Despite struggles with foster care, an unstable home life and an absent father, Sharifea Baskerville is able to make her way to Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth, a program offered through the College for students from under-resourced schools, as represented in Christopher Wong's documentary "Whatever It Takes."
The documentary, which airs on New Hampshire public television April 2, chronicles the challenges faced by Baskerville and other students and faculty at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics. The documentary was shot in 2005, its first year of development under the guidance of rookie principal Edward Tom and a host of young teachers.
The SEAD program plays a small role in the documentary, but is depicted as the ultimate goal that ties together Baskerville's narrative thread.
"Dartmouth is just this great beacon of hope," Wong said in an interview with The Dartmouth on Thursday. "I think Ivy League schools are something that are not even in the imagination of most inner-city students."
Tom, who left his job at Goldman Sachs in order to pursue a career in education, charged Wong to "tell a true story," Wong said.
SEAD brings students from the Bronx Center, in addition to other urban and rural schools, to Dartmouth for several weeks during the summer. Students attend SEAD for three consecutive summers throughout high school, according to Jay Davis, the SEAD program director.
The film ends with Baskerville attending the SEAD summer program at Dartmouth. The sunny shots of students playing frisbee on the Green are in stark contrast to the urban life on the streets of the Bronx, where the majority of the documentary takes place.
Martenn Taylor '13, who attended the Bronx Center during the school's first year and attended SEAD, said his experience arriving at Dartmouth was like a "montage in the movies."
Maggie Goldstein '10, an intern at the Bronx Center during Winter term 2009, said she felt the same way as many students did when she returned to the College for the Winter term SEAD reunion.
"I almost felt a similar aha' moment when you show up, just because it's so different from the Bronx," she said.
Although the closing scenes of the film convey optimism that Baskerville may achieve her academic goals, she was ultimately unable to continue her participation in the SEAD program through her remaining years of high school, after her mother's death led her to drop out of the Bronx Center, Wong said.
"Her dream in ninth grade was to become a pediatrician or psychologist some day," Wong said. "She's just not going to get the right training or the right opportunities to do that at this point."
One of the teachers in the documentary brought up the challenge of trying to overcome 14 years of academic struggles within the time constraints of one school year.
"A lot of these students are facing some of the most difficult things that a program like SEAD just cannot fix," Goldstein said. "I think the fact that [Baskerville] isn't a success story is very emblematic of the realities of education and of these communities."
The SEAD program's policy to accept students "on the cusp" testifies to the less than perfect success rate of the SEAD program, according to Goldstein.
"We are not taking students who are already exceptionally high achievers," Davis said. "We're looking for kids who really need the program and who can take advantage of the program."
Baskerville's limited success, however, does not undermine the film's overall positive sentiment, according to Davis, who also appears in the documentary.
The opportunities Baskerville was exposed to through the Bronx Center are ones that may still have an impact on her life in the future, according to Wong and Davis.
"I think it's very much an unfinished story, but I think it's a testament to the challenges that these students face," Davis said.
The many success stories of Bronx Center students speak to the school's greater achievements, he said.
Although her mother's death delayed her academic success, Baskerville's "horizons were exponentially expanding" at Dartmouth, according to Davis.
