, you thief
You gotta be joking,
look at your scars, gotta be thief
[Dr. Cristina Nica]
Okay, Maurice. Maurice.
Do me a favor...
do me a favor
and find me some paper towels.
- [class chatter]
- [Maurice] We don't have any.
[Cristina]
I know. Just find me...
[indistinct chatter]
[teacher 1] Now, we know that a lot
of children go through what?
[student 1]
Trauma?
[teacher 1]
They go through trauma.
They're not only abused.
They also see their what?
- [students] Parents.
- [teacher 1] They also see their parent...
[Jeremy Dixson] So, what you're doing
is mixing potting soil
- with peat moss.
- [student 2] Yeah.
[Jeremy]
What that does, it gives nutrients.
The potting soil gives nutrients,
but the peat moss, actually,
it gives the roots
a little room to expand
- once the seed germinates.
- [student 2] Yeah.
Seed something from start to finish
like you're doing now.
You're finna start some starter plants,
it's gonna come from a little seed,
and then, you'll be able to eat from it.
Now you'll be able
to feed yourself at least.
- [student 2] Of course, dawg.
- [laughs]
[teacher 2]
Alright, AB. Go ahead.
[Abenezer Shiferaw]
I mean, if you look at it globally,
the future would give a better
opportunity for a lot of people.
Like, it's more globalized.
So the faster we could sell
and buy products
from other countries,
the better it is.
- This is my favorite.
- Yeah. "If you stick a knife
"into my back nine inches
and pulled out three inches,
that's not progress." Why?
[Taimya Adams] "Even if you pull it
all the way out, that is not progress.
"Progress is healing the wound,
and America hasn't even
begun to pull the knife out."
[inaudible]
Working with Brown,
it gave me a lot of experience
with a lot of different things.
It's a lot of connections, too.
I had never ever thought
that I was gonna be working
for a university,
specifically in public health.
[teacher 3] In other words, you know
I believe in corporal punishment.
No. I don't believe in whoopings
as punishment.
- 'Cause it has...
- [Takira Adams] I do.
[student 3] I don't 'cause it
usually has nothing to do
with the punishment,
and it doesn't change the behavior.
- A whooping is not a beating.
- Yes, it is!
[talking over each other]
Alright, so these
are your pepper seeds,
so put 'em in here.
This is your seeder.
[student 2]
Okay.
[Jeremy] Just pick you up some
kinda like this.
- [student 2] Okay.
- [Jeremy] Just...
And you just gonna fill 'em up to the top.
You don't have to pack it. Just fill 'em.
- It teaches a lot of responsibility.
- Alright.
Alright, 'cause it's always...
Even though it's just plants,
it has to be tended to, taken care of.
So, you'd have to come down here
and check on 'em
and make sure they're watered and...

You have to treat it like it's your baby.
[Khareym Kelly]
I think fair trade would be the best.
Best jobs, better working conditions,
get paid more.
You can't afford it though. Oh, my bad.
- You can't afford fair...
- [teacher 4] Khareym, hit it.
[Taimya] Progress will be acknowledging,
"Hey, I stabbed you in the back."
Then, healing the wound...
[student 5] Apologizing.
...by making life equitable
for Black people.
At the time of the Brown Project,
that was when all of the different things
started happening
- with the water in Mississippi.
- Water prices.
Like, the cost of bottled water not only,
but also the fact that Jackson didn't have
good water at all.
Like, the water was brown.
They were under a boil water notices.
And so, at that point in time,
it was kind of a priority for us
to really focus on water
more than the other things.
But as that kind of like slowed down,
I guess you can say kind of
got controlled a little bit,
then we started working on air and noise.
Okay, so say your child
is talkin' smart to you, right?
And then you go ahead,
you beat your child.
So what your child's supposed
to do when she in school,
somebody talks smart to her?
She gonna be like,
"Oh, let me beat you,"
you know what I'm saying?
Children learn from seeing and not...
[student 5]
"I'm only doing it 'cause I love you."
[laughter, overlapping chatter]
This is not love.
You beating me is not love.
- [Takira] Yes, it is.
- [teacher 1] Okay, alright.
- And it's not gonna change...
- [teacher 1] Okay, y'all.
You all can finish this
conversation during lunch.
That will give you something
to talk about, okay?
That doesn't have to, like...
You're saying, like, they can
just resource out to where...
Yeah, in free trade. In free trade,
they're just gonna resource it out.
In fair trade... Yeah, I agree.
And that's a problem.
[indistinct]
If you ask me that question,
I don't know how to solve it.
Said I'm beautiful
[teacher 3] But you see
how when we backtracked,
it all pieced together, right?
So, it's coming together,
making a little bit more sense.
[cafeteria chatter]
- Hey, Miss Dur.
- Yeah, darling?
What did you need?
[Taimya]
Hey, Miss Dur. I miss you so much.
I didn't say nothing.
I said, "Hey, Miss Dur." Oh!
[student] Miss Dur,
can you save me some cornbread?
- [student] Please.
- [Miss Dur] Already?
- [student] Yes, already!
- Ha. Already.
[cafeteria chatter]
[sighs] Man.
- I'm gonna sit right there.
- What's good, man?
- What class you just came from?
- I just got from chemistry.
[Taimya] So, who y'all teacher
for that block, Dr. Bowen?
- Miss K ours.
- Oh, y'all got lucky.
- [Taimya] How is that? What?
- Every time, y'all get lucky.
- English teacher.
- [Savannah Haywood] Don't say that.
- No, I don't care. English teacher.
- [laughter]
Y'all get lucky.
Y'all barely even have to do the work.
[Taimya] That's not true.
We have good discussions in class.
[Curdell Spann]
Yeah, I was talking to Jeremy,
and he was just telling me
how he wants us to get more...
more knowledgeable about how to
use the tools and stuff in the farm.
So, we need to like be able to...
[Khareym] Yeah, when I used to be here...
when I used to, I'm still here... but,
you know, my earlier years,
we used to do a lot of stuff on the farm.
We used to have horseback riding.
We used to kind of do
a lot with the greenhouse.
I think Mr. Jeremy doing
a good job though.
Yeah. Jeremy doing good, yeah.
- What up, AB?
- What's up, AB?
Is that strawberry in the salad?
That's different.
That's different. [laughs]
In class, we talked about
like how Malcolm thought...
Like when he was looking back on his life,
he was thinking like, why did I wear...
You know, in the book,
when he was wearing his hair in a conk,
he was trying to be in
proximity to whiteness.
And he was looking back,
and he felt ashamed
that he had to do that
to himself to, like, fit in.
I feel like, at one point,
everybody has like done something
to try to fit in or try to be...
or try to abide to the social norm,
when, I mean, that's not really necessary.
[Taimya] I'm not even talking
about social norms though.
I'm talking about white people. Like...
- [Caesar] Okay, like, even trying to...
- You never?
- I have.
- Trying to be more white?
'Cause I never been in like
a majority white community.
Like, I never been at an all-white school
or nothing like that.
Like, sometimes I'd be like...
Well, I guess. Sometimes, like,
I used to wish my hair was longer
or like somethin' like that.
But, I don't know if that was
an insecurity within myself.
But, I used to be like,
"My hair not long enough,
my hair too curly," so I guess I have.
Because I don't really wanna stay
in the South when I get older, so...
- Why not?
- I don't know. I'm tired of it,
- to be honest with you.
- The South. Really?
- Yeah.
- Why?
The political side of it,
I'm tired of it.
It's, it's, it's different
being here in the South,
but it feels home sometimes.
It's 50/50 with me.
I don't know, I feel like I have
a perspective of where I'm just,
you know, I'm dark-skinned.
- I'm like the typical stereotype.
- [Curdell] Right, right.
So, I just get tired of
like, you know, the typical...
I'm looked at as like
maybe a thug or a criminal.
Like I can't get my ears pierced.
My mom won't let me get my ears pierced
because she told me
she doesn't really want me
to kind of fit that stereotype
of ears pierced, pants sagging.
So, it's a lot of stuff I can't do
because of what others
would think, which is sad,
but that's just how it is though.
I mean, you know,
I kind of fit the description...
physically of, you know, the stereotypes.
AB, how's it for you, though?
Being pure African.
I mean, I haven't
actually seen the South.
I haven't actually seen America.
But, Piney Wood,
I think it adopted
some styles and culture,
and I actually enjoyed.
First, when I came here, I was scared
'cause, you know, Mississippi.
It's Mississippi.
My uncle's from North Carolina, DC.
They told me like,
"Do not talk to anybody."
- [Khareym laughs]
- The Black people are thugs,
- the white people wanna kill you, so...
- [laughs] What?
But they dismantled the stereotypes,
so I think the most important thing
is dismantling stereotypes.
[Taimya]
It happens amongst Black people, too.
Like, it's not just white people
who push norms onto you.
It's Black people
because when I came here,
and all I listened to was Harry Styles,
y'all wanted to say
I didn't listen to Black music.
[Caesar] I thought it was funny that
you listened to Harry Styles the most,
but I never thought that
you never listened to Black music.
I wouldn't say it was the white music.
I think it was just Harry Styles.
Yeah, it was just Harry Styles
in general.
[Khareym]
I sometimes dawn on AB's situation
because he's, he's African.
He's not Black. He's African.
Being in America,
if you were to stay here,
people would categorize you as Black,
which is not true, so.
- [AB] It is.
- No, it's not.
I've heard you talk white,
but it's only because
I was talking, like, politically
instead of, like, with broken English.
And it's offensive because it's like...
a Black girl can't talk like that
without being perceived as white,
or like white is right...
- Or if people take advantage of you.
- People who talk politically are white.
- It don't make sense.
- [Keith] You're perceived as smarter.
Yeah. It's a difference in how
I'ma talk to Cesar,
Savannah, Amari, and Keith,
and how I'ma talk to...
But is that code switching
or just being professional?
In how I talk to Miss Crossley,
or how I would talk to...
Like you just said,
you wouldn't talk to your friend
- how you talk to your boss.
- [Taimya] Right.
Like, and that's just like... that's-that's
being... that's having a professional life.
[Taimya]
But I feel like Black people do it more.
You code switch with your friends
and with your boss,
but we have to code switch
with different groups,
with different, like, races, everything,
to seem more receivable or acceptable.
Like if I'm talking to
a group of white people,
I may change my tone into a softer,
like, you know...
You know what I'm saying?
Like just so they can understand
or like be able to hear me.
But you're African,
like, you're not...
You weren't born here,
so being in America,
they would categorize you as Black,
then they'll start treating
you like you're Black.
Then, you'll kind of fall in like the...
- [Curdell] The stereotype, the category.
- Yeah, the stereotypes.
You just following the pictures of
what Black people are made to be.
So, I feel like it's hard
because, regardless, like,
I feel like in the South,
only speaking for the South,
like if you were to go to
like a grocery store,
just anywhere, and you know,
like, "Yeah, no, I'm African."
They're like, "No, you're Black."
Like, "No, I'm from Ethiopia.
You know what I'm sayin'?
I'm Black."
People are like, "No, you're..."
You know what I'm saying?
You're a black guy.
You're just another Black guy.
- [Curdell] Yeah.
- [Khareym] I think it's something.
It's a bigger issue than
just Black and white.
- I think there's so many...
- [Curdell] Yeah. Variables to it.
I understand what you're saying,
but one thing and foremost to clarify,
I am Black,
and Ethiopians are Black-Black.
We're one of the pioneers of
a lot of... Pan-Africanism.
But like, I get what you're saying.
Like, there's different shades of Black.
There's different cultures
of Black people.
And like conjoining them,
like it's what Mr. Gonzalez say.
Like, when you come here,
you're just Latin.
Even though you might be from Spain, Cuba,
they're completely different cultures.
If you come here from Ethiopia,
Egypt, South Africa,
Rwanda, Botswana, Congo,
it's totally different languages, cultures.
- Right.
- But you're just classifying a group.
But like, if you're from Europe,
then why are you just like,
- "Oh, you're French."
- [Khareym] I disagree.
They respect your culture.
They know the uniqueness.
I can't go to Ethiopia and be like,
"Yeah, I'm African, man."
- But I don't understand like...
- [Curdell] What it means to be...
I don't understand what it actually means
to be African or I can't... I can't, like...
[AB]
But Black is Black. It's a color.
It's not like a culture.
When you say Black,
I think you're meaning African American.
Yes, I can't I'm say African American.
I'm not. I'm just African.
[soft chatter]
[Taimya] Sometimes, I'll be like,
it's not enough time in the day.
And when you do have time,
make sure that you're
using every last bit of it.
Like when I'm in choir,
I don't waste Pastor David's time.
Like, I do what I'm set there to do,
and I don't focus on anything else.
Something happens when I pray
[piano continues]
I know I can reach you when I pray
I know I can reach
when I call your name
You're never too busy for me
You're never too busy for me
when I pray
- Cool. Cool. Good job!
- [students clap, cheer]
- [basketballs dribbling]
- [indistinct coaching]
Right, left,
left to right, split, between.
[dribbling continues]
[athletes chattering]
- [indistinct yelling]
- [dribbling]
[choir singing, piano playing]
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down down
[piano playing, clapping]
Down down down
[piano playing, clapping]
Down down down down down
Alright, you gotta learn
the fundamental piece of it, so go back.
[Pastor David]
Here we go. Bass in one.
- [playing piano]
- Here we go. One, two, basses go.
[bass singers vocalizing]
Yeah!
Oh... oh...
[vocalizing, clapping]

- [piano picks up]
- [singers harmonizing]
[full choir singing]
A little stomp! Little stomp!
[all vocalizing]
[singing in native language]
[Pastor David]
We're marching!
We are marching, we are marching
- We are marching in the light of God
- [laughter]
- [student] What is this?
- [Pastor David] Stop, stop. Okay, okay.
- [basketballs dribbling]
- [students chattering]
[indistinct dialogue]
[Takira] And you know, I really, really,
really should've listened to y'all.
Y'all remember like
a year back when I asked,
I was like, "I wanna go to Piney Woods."
And then y'all was like,
"You better be ready."
And I was like, "It is not that bad."
- And then I came here, I was like, "Lord."
- See?
"If you get me outta this,
I won't ever ask again."
- [laughter]
- Well no, I love Piney Woods,
but I'm just saying I should've
been more prepared.
We did. I told you.
Like, you gotta, you gotta have
a different type of armor.
- Armor? Armor.
- Armor. Armor.
That's not funny. That is not funny.
That's not funny.
[laughing]
- [all laugh]
- [indistinct]
- [dryer humming]
- Well I told you this already, but like,
my mom tricked me here because if she had
told me that I was gonna go
to a boarding school in Mississippi
for like a whole school year,
I totally would not
have gotten on a plane.
I would've wasted her money probably.
[Taimya]
Sometimes, I do have to be
a lot more mature here than at home.
Like at home, I can be just regular Mya.
- Goofy, just act the fool, crazy.
- Happy. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
But here,
I have to like maintain an image,
so that I can keep on, um...
receiving things from people,
whether it be
like opportunities or whatever.
Like I just have to maintain
a level of professionalism
because I'm still at school.
[quiet R&B music playing]
Most of the things
that I've been through, witnessed,
and experienced
really prepared me
for what people will call adulthood.
Like, taking care of yourself,
paying bills,
and looking, looking after yourself,
looking after kids.
Since I've been at Piney Woods,
I've kind of been unlocking
more of like a, a, a childish behavior
because it feels more freeing,
and I never really got to be a child,
I guess you could say.
So, kind of reliving all
my childhood right now.

At home, I don't have to put on like...
impress people, I guess.
Well, it's hard for me sometimes,
but what makes it easier is knowing,
being considerate of other people.
Like, I know you.
I could call my mama,
- and she could be here in like 15 minutes.
- Mm-hmm.
But you could call your mama,
and she might say,
"Yeah, I'll come get you,"
but you still gonna have to
be here for like another day.
Smile
[Maurice Hunter] It really shows you
how much you don't need people
'cause a lot of people will make you
dependent on them
when you really don't need to be.
So, I mean you just...
[shuts washer]
...kinda learn how to do it on your own.
[machine beeping]
- [washer filling]
- I guess, but, um...

[indistinct chatter]
[phone ringing]
[William]
Good afternoon. Good afternoon.
If you look at our revenue streams,
fundraising is number one.
That's dollars from individuals.
So, number one, donate...
People writing checks.
That's the number one, uh...
revenue stream that we have.
And then grants and contracts
are right behind that.
Federal grants that we're receiving,
some of the contractual work
that we're doing
under certain federal programs.
All of that is, uh,
it's how we make this work.
To give you an example of the,
you know,
we just did a little refresh
in the dining hall.
It's so new!
Everything is just so new and improved!
None of that was paid for
because parents are paying tuition.
- [teacher 1] Yeah.
- That all came through donating.
Without, without that,
we wouldn't be able to do this work.
- So...
- [teacher 1] You know,
I think when you look at
the percentage of grants
that we would secure years ago,
it would only take up
maybe 5% of the budget.
But now, I think we're
probably contributing,
like, 25% of the operating budget,
and it reaches across
all facets of the campus,
from academics with the students
and scholarship in the classroom,
like the Social Justice Grant,
and allowing the kids to go on field trips
that we probably would
not be able to pay for.
Then we look at summer camp.
We look at the operations of the school,
how we're able to renovate buildings.
The farm.
So, when Dr. Jones created this,
you know,
the students were building
literally each building by hand,
and all of that was around
self-sustainability.
The farm was what was sustaining them
from a health point.
Hopefully, we'll get to a full,
what I call,
a classroom-to-field-to-table,
which will be our dining service,
to market.
[teacher 2] There are so many careers
in agriculture for Black students,
so we wanna get them
interested in those careers
starting in the ninth grade here.
So, we're working out the schedule
so they can spend more time on the farm,
for those who are interested.
Not every child is gonna
wanna work on the farm.
So, we're trying to hone in on those
who really have a interest,
and working into their work program
that they can spend that time
working on the farm.
When this grant is over,
we'll be able to sustain
the farmer's market every year,
our sales from what we produce
and sell on the farm.
And also the cafeteria
'cause I know it will help the budget
if we can produce a lot
of vegetables and things.
We have different breeds of cattle.
We have eight brand-new calves.
We're looking at
down the road to get hogs,
so we can really be able to
sustain ourselves 100% like they used to.
[William]
Um, I'm confident, I'm confident that
um...
our donor community will respond
to the opportunities
that we're creating for young people.
Right?
Coming out of the last
board meeting that we had
and the question came from the board
around where should our priorities be.
And we, we, we decided
that we couldn't,
we couldn't decide between...
scholarship and facilities.
Right, we couldn't decide
between investing in the place
or investing in the people
because we have to do both.
[music builds]
Without the place,
there's no place for people to come.
And without the people,
the place loses its meaning
and its resonance.
Um, as the president of Piney,
but also as an alum,
I had to learn how to be
resilient in this space!
[murmuring]
There is no giving up!
There are no excuses!
[inspiring music playing]
We will find a way or we will make one!
- [birds chirping]
- [soft laugh]
Yeah, so my story's different.
How I got here...
and what this meant for me.
It's a different time.
Different time in the world [laughs],
a different time in my life,
and, uh, and a different time
in the life of Piney Woods.
You know, at that point in my life,
I was missing people who saw me,
who I truly am.
You know,
that's what this place did for me
as a young person coming here.
And, and invested in that.
Right, whether it was staff or student,
we invest in each other.
- So, I'm from Chicago. [laughs]
- [choir vocalizing]
And even just thinking
about what my life would be
as a teenager in Chicago,
the options were...
bad or at best compromising,
and it was difficult.
I think between...
kindergarten and seventh grade,
probably changed school eight times.
You know, I would go to a new school
in the middle of the year,
and you don't know anybody,
but the next fall,
I'd be in another school really.
It was terrifying.
And I think I got in
the habit of expecting
that I wouldn't see these people.
I think I stopped even trying
to form bonds with people, right?
'Cause what's the point?
[vocalizing continues]
And then to come to a place
where I would be for five years...
I mean, the bonds just happened.
I don't remember anybody
I went to school with really
from kind of kindergarten
through seventh grade.
But, these folks in this book,
I remember all these folks.
[vocalizing continues]
I remember all of them.
Many of our young people,
they're searching for
their place in the world.
They wanna be seen.
And it's not 'cause Will Crossley said,
"You're empowered."
It's because of what already lives in you.
The mission is about being regenerative,
in the sense of...
putting more back into the world
than we're taking from the world.
And so, it means that after I grow
and harvest from the soil,
the soil will be better
than it was when I found it.
It's why I'm here now.
Yeah. That's why I came back
to do this work.
[vocalizing continues]
[birds chirping]
[Jeremy's son]
We're only going that way?
[Curdell]
Let's do it. Don't get stuck.
[Jeremy's son]
Oh yeah, we might get stuck.
How many four-wheelers to go down there?
If you was in school,
I guess I'll be riding
the four-wheelers or something.
[Curdell]
I've never driven a four-wheeler.
[Jeremy's son]
Well, you're at the right place to do it.
- That place right over there.
- [laughter]
[Jeremy]
Uh-huh. What else you know how to do?
- Drive a tractor?
- [Curdell] You wanna drive a tractor?
- [Jeremy's son] Yep.
- [indistinct chatter]
- You serious?
- [Jeremy] Yeah.
He think he playing,
but he learning stuff.
And then, I won't have to do it so much.
He'll be out there doing it,
putting in the work.
- Is that right?
- [Curdell] Uh-huh.
[Jeremy's son speaks indistinctly]
- I know how to play the piano.
- Oh, what? Piano?
[Jeremy] That's his favorite thing to do.
That's all he do.
Hold on now, hold on now.
Piano now? Hold on, hold on, hold on.
- You can play piano for real?
- [Jeremy's son] Yeah. I know how to play...
Oh, talk to me about that.
Talk to me about that.
[inspiring music playing]
- [cow moos]
- [pouring feed]
[Jeremy]
Snowball and Peaches.
[cows mooing]
[indistinct chatter]
[Curdell]
Play some keys!
Mm. Key.
[Jeremy] My dad's side of my family
grew up farming,
raising cattle, livestock,
grew vegetables,
everything to keep the house fed
and sold some.
And from the time I could walk,
I always been running up
behind him, working.
Working when I ain't realize
I was working.
I think more of him teaching me
the different things
that he's taught me was,
it was more of bonding
instead of teaching.
It was just things that
needed to be done at the time,
so get work done and bond
at the same time.
[inaudible]
[Jeremy]
Do the same thing with my little boy.
Self-educating, if you can say.
That make sense?
When you lose certain knowledge
or knowledge is not passed on,
you're giving others more power
to take over and control.
Passing on something
that I know to somebody
that don't quite know 'cause ain't gonna
say that you don't know nothing.
But, if I can help you learn something,
I show you a certain way
to do something or do anything,
I have no problem doing it.
[music ends]
Here we are today.
We're at Walmart.
[Maurice]
Now, you're pushing it.
[Takira]
I don't know how this is gonna go.
Okay, so this is my setup.
What is this? What are we celebrating?
- [student] Christmas.
- [AB] Ethiopian Christmas.
January 7th.
I just know we're on
our way to breakfast,
and after breakfast, we have church.
- [piano playing]
- [singer vocalizing]
[churchgoer cheers]
- [singing]
- [indistinct muttering]
[Taimya]
Hey, y'all, we in school.
I feel like it's gonna
be a good day for real.
[bus chatter]
- Submit.
- A day in the life of Razhell.
[carts rumble]
[cafeteria chatter]
[teacher]
Yeah, he grabbed the gross one.
[AB] If it was 10 questions,
how many would you get?
Nine out of ten.
We feel overwhelmed right now
'cause we have cheer tryouts next Tuesday.
It's like if we hadn't have asked,
we wouldn't have known.
[rain falling]
[Razhell Foster]
We back in the morning with Maurice.
[Maurice]
I honestly...
I never thought about my situation
until I got older.
Like, I always thought about
the good things in life.
And I wish I could go back to that point
where it was only good
and never, um, never reality happening.
But, as you grow up,
that is far from the truth.
Growing up in the delta
was not easy at all.
[inaudible]
It was kind of the heart of
where slavery was in Mississippi
because, you know, like, it had rich soil
and all this other stuff.
So, if you were,
I guess you could say,
poor or middle class,
lower middle class or whatever,
you either had to be smart
or you had to know how to play a sport.
I still prioritize education,
but it's not like a,
it's not an escape for me anymore.
It's a way of proving people wrong.
It's a way of showing myself
that I can do better
than what I was told to do
or what I was told that I could do.
[choir vocalizing]
[door creaks, clicks shut]
[choir vocalizing]
Being a part of Piney Woods
was really a big sacrifice.
I started paying my own tuition
my eighth-grade year.
My mom was basically like,
"I'm done helping you."
So I was like, "Okay, I'll help myself."
I got a job working with
Miss Dur in the cafeteria,
and, um, it really taught me a lot.
Where I was growing up, it was just...
I don't know,
everybody kinda had to be the same.
Like nobody was unique,
nobody was different.
Nobody did something
that made them stick out
because people were afraid to stick out.
It's like... I don't know.
It's like being the only Black person
in an all-white classroom.
You're afraid of being
like the only person,
like the first person that people see.
But, sometimes being the first person
that people see isn't always a bad thing.
[cafeteria chatter]
[student]
You be so sad when Mya's not here.
Because Mya is my only...
[sighs] Mya is my only connection
to where, to my, to home.
So, when she not here,
I just feel so alone sometimes.
So, that's why I be so sad.
Down by the rivers
of the Hanky Panky
Sat a bulldog, a bulldog
If I call your name,
please come over here
towards the television, please.
Takira Adams, Vicker,
Camilla, Antoinette,
Kya...
Mr. Lewis...
Terence...
[indistinct chatter]
[chairs scraping]
Tomorrow, we will be going
on a field trip in the Delta.
And why are we gonna go to the Delta?
What's the importance
of going to the Delta?
- Part of civil rights, but what else?
- [Maurice] Um...
I think Miss Nica said that we're going
to see Fannie Lou Hamer's grave.
And what is that about social justice?
Who can tell me about Fannie Lou Hamer?
G?
[G]
She fought to have the right to vote.
Excellent.
- [applause]
- Woo! Woo-hoo!
Why was voting important in the Delta?
Mr. Lewis? Very good.
It was important to vote in the Delta
because not only did Black people
not have the right to vote,
but Black women didn't have
the right to vote as well.
And also, we really,
people really need a voice
to put who they feel deserve
to be office to be in office,
so they can have somebody
to represent them.
Excellent.
We will ride past the prison.
Part of the reason why I want you all
to go ride past the prison
is because we've had
students from the Delta
that literally their backyard
was the prison.
So, when they played,
the only thing they would see was what?
Prison.
Black men being incarcerated,
almost like hopeless.
And this is what you grew up with.
It is one of the worst prisons
in the nation as we speak.
There's a reason for this.
And you're in African American History.
We have the largest population
of African American males incarcerated.
We're talking about social justice.
I just left the Emmett Till,
the Emmett Till museum.
It was definitely a sight to see.
We saw where he was beat at.
We saw where the...
We're on the way to see the bridge
where he was thrown after he got killed.
We saw a replica of his body
after he was killed.
And it's just really emotional for me,
because it's just sad to see, so...

Yeah.
I am preparing for school in the morning.
I'm writing an essay on my bed.
Um, school is getting very hard for me.
Yeah, I'm finna sit down and do my work
like a little,
you know, a good student.
Yeah, I'm doing homework.
Wanna see this? Homework.
Today wasn't the best day,
but it wasn't the worst.
Um...
[shower running]
[soft music playing]
It's just, it's just so much.
And then it's overwhelming
because you have to do your work,
you have to do your dorm work.
You got home life on you.
When you here, you don't wanna be lonely,
so you wanna,
you wanna have friends.
You have to take care of
your friend relationships.
You might have a boyfriend, girlfriend,
you gotta take care of that relationship.
You gotta make sure that
your reputation stay on point.
It's just so much to juggle on the day.
["Be Ok" by Samoht playing]
Life been calling me,
I gotta clean my energy
I'm learning that love is the key
I'm where I'm supposed to be
Life been showing me
Showing me that I can be
anything that I believe
Give me time, the world will see
I will be okay
I'm gonna be
I will be okay, I'll be okay
[insects chirping]
[Takira] Like when y'all leave,
I don't think I'm coming back.
When y'all leave, I'm not coming back.
I just won't be able to do it, honestly.
[Savannah]
Yes, you can. You will.
Yeah, when we leave,
you gonna have like your...
You gonna, you know...
You gonna have your own friends.
Like, you gonna,
you gonna be okay, I promise.
[Takira] No, y'all don't understand.
No. That day y'all went to that trip,
- y'all, I was literally like...
- [Taimya] Kira, it's gon' feel like that.
You gotta think,
it's your first year here.
[Takira]
Everybody was gone. Cesar was gone.
All the juniors and the seniors was gone
and I didn't have nobody.
[Savannah] Well, you know,
we'll still be up here in a heartbeat.
- I don't care where I'm at.
- [Taimya] I don't care.
[Savannah] If you need anything,
you know I'm here in a heartbeat.
- Literally.
- Yeah. Thank you.
So, how do you feel about like Khareym
having to leave and stuff soon?
Because I know, you know, I know he...
like, how much he means to you
and how much he supports you and stuff.
[Takira] At the beginning of
the school year, I was in denial,
like, he not really leaving.
He gonna stay back a year for me.
- [Taimya] He gonna be a post-grad.
- [Takira] Yeah, he gonna be a post-grad.
Everything gonna be okay.
- Oh, that's so sad.
- I'm gonna be fine. Like,
I'm gonna be fine.
I'm gonna be about my business.
I feel like it would help me, too,
because I can be more focused.
I mean, he supports me in a lot of ways,
but I feel like I can learn
to support myself.
Like I can uphold myself.
I don't need nobody to just hold me up.
Like, I have y'all, I have God,
I have my mother, everything.
- [Savannah/Taimya] My mother.
- [laughter]
I'm gonna be fine.
[students chattering]
[students]
Whoa!
- [clapping]
- [laughs]
This is a lot, Khareym.
[oohs and awws]
[indistinct whispering]
[Monica]
Okay. Happy Valentine's Day, Shan!
- [giggling]
- [indistinct chatter]
- Name it Raima.
- Raima?
- Yeah, Raima cute.
- To Renee from...
[bag crinkling]
This is really sweet, Khareym.
Do you want all of your stuff now?
Okay.
[cafeteria chatter continues]
This is really sweet, Khareym.
[Khareym]
Yeah, of course.
- Aight! Aight!
- [Takira] Let me get another hug.
Happy Valentine's Day,
and I love you so much forever and ever.
[students wooing]
Oh, these are so cute.
Oh, my goodness.
[students cheer, clap]
Oh, my gosh, these are so beautiful,
Khareym. Thank you so much.
- Thank you so much!
- Mm-hmm.
Hoo! I'm very nervous.
Thank you, Khareym, so much.
This is very beautiful.
- I love you so much, to the moon and back.
- I love you, too.
I do. I really do need to do a backflip.
- I'm overwhelmed. Thank you so much.
- This is yours.
["Call On Me" by Caleb Hawley playing]
Been there before
So many times
When it seems like
everyone's left you behind
I will be there
For you to find
When your world is turned
and flipped you on your side
Because you're never gonna let me down
No, I won't let you
And you're never gonna trip
and fall when you're with me
Mm, when the world seems...
I think he's actually recording this.
- You recording for real?
- [laughs]
- Thank you!
- You're my besties, guys.
- I got braids.
- She got braids.
[whipping]
- [student 1] You seen it?
- [student 2] Put some water in here.
I'm doing Pre-Cal right now.
- [indistinct chatter]
- [radio playing]
- Oh, oh yeah!
- Oh no.
- Oh, I look good.
- [overlapping chatter]
- [Maurice] What?
- I'm one of the nicest people here, right?
[birds chirping]
[glasses clatter]
- [Cristina] What do you want?
- I just wanna get you
being a good teacher in the moment.
That's it. That's it.
What work is this?
[Cristina]
Yes. Put one of the peels.
So, what else do we have here?
What are we testing for?
- Okay. pH...
- [Cristina] Mm-hmm.
- ...potassium, and nitrogen.
- [Cristina] Mm-hmm.
Right, okay. So put the peel of
each because it goes by color.
We gonna shake it.
- [Maurice] So, pH...
- [Cristina] And when...
When the color, when the,
after the peel is dissolved,
you compare the color
to the color from...
[Maurice]
pH.
[Cristina]
It's funny that we are doing this,
and you are telling me at the beginning
that you wanna be anesthesiologist or...
No, a brain surgeon.
And then, over the summer,
it seemed to me that you became
- a little bit interested in public health.
- [Maurice] Mm-hmm.
Before coming here,
I did not like science.
- [Cristina] You did not like science? Yay!
- And then...
[Cristina]
And I taught you so well that you...
[Maurice] As soon as I got in your class,
I was like, yep,
I'ma be a scientist.
I mean, people don't like
coming to chemistry class.
People don't like that.
But, we did a lot of experiments.
And we did a lot of lights,
a lot of noises,
and a lot of explosion. [laughs]
So I know that's what y'all like it.
Okay, compare it to the color on the tube.
And the reason
I'm doing this is because...
you know, we're doing
this [indistinct] program.
So, I need you to check over this testing
this year and next year.
What? You don't wanna do this?
You don't like it?
No. Um...
I don't really plan on coming back
to Piney Woods next year.
- What do you mean?
- Um... [laughs]
I'm thinking about going somewhere else.
Um...
Where you trying to go, Maurice?
Mississippi School for Math and Science.
I can understand that [stammering]...
- Wow.
- Mm-hmm.
Well, I can say that you
told me from the beginning
that you may go since
I met you eighth grade.
So... But, I still...
I thought I gave you enough stuff,
so you can stay here. [laughs]
I thought I bribed you
enough to stay here.
- [gentle music playing]
- You, you really have, um...
- [sighs, giggles] It's, it's...
- Don't cry. I will cry, too.
Yeah, it's really hard for me to, like,
- leave everything behind, you know.
- Well...
You're not leaving anything behind.
Well, yeah, I'm leaving people, experiences.
Yeah, but, you know,
you're not just going forever.
- Have you applied yet?
- Um...
- Not yet? Okay.
- Like...
So... But you, you made up your mind?
- Yeah.
- Alright.
So, there's still a chance,
if you don't get in.
- [laughs]
- No, I'm joking.
[sighs] You know what I said,
I'm gonna write you a very good
recommendation just... [laughs]
But, just remember, when you get that,
'cause I know you'll get admitted,
remember, if you don't like it there,
if you didn't, don't get, you know,
if you feel that you're not loved
like you are here,
you're always welcome to come back.
And the research is the same all over.

- Are you in choir today?
- [Maurice] No.
[Cristina] No. So, we can
come back like 7 o'clock,
and we can go ahead
and let this settle for a little bit,
and then you come back 7 o'clock
and read it again.
Okay, go to class now,
and I will see you 7 o'clock, then.
Okay.
[laughter, overlapping chatter]
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct humming]
[Shandrell Brown]
It's almost time to go.
I wonder if that microphone's
gonna hit my head.
- [student] I don't wanna go to this thing.
- I don't wanna go to the movie.
- [student] I'm tired.
- I'm so sleepy.
When are we not tired?
[indistinct chatter]
[student] I'm still tired.
I haven't slept in, like, two days.
Two days? Two days is crazy.
Can't nobody ever put me outta my sleep.
No. We should go to Bora Bora.
- Bora Bora? Who gonna be paying for that?
- [laughs]
How much we gonna have to fundraise
to go to Bora Bora?
I want somebody to come to Colorado
with me this summer.
You know Miss Hargrove
said she didn't pick me
because she said she wanted
it to be "a girl's trip."
[chatter continues]
[laughs]
I was like, "If you don't want me to go,
just say it."
I'm not gonna say what I just thought...
- but...
- I was like...
It coulda still been
a girl trip if you came.
Shut the hell up.
[laughing]
That was the most disrespectful thing
that has came out your mouth ever.
- Coulda still been a girl's trip...
- [mocking imitation]
- No!
- We could've still did what we did
because it wasn't nothing
special for girls.
Like, we was all just there. It was fun...
Get up. It's time to go to your dorms.
[student]
You not talkin' to me.
It's time to go to y'all dorms
says the dorm parents.
- [student] He not talking to me.
- Where they at though?
He not talking to me. They for sure...
- I don't see Big Robbie.
- They for sure somewhere.
[laughter]
I'm so sorry.
[laughter]
I love her, but come on.
You don't see her because
she already done left you. Look at you.
I been calling her. Y'all laughing
like this something new. This is old.
- Shandrell, you coming to movie night?
- We all gotta go, it's mandatory.
- It's mandatory?
- It's mandatory.
Now I don't wanna go.
I was gonna go anyway.
[laughter]
- Just 'cause it's mandatory?
- [overlapping chatter]
Look at that. Early in the morning,
ready for church.
- [quiet chatter]
- [soft singing]
[indistinct singing]
[teacher]
Man, look at the sunshine.
Look at how it's shining bright
like a diamond.
When you have God within you,
and you have God on your side,
you know, there's nothing
that's impossible for you.
Like, you know, He'll lead you
beside quiet water
to refresh your soul,
He'll guide you along the right path.
I just feel like the Lord,
He's just telling you
that he got your back no matter what.
[choir singing, clapping]
- [singing stops]
- [students clapping]
[athletes chattering]
[indistinct chatter continues]
[Maurice]
There's, um, I feel like at Piney Woods,
there's different levels of, um,
certain religions
aren't being put into play.
Like, 'cause I know not
everybody prays the same,
not everybody worships the same.
There's a lot of different religions here.
If somebody doesn't praise that way,
they shouldn't be totally disregarded
as to how they feel regarding God.
'Cause everybody has a different God,
but at the end of the day,
it's still a God.
- Right.
- So, I feel like the whole...
Christianity is basically
the only religion at Piney Woods,
it's just not okay.
- And this is no hate. No hate, no shade.
- No hate, no shade.
Piney Woods is conservative.
They're really like...
I mean, as is the whole South,
and especially Mississippi
and Franklin County.
They expect for people
not to know who they are,
and then they expect to kind of mold you
into who they want you to be.
I feel like sexuality
and different type of things,
those aren't really, like,
necessary for church life.
That's not the environment
where we talk about that.
[Shandrell]
And I feel like us taking over church
and like making it our own
gives people a way to
connect in a different way
than they would.
He's not going through the same thing.
He's not sitting in the dorm
with us every day,
- looking at our faces.
- [Maurice] I don't know if he's gay.
I don't know if he ever been gay,
but it's kind of hard.
He ain't never sat at Piney Woods
and looked at a preacher
that said we was an abomination.
He ain't never did that before.
[Maurice] So telling me that,
"Oh, you're an abomination,"
that makes people not wanna
look at the word of God
because if that's God's word,
then I don't wanna be around him.
Because if you tell me I'm an abomination,
I'ma show you just
how much of one I am.
[screaming]
[Takira] It's crazy because it's never
a day that goes by that we don't all sin.
It's like... And no sin is
higher than the others.
No sin is lower than the other.
Sin doesn't have a price on it.
All sin is sin.
So, if you go cuss,
and then you go kill somebody,
that's the same sin.
It's the same amount of sin
that you did. It's no better...
[Maurice] I kind of feel like there
should be levels though.
- [Takira] No, it shouldn't...
- [Maurice] Hold on. Wait.
Because if I cuss every day,
and you go kill somebody every day,
- we are not the same people.
- [Takira] We not the same.
We not the same, but we have
the same amount of redemption.
Yeah, I mean, I feel like
there really should be levels
because saying that being gay is the same
as being a murderer is crazy.
[Shandrell] Basically you're saying
you can't judge off of what somebody did.
- Exactly! Exactly!
- You sin, too.
Nobody has room to judge anybody
because we were born sinners,
- and our whole, our whole...
- We were born in sin.
[Maurice]
Our whole life...
has been revolved around sin,
whether we are conscious of it or not.
I think being gay is a sin
because it says it in the Bible. But...
I don't think like...
I don't feel like it's no other sin
that people have such a problem with.
- Because it was shamed.
- Exactly.
[Maurice] Some people would rather
their child be a murderer than being gay,
and I'm gonna just put it how it is.
- And that is so unbelievable to me.
- [Shandrell] That's stupid.
[Maurice] That is so crazy for me
to think that you would rather
your child kill somebody than
love who they wanna love.
I feel like no one
- should put a label on themselves.
- [Takira] Right.
[Maurice]
No one should say that I'm this or that.
It's I like what I like,
and you have no room to judge me.
If you're attracted to something,
you're attracted to something,
and that's just the, the bottom line.
[choir vocalizing]
L-Lemme show y'all... No.
Lemme show y'all...
[Razhell] Girl, I wanna record on
your black phone for a little bit.
[trilling]
[student] AB, the vlog's gonna
return back to you.
Oops! Lord.
[ball bounces]
[people cheering and clapping]
- Stop! [laughing] Lemme see!
- [student laughing]
[wind blowing]
[students laughing]
[indistinct chatter]
[Shandrell]
Kira.
[upbeat music playing]
- [music stops]
- [whispers] It's time.
This is the quickest sew-in
I've ever done in my life.
[giggles]
But it's gonna be cute. I'll make sure.
You put the long in the back?
Yeah, we gonna probably
have to go up under it though
because I started too far up,
trying to make sure it's full.
- And please don't do that.
- Do what?
- Like, let me do it now.
- Okay.
- Excuse me.
- Alright.
Well, I always say that junior prom,
you're just supposed to go,
feel it out, be cute.
But senior year's when
you add the razzle-dazzle.
[Taimya]
I don't know if I believe in that.
[Ms. Adams] I do because I'd have
to be the one to pay for it.
We can't do razzle-dazzle both years.
[Takira] I feel like this is
razzle-dazzle though.
[Ms. Adams] It was a little more
than I had budgeted for now.
That's the truth now.
[Taimya]
Yeah, I just don't know.
What time is your auntie
and them getting here?
What time is Khareym
supposed to be getting here?
[Taimya]
He on the way right now.
I like Khareym.
- Me, too.
- [sighs] Obviously.
Sav, can you bring me that, um, 16?
- [Savannah] Yes, ma'am.
- [Ms. Adams] Hoo-wee.
Even though I might complain
about having to do hair
and go buy this, go pick this up,
it really makes my day.
Everybody knows it.
Like, I live for these moments.
Doing y'all hair,
making sure y'all look your best,
helping you pick out stuff,
because having y'all away
at Piney Woods
really is like giving me an early glimpse
at what it's gonna be like for y'all
to be gone off to college.
That's why I'm really, really rooting
for Jackson State, Tougaloo.
I just am so thankful that
I found friends like Mya
and Kira who accepted me,
and let me come into...
and let me come into y'all home.
My mom being so far away,
and my sisters not being here,
- I'm just very thankful that, you know...
- [Ms. Adams] Oh, Savannah.
...I was able to have
you guys as my family.
Literally, like, me and Mya
got our makeup done together,
and, you know,
we're getting ready together.
So, it's just special to me,
not being able to be around my family,
but knowing that y'all my family.
And if I ever needed anything
or anything like that, you know.
[Taimya]
You're so sweet.
[Ms. Adams] Absolutely, Savannah.
We really do love you.
However many years from now,
y'all can still pull from these memories.
You just pull from your time
at Piney Woods campus,
and y'all be sisters forever.
[Takira]
Sisters forever. Can you give me a hug?
- [Ms. Adams] Oh, Kira.
- [Takira] I love you, sister.
- [Savannah] I love you, Kira.
- [Takira] You my ride or die.
[Ms. Adams]
Oh, Lord.
[Takira]
Ride or d... It ain't even no or.
- [Savannah] It's just ride or die.
- [Takira] It's just ride.
Ride. We gon' ride together.
[indistinct chatter]
[Takira rapping]
Ay, ride together
Ay, we sisters forever
and ever and ever and ever
Ay, ride together, ay
ride together
- [laughs]
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[giggles]
[Ms. Adams]
I rap.
[laughter]
[Takira] Alright, um,
don't bring that story up, please.
[Ms. Adams]
I rap.
["A Midwinter Night's Dream
by Ga-Nu playing]

- [hip hop music playing]
- [clapping]
[student]
Juice! Juice! Juice! Juice!
[overlapping chanting, yelling]
I am...
[electronic music playing]
[echoing vocalizing]
[echoing vocalizing]

I am, I am, I am...
[inaudible]
I know now who that I am
I say that I am, I am
I am, I am, I am
I know now who that I am
I say that I am, I am
I am, yeah...
[electronics stop, vocals echo]
[vocals build, electronics restart]
[song ends]
- [laughter]
- [splashing]
[Takira]
So when I'm with my peers, I feel free
because we go through the same thing.
We understand each other.
We go through the same bathroom fires.
We go through the same bathroom leaks.
We go through the same no water.
And it's like...
We're all together most of the time,
so you can't help but to know,
"Oh, she was sad yesterday, she sad today.
I've been sad all day.
We must be sad over the same thing."
[Taimya]
Yes, and it's so much built up.
It's so much built-up stuff
that y'all go through together.
And it's so mutual,
and so when you have somebody
you can express to like y'all,
you have so much to say,
and you feel so listened to,
because you never get to say those things.
- [Maurice] It's therapy.
- [Taimya] And you know that.
Like all of these people
around you feel the same way.
[inaudible]
[Taimya] And you just feel like,
like, you feel a sense of community,
like you have,
you belong somewhere.
Like in this circle, I'm no longer like
Miss Perfect, Miss Piney Woods.
Like, I'm just Mya.
And y'all don't expect me
to just hold my tongue
or not say how I really feel
or keep it Q, or say, "Yes, ma'am."
Y'all not gonna look at me different
if I say what I wanna say.
[birds chirping]
[Maurice]
I feel free everywhere. Um...
- [laughter]
- [overlapping chatter]
I've really gotten to the point
where people telling me what to do
is no longer an option.
If I feel in my heart
that it's not something
that is what I'm really
on page or on board with,
I'm just not gonna do it
'cause I have that choice.
And I feel like me being
the age that I am now
and me going through all of the things
that I've been through,
no one is gonna tell me
what I can't do with my time.
Every time that we do something,
every time there's a consequence,
like Mya said,
nobody is gonna no longer see you
as the person that you were before.
[Taimya]
Or who you are. It's who you are.
[Maurice]
It's you make one mistake,
now you're that mistake
for the rest of your life,
and I don't like that.
At this point,
let me be the mistake in peace,
but I no longer will be
a mistake around you.
[overlapping hallway chatter]
- [teacher] Okay!
- [chatter stops]
My students, go to art!
I want my class on one end,
and the art class on another.
[soft music playing]
- [students chattering]
- [sink running]
[indistinct chatter]
[Cristina]
Okay! Alright, class! Sit down!

Gloria, how's it going today?
[indistinct chatter]
[teacher]
It should be the very first page.
So, why do you think,
in this particular case right here,
the radius is being squared?
[students chattering]
Y'all don't even need my help.
[Takira]
Let me get out the way.
- [indistinct chatter]
- [laughs]
[teacher] Oh, I know it's a good question.
That's why I asked.
I ask good questions.
I always want good answers.
- [Cristina] Now what?
- You know, I'm kind of looking at it,
[laughs] and I don't think it's gonna fit.

[student mumbles]
Do I have to put the bottom
in parentheses? Should I put...
- [teacher] Yeah, you start off just like...
- Should I put two parentheses?
Because I put it on there,
but it took it off when I pressed "Enter."
[teacher] Okay, you shouldn't have had
a parenthesis here.
I didn't.
[teacher] It's multiply this,
and it should have been 5.10e,
and it should been 10 to the 24th.
[Savannah] Does the exponent
go after the parentheses?
[Takira] I don't know.
Do you think we should move those?
- [student] These?
- Yeah, we can't move them now.
It's better than last week.
I don't know. To be decided.
[indistinct quiet chatter]
Come on.
- [Khareym] What you did? [groans]
- [Taimya] Come on. It's okay.
[both laugh]
- I know you...
- [Khareym] Well, what did you do?
[Taimya] Please just hug me.
I miss you so much.
[Khareym] [sighs] Okay, so
tell me what happened. Why we hugging?
- Tell me what happened.
- [Taimya] Because Mr. Jerry took my phone.
I was taking a PFA, and I pulled it up.
[sighs]
Mm, so you broke a rule.
- You about to fail... So, you broke a rule.
- I don't wanna hear that from you.
- I don't want to hear that!
- Troublemaker.
It's okay.
I'ma get your phone back.
Wait, how long?
Did he give it to Miss Crowley?
- [scoffs] Seriously, Mya?
- Yes.
Dude. Damn. I'm not finna...
I'ma hold you accountable but, dude.
Come on.
Okay, well... [sighs]
- You're gonna make me cry.
- Don't cry.
- If you cry, I'll cry.
- [piano playing]
[teacher speaks indistinctly]
[piano continues]
[Pastor David]
Wait.
Wait.
One, two, three, four.
Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord
Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord
Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord
For his mighty acts
and his wondrous works
- Praise the Lord
- Chorus.
- Praise the Lord
- Chorus!
Praise the Lord
One, two, three, four.
Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord
Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord
Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord
For his mighty acts
and his wondrous works
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord
Praise the Lord
Have a seat, have a seat.
Amen. Amen.
[gentle piano music]
- [singer warming up]
- I'm thinking the guys first. Guys first.
[mouthing]
You can stand up. Yes, yes.
- [student] All of us?
- [Pastor David] Can you stand, please?
[flowing piano music playing]
[indistinct murmuring]
Guys, fellas, sing.
The Lord...
The Lord is my shepherd
He goes before me.
He goes before me
Defender behind me.
Defender behind me
I won't fear.
I won't fear
Ladies. I'm filled...
I'm filled with anointing
My cup.
My cup's overflowing
No weapon can harm me
I won't fear.
I won't fear
Everyone. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah
I am not alone
Sing it as if you mean
what you're saying.
He's my comfort. He's my comfort.
He's my comfort
Always holds me
Close
- [piano continues]
- [Pastor David] We'll see.
Go ahead, you first. Okay.
He's my comfort
Always holds me close
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah
I am not alone
He's my comfort.
He's my comfort. Come on, sing it.
He's my comfort
Always holds me close
One last time, everybody. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah
I am not alone
He's my comfort.
And believe in it.
He's my comfort
Always holds me close
Encourage somebody else.
Give somebody a hug. Encourage them.
Encourage them. Not just one person.
Like, five, six, seven people.
- [indistinct singing]
- [piano continues]
- [indistinct chatter]
- [back-patting]
[chatter continues]
[soft laughter]
[student]
Oh, you're crying? Why are you crying?
[piano music continues]
[chatter continues]
[inaudible]
- [piano continues]
- [chatter continues]
[Khareym]
Come on, group hug.
[muffled laughter]
[Taimya] [muffled]
My face, y'all.
My face! [laughs]
Okay. Okay... No, no! [squealing laugh]
[indistinct chatter]
[humming]
[giggling, indistinct]
[laughter, indistinct]
[Pastor David]
Wow.
That was good, y'all. That was good.
That was good. That was good.
[William]
[clears throat] Um,
a few ground rules
before we get started.
This is an opportunity
for your voice to be heard.
It is not the opportunity
for you to call anybody out.
[murmuring]
You know, we just changed our mission,
and in our mission,
we say that we're going to
develop a child through
a holistic approach, right?
That develops what's on that back wall.
- Head, heart, and hands.
- [students murmur]
How are we doing with that?
How well or not well?
Why you laughing, Mr. Spann?
How well or not well...
do we do grace?
How well or not well do we do
forgiveness at Piney Woods?
Well, I feel like some, some, some
of our actions could be better.
Like, for instance,
we talk about freedom
and responsibility a lot.
And, you know, um, that...
I don't feel
like there's much like
freedom in our atmosphere.
Like for instance,
um, you can get written up
for going to the bathroom during class.
I don't feel that that's
any type of necessary.
We can, we can get our,
our phones taken away
for having them in the cafeteria
on the weekends.
It happened five times this weekend.
Um, I, I don't feel like
that's necessary either.
- [snickering]
- Um...
Our dress code is very strict,
and I know in one of the pages
in this book, it says,
um, "No student feels like they're
above another because of it,"
but I also feel like it
stifles our individuality.
And, you know, we don't get
to fully express ourselves
- within some of these rules.
- [computer alert]
So, I feel like that could
be built upon.
But, yeah.
[students clapping]
[William]
Does anybody know my rule about rules?
- [students] No.
- [William] If you can, in writing,
show us why a rule is unnecessary...
if you can do that,
we'll consider changing the rules.
We've done it on multiple occasions.
- [Cristina] Look at the boy's hair.
- [William] Right?
We've done it on multiple occasions.
Because this is not about
me and us and our authority.
You have work to do to change the rules,
but you have power to change the rules.
That's in your hands.
- [students clapping]
- [gentle music playing]
Every time we have this town hall,
which... not every time
'cause it's only been twice,
this is the second.
Every single time that someone
is speaking about what they feel like
or how they feel we could
change the atmosphere,
people don't wanna hear it.
Grace has been extended to every
single person in this room.
- Not just a student.
- [murmuring]
Faculty, staff,
even people that just got here this year.
Grace has been extended.
And I feel like when we're in this space,
we have to set aside our
differences or whatever,
and come to a way... or a common agreement
as to how this space could be fixed
to better every single
person in this room.
First of all, this is a big step, okay?
A town hall meeting is a big step.
This is the first year, if I'm correct,
it's the first year that
we have had town hall meetings.
And I feel like we've came
to a point where our ideas
and our thoughts are actually
being listened to now.
So, I commend everybody in this room
for being here right now
to listen to everything that I have to say
and everybody else has to say.
And... yeah, stay blessed.
[applause]
[Cristina]
What is the thing that we discussed
at the beginning of the school year?
We said that you need to work on?
- [Takira] Patience.
- [Cristina] Patience.
How do you think you're doing with that?
[Takira]
I don't know. I don't know.
[sighs] I think I'm still dealing,
like, struggling with it.
But, you are more aware
that what you need to do.
- Yeah, yeah.
- That's what I feel, that you're more...
- You think I'm more aware?
- I think you're more aware,
and you catch yourself
if you're not patient.
You just say, "Okay, I need to calm down.
I need to be patient."
I think the main thing that
you allowed yourself to grow
and you allowed yourself to be vulnerable.
At the beginning,
you did not like people to know
- that you might not know the answer.
- Mm-hmm.
- It's right?
- Mm-hmm.
But now, you don't mind say,
"Okay, hold on, hold on. I don't get it.
I don't understand why is that this way."
And that's a growth.
That's the growth
I really appreciate from you
and that I observed in you.
Do you agree with me on...
I agree with you 'cause I see it.
'Cause like now, this factoring stuff
we are going through [laughs],
- I be like, "What's the answer?"
- Yeah, but that's growth.
But, we do still have some issues.
What are the issues we have?
- What other issues do we have?
- I don't know. Just think about it.
- Talking? Mm...
- Mm...
[quiet student chatter]
- Talking.
- Talking?
Talking way... [laughs]
Not way too much,
but sometimes,
that is not really necessary.
- Mm-hmm.
- But, you're growing.
Hopefully, we get to grow together
all the way to 12th grade.
Please, I hope so because I don't think
I can do next year without you.
I promise you, I do not...
Like, you don't understand.
- What's your plan?
- [Takira] For next year at school?
Next year, I'ma just take more time
to understand things, and just note...
Like, I'm not gonna try to just
be a part of everything.
Good. Because that
was one of the issues.
- Yeah.
- That you try and...
The reason I did
not say what you cannot be
because you had to find out for yourself
which one are you really interested in,
which one you really
your heart is gonna go.
So, just you need to figure out
- which one you doing and do it.
- Mm-hmm.
We tested water today.
We have Gloria in the front seat.
We are with Dr. Nica!
- [students cheer]
- Infamous!
- [class chatter]
- [upbeat music playing]
[mouthing]
[high-pitched giggling]
[indistinct excited chatter]
We're about to go sing.
Hey, guys. So we are in...
[indistinct teacher chatter]
[student]
What class is this? What class is this?
Oh, sorry. It's English lit. English lit.
- [insects chirping]
- [indistinct yell, chatter]

I'm on the way to
a college fair right now, and this is...
We have a lot of colleges
that's gonna be looking,
and I have like questions
that I'm gonna ask them and stuff.
So, I'm excited. I'm nervous.
[laughter]
- [applause]
- [students] Welcome!
- Fire it up!
- [students] Ready to go!
- Fire it up! Right.
- [students] Ready to go!
Welcome, everyone. We are very excited,
as we have our annual award ceremony.
The recognition of the hard work
our students have put in,
our teachers, and our whole team support.
The highest average in Comp Health,
- the award goes to Takira Adams.
- [students clapping]
Hold your applause until we're going.
[students murmur]
The highest G... The highest average
in Biology goes to...
- Takira Adams.
- [scattered laughter]
[murmuring]
For the lead soprano, Miss Taimya Adams.
[applause]
Hold your applause
till everyone comes up.
I took a group of students
to the Mississippi Magnolia Mock trial,
and they did an outstanding job.
They placed first place,
and they had to go through three rounds.
And Khareym, please stand.
Khareym got the top scholarship.
[applause, cheering]
[teacher] And there's another person
that I want to recognize.
And unfortunately, we will be
losing him for the next year.
He has been accepted to
the Math and Science Academy.
Mr. Maurice Hunter for
the Most Helpful Student.
Hold your applause.

Okay.
Look at us.
[insects chirping]
[Monica] Well, how have we been
doing with the fundraiser?
[William]
Uh, better, but not good enough.
We really need to
double our fundraising.
And start thinking about
a capital campaign.
[Monica]
Yeah.
The big thing we gotta improve
is some of our housing
with some upgrades in student housing,
campus housing.
- [choir vocalizing]
- We'll be able to get more people here.
You know, I'd like to open up
some of these structures that we closed.
But I'm not gonna open them
until we can...
you know, until we can have 'em fit
to properly honor the kids.
[vocalizing]
You know,
I do the work 'cause I feel like...
it's what I'm supposed to do.
How long it takes? I don't know.
- [vocalizing continues]
- But, just my spirit says
success is around the corner,
change is around the corner.
[vocalizing]
And so however long it
takes us to turn the corner,
my hope is to, you know,
put this in a position
where we can just expand it and grow it
to something deeper,
more far-reaching
than what we see today.
[vocalizing]
You know, it's just like
treading water, right?
You can stay afloat,
but you're not really
going out into the deep.
We've just been kind of
treading water for 19 years.
[vocalizing]
[Monica] How long do you think
we can continue just floating?
This, you know,
the legacy of the school.
What would be the impact
if we just, unfortunately,
it turned and we had to close?
This whole place is like life.
[vocalizing]
You know, the whole place...
The space brings life, gives life,
cultivates life, and living.
[vocalizing continues]
You know?
We're the epitome of resilience and hope
and all that good stuff, and...
you can't take that away.
That's... that's just not an option.
[vocalizing]
- [students] Lean on me
- [Pastor David] There you go...
- [students] I'll be your friend
- [clapping]
I'll help you carry on
[soprano sax playing]
For it won't be long
Hopefully everybody starts studying.
Looking fit, looking all pretty.
An essay for homework? That's crazy.
[Razhell]
Wait. 7:56.
- Hold her like this.
- [Razhell] Hold her like that, AB.
- I-I can't kiss it.
- [laughter]
I'm not gonna lie.
I'm not doing my work.
- Hey. [laughs] Hey.
- Hey.
[growls]
[Taimya]
...doing. [grunts]
- [cafeteria chatter]
- Slack, you know what I'm saying?
Why'd y'all come back? It's not open?
[groans]
Speech with the power is happening.
[panting]
I'm nervous. I gotta sing, guys.
[choir singing]
[sighs] Two more days,
and I'm gonna be out this joint.
[birds chirping]
[inspiring music playing]
[leaves rustling]
- Come here. Take a bite.
- [munches]
That's good, bro.
I'm gonna eat the whole thing.
[Jeremy]
So, what, graduation is your last day?
- [Curdell] Hm?
- [Jeremy] Graduation is your last day?
[Curdell] 100%. Yeah.
You know, you may not realize it,
but a lot of the reason
why I've like matured
and then become more open
with myself and stuff,
it's 'cause you really taught me
always be consistent,
have hard work, just do it.
Just 'cause, you know what I'm saying,
it might sound crazy,
but go ahead and get it done.
Dr. Crossley said one morning
that he's not gonna let
no one else outwork him.
But you really taught me how to persevere
and go through that kind of stuff, so.
Yeah. I should bother you
once or twice a week,
make sure you're doing what
you're supposed to be doing.
Hey. Just making sure,
- you know what I'm saying?
- [laughs]
- [Curdell] And where we taking this to?
- [Jeremy] To the cafeteria.
[Curdell]
Oh, okay. This is for y'all to eat.
[inspiring music continues]
- [car engine stops]
- [music ends]
- [fan whirring]
- [footsteps approach]
Just set them right there
on the deep freezer.
- Alright. Alright.
- They'll take care of the rest.
[cafeteria chatter]
[upbeat music playing]
[giggling]
- [student] How's it taste?
- [Taimya] Yummy.
- Pretty good, isn't it?
- [Maurice] Yeah, I mean...
[giggles] This is yummy.
Eating this.
Spicy noodles.

[fireworks popping]
Oh, this part not straight.
- [crinkling]
- [indistinct chatter]
Deep. Yeah, stay with that one.
[indistinct]

[overlapping chatter]

[song ends]
[sighs]
- [muttering]
- Keith.
- Sup, bro? Bro!
- [laughs] Start packing, bro.
Just start packing, bro.
It's sad 'cause to think
that I've been at Piney Woods so long,
- and now, it's finally, like...
- [Curdell] Yeah.
- ...coming to an end.
- [Curdell] Right.
[Razhell]
To think I've been at Piney Woods
for the longest nine months of my life.
- Oh wow.
- [Curdell] And you're coming back.
[Razhell]
And it's not coming to an end.
- [Curdell] How it feel, bro?
- I'm gonna be here
for as long as Maurice has been here.
- [laughs]
- If I graduate Piney Woods,
I'm gonna be here for three years,
just like Maurice.
[Maurice]
Okay, so you didn't have to say that.
[Razhell] Maurice know
he coming back in senior year.
He know he gonna go there, and he's
gonna be like, "Oh, it's boring here."
[Curdell] Maurice,
you gotta come back for graduation.
'Cause guess what?
I'm not coming back, dude...
[overlapping chatter]
You don't have to, but look.
It'd be better
'cause guess what?
During like their graduation,
I'll be there, bro.
Nah, I'm just gonna be working, bro.
I'ma take the ACT a couple more times,
so I can get a little higher score.
I'ma familiarize myself for APA,
'cause my major is a science major,
so most of my essays are
gonna be in APA-style, so.
And overall, I just like helping people,
like as much as I can,
just like touch as many people as I can.
So, I decided why not?
The medical field, you never...
you always gonna need people
in the medical field.
Like, it's vast.
You could do so much with it.
- [Keith] Like a lot of things.
- It's a lot of things.
So many avenues you can go down
with the medical field.
So, like, I'ma do nursing.
But, after nursing school,
like when I graduate,
I'm gonna apply for the University
of Georgia's law school.
Then, I'ma go to law school to get my JD.
[Maurice] I feel like my time
at Piney Woods has come to an end,
but it's not on a...
it's not on a bad note.
Like, I can leave knowing
that I can come back.
It's not like I left because I got put out
or I left because of this.
It was because I wanted more for myself,
and I wanted to, what Dr. Crossley said,
strive for excellence.
And, I mean,
now, I'm going to a number one
school in Mississippi.
Never thought I'd do that.
- So, what you think it's gonna be like?
- Um...
It's just gonna be different. Like...
It's different,
but I'm glad that it's different
'cause it gives me
the opportunity to really...
- figure out like what I wanna do. Like...
- [Razhell] Figure out.
[sighs]
Figure out just what I wanna do.
[Razhell]
Why you can't figure it out here?
I can't figure it out at Piney Woods,
and it's mainly because of the resources.
Like... [sighs] Piney Woods
doesn't have a lot of resources.
And I will say this over and over again,
it's not their fault.
But, at the same time,
if the opportunity is presented for me
to go somewhere else where
I know it could benefit me more,
why would I stay in a place
where I'm just comfortable being in
but it doesn't give me anything out of it?
I've had a lot of opportunities
being at Piney Woods.
I have been to places I ain't
never really been before.
But like...
everything is not just...
everything's not here.
And like...
'Cause people don't give back
to Black communities,
especially Black schools.
Like, if Piney Woods weren't all Black,
this campus would be operating better.
And it's kinda sad to hear.
It's kinda sad to know
really just how people
really don't really care for
African Americans like that.
Like, I don't really remember
my past years. It be like,
when I start talking about it,
it kinda just like rush in.
Like, I came a long, long, long way.
And so as far as leaving stuff behind,
I'm probably gonna miss definitely like
the teachers that poured into me.
I plan on being friends with y'all,
you know, for the rest of my life,
- so I don't think nothing will break that.
- [zipping bag]
So, it's not like I'm really
leaving y'all behind.
It's just kinda I'm leaving
for a temporary amount of
time to upgrade, right?
Then when I come back,
you gonna be looking at
the new and improved...
I don't know who. [laughs]
I don't know who, but yeah.
But yeah, I'm excited.
[Keith]
Excited.
[calm music playing]
[inaudible]
[inaudible]
[inaudible]
[indistinct chatter]
[inspiring music playing]


[music ends]
Welcome, welcome, welcome
to the Piney Woods School.
My name is Will Crossley.
I am the president.
On behalf of the faculty
and staff of this institution,
we welcome you to this space.
Piney Woods' mission
is to prepare leaders
for tomorrow's challenges.
Would you help me as we celebrate
these remarkable young people?
The Piney Woods School
graduating class of 2023.
- Would you help me celebrate them?
- [applause, cheering]
[Savannah] I never understood why
my parents were so hard on me,
or why my Piney Woods family
was so hard on me.
It is because they saw something in me
that I couldn't see for myself.
I'm not done growing,
and to my peers in class of 2023...
We've graduated
We've graduated
Mom and Daddy, I've graduated
[applause, cheering]
[choir vocalizing]
[William]
Graduating senior Gloria Ari Phillips!
[applause, cheering]
[continues, indistinct]
[applause, cheering]
He comes to us from Addis Ababa,
help me congratulate...
Around here, we just call him AB.
Abenezer Shiferaw.
[AB] My most memorable moment,
it would be today.
[applause, cheering]
[choir vocalizing]
[applause, cheering]
- Let's go!
- Hold on, don't scream!
[all shouting]
[Takira]
Okay! Okay! Alright!
[William] Help me congratulate
Khareym Tyreek Kelly.
[applause, cheering]
[indistinct conversation]
[laughs]
I'm proud of the young people
we have before us.
[inspiring music playing]
I wanna leave them just with
this thought. It's a poem.
I hope that you will take this to heart
as you go out to change the world.
"Figure it out yourself, my lad.
"You've all that
the greatest of men have had.
"Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,
and a brain to use if you would be wise."
This is crazy.
"With this equipment, they all began.
"So, start for the top,
"and say, 'I can.'
"You're well equipped
for the fight you choose.
"And the man who has
risen great deeds to do
"began his life with no more than you.
"You are the handicap you must face.
"You are the one who
must choose your place.
"So figure it out for yourself, my lad.
"You were born with all
that the great have had.
"With your equipment, they all began.
Get hold of yourself and say, 'I can.'"
You can.
I expect great things, great things,
great things of you.
God bless you. All rise for
the singing of the alma mater.
When one door closes,
another one opens.
And if all else fails,
go through a window.
On three...
["Rest" by Ashley Tamar Davis
and Adrian Dunn playing]

We are strong
Yes, we are one
We are bound together
We're standing tall
We are the chosen ones
Ready for what comes our way
We will conquer
Anything
I need rest from my labor
Rest from the doubting
Rest from the fear
Lord, help me to believe
Rest
Rest
Rest
Lord, help me to believe
Rest
Rest
Rest
Lord, help me to believe
Rest
Rest
Rest
Lord, help me to believe
Rest
Rest
Rest
Lord, help me to believe
Rest
Rest
Rest
Lord, help me to believe
We will rise above

Through every challenge
Together, we'll overcome
Together, we face the day
We know we'll see no more
Building bridges, breaking walls
We'll do what needs to be done
Rest
Rest
Rest
Rest
Rest
Rest