By Lily Ramos
Staff Writer
Costa students traveled to Guatemala and made great memories, shared new experiences, had extravagant fun, and most importantly, left with the beginnings of four documentaries.
From Feb. 19 to Feb. 26, eleven Costa students in the Cinematic Arts class traveled to Guatemala along with Cinematic Arts teacher Mr. Michael Hernandez. The students went on the trip to create documentaries about different parts of life in Guatemala.
“My main interest was that I knew that I was never going to go on vacation to Guatemala, so that definitely made me think about how if I don’t do it now, then I never will do it.” Costa sophomore Cooper Roth said.
Photos: Cinematic Arts students travel to Guatemala to make documentaries
Each of the four groups on the trip had a different documentary topic. The topics were the hopes and dreams of Guatemalans, the importance of markets, the Guatemalan genocide, and education in Guatemala. The students each had the opportunity to go to different places where they could film their topics.
“You have to choose a focus statement,” Roth said. “This is basically a statement about what you want to focus on during a documentary. Then you have to visualize how you get how you can accomplish your focus statement and think about the shots and voiceover that you’re going to put in.”
The students had many new experiences while living there for eight days, including eating foreign foods,Costa freshman Summer Clayson said. Many of the houses there had dirt floors, and one house students visited had 36 people living in it, Clayson said.
“There are many living conditions that are different in Guatemala from here,” Costa freshman Luke Dvorchak said. “There are some cases in which poverty and lack of money was seen. It lacked some everyday items like washing machines.”
Students also volunteered at a girls’ education program called the Starfish Program. This program promote education for Guatemalan girls, help the with economics, and help them get a good job. They also help girls become better leaders and lower the rates of teen pregnancy.
“My favorite part of the trip was definitely our time with the Starfish girls,” Roth said. “Seeing them light up when new people came to visit with so cool and eye-opening. These girls have nothing yet they are so happy. That was easily the most rewarding part of the trip.”
Many students had a lot of work to make up from the school days they missed, as any high school student who has missed a week of school may have experienced. However, most students felt it was worth missing school to have the trip.
“I wouldn’t have gone on [the trip] if it wasn’t going to be worth it,” Roth said. “A week of school can be made up in a few days of hard work. But those experiences I had in Guatemala? Those will last forever. They can’t be made up.”
The students will soon be finished with their documentaries, as they have been editing them at school since they got back. It is not clear who will be shown the documentaries, but an audience of some sort will view them, Clayson said.
“I will take away so much from this trip but most of all I will say that everyone has to remember how lucky we are,” Roth said. “In Guatemala, Dreams are just dreams. They will never be accomplished. But in America, there are so many different ways to achieve your dreams. So take advantage of your opportunity and do something great with what you have.”
A slideshow with a video and pictures taken by Mira Costa students Summer Clayson and Cooper Roth in Guatemala in February during the Cinematic Arts trip. Thirteen Costa students traveled to Guatemala to make four documentaries centering around Guatemalan life.
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