Michelle Carlson Production Notes

By Michelle Carlson


Behind the Scenes: The Story Behind the Story

This project has gone through more changes than any story I've worked on. I initially began with the idea that I wanted to do a story that in some way involved the youth of Hempstead. One problem was that I soon discovered there were many different ways a story like this could go, and I would need to find a better focus. I then narrowed down my idea to education in Hempstead, but with a number of elementary schools and even two middle schools, that topic was also too broad to tackle. I then decided to focus on education at the high school level.

Once this was decided, I still needed to find my angle. I discovered there are two high schools in Hempstead, and both are extremely different each other. There's Hempstead High School, a public school with approximately 1,600 students, and Sacred
Heart Academy, a private all-girls' Catholic school. The immediate differences between the two schools were interesting from the start, and with an ongoing debate over whether students should attend public or private schools, I believed a story that intertwined both of Hempstead's high schools would be a great approach to take.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a great idea to everyone, and school officials at Sacred Heart Academy refused to talk to me. After many phone calls, messages and even some debate, I realized that I was not going to get anyone from that school to agree to
an interview. It was the most difficult time I had ever had trying to get people to talk to me and it was without a doubt a great learning experience in dealing with certain people. I didn't want to give up, but it was a difficult situation and with time running short, I realized sometimes things just don't go the way you planned and you have to be prepared to change your plans when that happens.

I then turned to Hempstead High School and tried to figure out how I could write a story that included Sacred Heart without actually talking to anyone. I was surprised to realize I knew very little about Hempstead High School and that there was plenty
to discuss without including another school.

After researching Hempstead High School and interviewing officials at the school, I was immediately intrigued by their story. For years, and even now, it has been a struggling school. And yet, they are still working hard to make necessary changes in
order to bring them up to a level that compares to most other schools. I saw how some of the changes helped and how some still hadn't quite made an impact yet, but they were still trying. Most of all, it seemed as though there was a real change in student attitude. Regardless of whether they were taken of the list of worst achieving schools, only to be put back on months later, the school, its students and the administration were still putting in an effort and I wanted to share their efforts with everyone else.