School Pride (2010) s01e01 Episode Script
Soaring Eagles
Save our youth! Save our youth! Education in America is under siege.
Budgets slashed.
Teachers fired.
Schools falling apart.
Enterprise is like a prison.
It makes me angry and sad.
You don't feel like learning.
America, it's time to fix our broken schools.
[Cheering.]
All: Three, two, one! [Cheers and applause.]
Four individuals from different walks of life have come together to help communities renovate their schools.
Are you ready? Susie castillo, designer and former miss U.
S.
A.
I'm just really excited to meet these kids, look them in the eye, and just tell them, "listen, I came from the same type of neighborhood that you did.
" Jacob soboroff, political journalist determined to find out why so many of our schools are on the brink of collapse.
I think that education in America's broken.
No teacher or no student should feel like their school is a prison.
Kym whitley, comedian and former teacher.
If you can give a child a great beginning, they could become anything.
And me, Tom stroup, team leader and SWAT commander.
We're basically community organizers.
It's about going to a community and helping the community help themselves.
Th week, we're going to help enterprise middle school in Compton, California.
Hey, nbc.
My name's angel.
I'm an eighth grade student here at enterprise middle school.
Hi, nbc.
I'm also an eighth grade student here at enterprise, and my name is James.
I love enterprise.
It's a great school, but there are changes that need to be made.
Let's take a tour.
This is the boys' restroom.
You have no door.
There's no privacy.
There's no tissue to dry your hands.
There's also no soap to wash your hands with.
It's unsanitary.
We spend, what, six hours a day in school? Basically, school's like our home.
Would you want your house to be trashed up? No.
If we had like a better quality of school, the students that are doing great, they could do better, and the students that's not doing good at all, they could be great.
We're out here at the track and fld, and it's pretty dangerous, because we have a lot of gopher holes and stuff out here.
Just recently a student broke their ane out here.
We try to have as much fun as possible, but we really can't do anything with this.
There's huge cracks in the ground.
The crack is four inches deep.
The facilities are not what they should be.
We need better bathrooms, we need better classrooms, we need cleaner grounds, we need working water fountains.
There are mice, roaches.
We need rooms that don't look like you're in a prison.
We need help.
Mr.
soriano is struggling too.
I have been in this school for 13 years, and the classes that I teach is seventh grade life science.
I don't have a science lab.
This is where I store my chemicals.
It doesn't look like a lab, right? The sad part of it is that I need to buy my own supplies and my own materials.
We really need someone from the outside to come and help us to rebuild our school.
Our mascot is the eagle.
If the school were changed, like we'd be soaring eagles, because right now, we're not soaring eagles.
We're little chicks in a nest, and we [Together.]
Really need your help.
Thank you.
[Bell rings.]
[Upbeat music.]
[siren wails.]
So here we are.
It's the first day.
We're gonna change enterprise middle school.
We need to make something happen.
[Fire alarm buzzing.]
- You all right? - Yes.
All right, let's go.
All the way up on the truck.
[Fire alarm buzzing.]
Come on, you guys! Get down here! - Bring it on up here! - Come on! Enterprise middle school, this is not a fire! This is a school pride team! We're here to change your school! [Cheers and applause.]
Oh! Where's angel! He's right there.
- Angel! Where's James? - There he is.
James, we got your videos and we're here to make a difference in your school.
[Cheers and applause.]
Kids, do you like your school the way it is now? All: No! How many of you are gonna help us get your school together? [Cheers and applause.]
I'm just gonna do whatever I need to do to get this school the way we want it there's a big clock up here.
We're gonna start this clock, and we end on zero, and in ten days, you're gonna see a major transformation you won't even believe.
Are you ready to start the clock? [Cheers and applause.]
Let's count down.
Ready? All: Five, four, three, two, one! Start the clock! Whoo! [cheers and applause.]
Go! Start the show! Let's go! That enterprise is gonna become better, it makes me just really happy.
It's the best thing that ever happened in my life.
- Whoo-whoo-whoo-hoo! It is a great day! [Upbeat music.]
we need to clean out this closet.
Just put one inside the bag.
Students, I need to clear all these shelves here and pack the books in there.
Miss Mason, I think you need some more bookshelves.
I know I need some more bookshelves.
I've been trying so hard to get the school remodeled, and it's like a great feeling for me and other students, because this is like the beginning of something big.
I had a dream.
And when I woke up, it looked like I saw bookshelves all over my room.
Oh, it was so beautiful.
That was the most beautiful dream I've ever had.
Pop it.
As you were just saying, go to the class and pack.
That's why we are here.
Oh, y'all packing up, huh? Yeah, we're doing now.
I was so excited to get everything in the boxes, and then to paint the classroom.
And I haven't experienced anything like this.
Just put it in the boxes.
You know, if supplies are old and things are broken, throw 'em away.
Get rid of it.
Out with the old, in with the new.
This is not your pencil sharpener.
This is the one.
This is from 1907.
I was just gonna put it in the box, but if you want it We can put this in the Smithsonian right now.
We're not keeping this in the classroom.
Okay, yeah.
Oh, electrical pencil sharpener! Oh! It doesn't work.
Oh, but it doesn't work, you know.
Just put it away.
Why is it still here? Just packing it away, hopin' just one day - No, one y, I have a time to fix it, you know, as a science teacher, but the time is You were gonna fix the sharpener? I was so embarrassed when she was walking into my classroom.
I tried to preserve all these materials for years, 'cause that's the only things that I have available.
And she just put everything in the trash.
And what is that? - Well, this is Oh, this is a screen.
- Does it work? - Yeah, it does.
It does very well.
- It's like all dusty.
- Oh, okay.
With a projector.
Well, it was working real well.
Oh, let it go, Mr.
soriano.
- Well, I let it go, it's not gonna stay all the way Okay.
That's fine.
[Rock music.]
all right, we set the clock up here.
Campaign headquarters, baby.
That's perfect.
We quickly realized that we had to get super organized if we wanted to complete this project in ten days, so we just set up some tables, set up our telephones, and set up the command center, and went to work.
I really want to own that football field, the outdoor basketball field, and I want to own that gymnasium.
I love basketball, so I'll be out here with you.
Tom and Jacob can take a look at the scoreboard that we're gonna be putting.
- So we'll just take Basically we'll take Just block this off right here.
- Okay.
I'm gonna take Mr.
soriano's room.
- I thought he was a good guy.
- Yeah, I li Mr.
So I'll take that one.
- What about the entranceway? - Yes.
The entranceway is just a mess right now.
Basically you're gonna be in charge of interior designing for all the classrooms.
- I'm ready.
- We got ten days.
- Let's go.
- Let's get to work.
We are going to rebuild the school in ten days.
Wow.
That is a huge undertaking.
A job like this takes a lot of effort.
I need a great general contractor with experience to do the heavy lifting.
The school board recommended a local construction company, so I went to encore construction to say, "look, can you help us?" - Hello.
- Hey, how y'all doing? Hi, I'm Tom.
Jim? Hey, Tom.
I'm Matt.
My pleasure.
Hi, how you doin'? I'm sorry to bother you guys, but, uh We're working on a project down at enterprise middle school right here in Compton.
Right.
And I don't know if you've been down there or not, but the school is in bad, bad shape.
I mean, there's rats everywhere.
The football field has holes.
You can't even really play football.
The track is just a path.
We're gonna redo the school, but it's gonna be a community effort.
We actually do a lot of work within, uh, the school district, so that's great.
Here's the thing.
It's all voluntary.
Oh.
Everybody that's gonna be there doing everything is totally voluntary and from this community.
So what's your start date for this? Um, like now.
You want to get started on this thing right away? Right now.
The clock's already ticking.
- Yeah, give us Give us a few minutes.
Okay, I'll be right here.
Thank you guys.
All right, Tom.
I walked out of the room, and I was nervous.
- This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I'm just looking at the bottom line.
We have our clients that we have to take care of.
Yeah.
It's up in the air right now.
It's starting to worry me a little bit.
We're working on a project down at enterprise middle school right here in Compton.
Right.
Here's the thing.
It's all voluntary.
Yeah, give us a few minutes.
Okay.
I walked out of the room.
I was nervous.
Andrea, can you go get Tom? If encore construction does not work out, it's gonna be tough.
- Well - Gentlemen, have you guys come to a decision? We're in.
- You're in? - We're in.
Awesome! Awesome! Yes! I mean, like this is the beginning.
Let's go.
[Upbeat music.]
- good morning.
- Good morning.
So the way this project works is we need a ton of volunteers.
So they check-in - Who needs a t-shirt? Everybody needs a t-shirt.
Assign specific tasks Floors, "l" building.
Carpenters, "g" building.
And we try to raise the money that we need to renovate the school.
Let me do a little bit of that for you guys today too.
- High-five.
- High-five.
Hoo.
I recognize you.
You're miss Mason, aren't you? - Yes.
- Hi, I'm Tom.
We never met, but I've seen your tape.
How long have you been working here? 14 years.
How many times have you painted your classroom in 14 years? I don't remember painting my classroom.
Miss Mason's room has one electrical outlet, never painted, ceiling tiles falling down.
And she was in the parking lot sweeping, because she said this project is bigger than me.
If my room gets painted, if I get outlets, that's fine, but I'm doing this for the school.
How do you keep the kids motivated? I mean, to be an honors student takes a lot of effort, and you're in an environment like that.
How do you personally keep As a teacher, how do you keep them motivated? In this position, you're more than just a teacher.
You're like a surrogate parent.
You're a counselor.
I love kids, and some students really want to want to learn, and they want to become something better in life.
And if I can contribute to that in any way, then it's worth it.
There's always that one teacher that you always remember, and miss Mason's always gonna be that teacher, so I don't want to let her down.
Please don't stop doing what you're doing.
I don't plan to.
I love teaching.
Guys, every classroom is gonna get whatever color paint they want.
I handed out painting materials to kids and teachers, because the most important thing is that these kids are painting their own rooms.
That they take a sense of ownership over their own classrooms.
Miss Kelly, what color do you want? Uh, what color, guys? All: Blue.
Blue.
- I'll take green.
- Green.
One, two, three To redo the school, it will be very exciting, painting the walls, because I'm doing something for the school, and we would feel really proud.
Like that? Yeah.
Just like that.
So less than 24 hours ago, this gym was the old gym.
Now the backboards are down, they primed it, and we're going over it with the green here.
- Yep.
- Nice.
So, James, tell me what motivates you.
What's your story? Um, mostly just playing basketball and trying to succeed in school.
Some of my family, they're depending on me because like they don't have a lot.
You're thinking about responsibilities that are gonna affect your family? Somebody else should be doing that in my family, but I feel like I should be helping them out.
'Cause I want them to like have it all.
So I feel like they should depend on me.
I live with my grandmother.
My dad, he's not really around at all.
Not having my dad around, it like makes me want to work harder.
It kind of gets me, like you got this middle-schooler telling me he's got responsibility to his family to achieve things so that he can help them.
I don't think you're gonna realize till later in life how big that statement is.
The motivation is to just stay focused and - Stay focused? - Yeah.
Stay focused even when things aren't going right.
Yep.
So, angel, thank you so much for sending that DVD, by the way.
You guys did a great job with it.
Thank you.
So are you like president of student government yet? I'm vice.
Vice president.
So you want to get into politics.
What I plan to do is first become a lawyer, right? And from there, I'm gonna become a judge.
- Okay.
- And then, hopefully become a justice on the supreme court.
- Uh-huh.
- And then become president.
Wow.
And how old are you? - Um, I'm 13.
- You're 13 years old.
Angel wants to be the president of the United States one day, and I think he could do it.
Now, why do you want to be president? I'm very curious to know.
Well, the president has the power to influence a lot of things, and I could actually make a difference in the world, and that's what I want to be able to do.
That's awesome.
When did you realize that, that you have this power to make a difference in the world? My dad, he was born in Mexico - Uh-huh.
And he didn't really have a good life.
He's always telling us that, it's like he had a hard life, and he wants us to have a better life.
And my mom raised me the same way, and that's part of the reason why I'm here today.
It is pretty nice to know that there are other people that you can relate to, like people you never even know of.
Like I never knew about her.
Like I don't really like track down miss u.
S.
A.
S or something.
There are 62 employees that work for the department called facilities and maintenance in the Compton unified school district.
There's one guy who runs this department, and his name is Omar.
So you're the head of maintenance, head of facilities here at Compton unified? - Yes.
- What is all of this? Oh, that's the inbox for the maintenance requests that come in from the different sites.
So these are maintenance requests for enterprise? Yes, this is maintenance request for enterprise.
- Can we take a look at those? - Yes.
These are classroom requests? Yeah, these are actual classrooms.
We got, uh, busted lines, a handicapped toilet, a water leak.
We probably get about 1,000 reqs with all the schools.
- 1,000 reqs a week? - Yeah, we get a lot.
When you have a stack of work orders that is multiple times taller than this, how do you possibly figure out who can fix all of those problems? It will make anybody's head spin, and this guy does it all by himself.
How do you personally deal with that? Well, because my son go there, it affects me a little bit different, because that's my child.
You know, and I want the best for my child.
You know, they don't understand that you need money, you need material, you need bodies.
You need all these things to make it happen.
And, you know, all they look up for is to have a nice, clean campus.
Now, you don't have the power to fix every one of these things every single day.
And that bothers me, and my wife had asked me one day, 'cause sometimes I go home frustrated, she say, "why you worried about it? You can't save the world.
" And I always tell her, I say, listen, if I could save one of those kids and give 'em a decent school, that'd mean a lot to me, man.
Because that kid don't have to go with his knees scraped up, he don't have to be on no cracked asphalt.
He don't have to use a toilet that's stopped up.
If I could just save one of those kids from that, then that means I did my job.
Maybe that one kid that I saved might go on to go to college and do something in life, you know.
And that's my whole thing is saving these kids.
One of my goals this week is to help Omar toss out all of the work orders that he has for enterprise middle school.
Hopefully, you come out and see me later in the week? Yes, I will.
Don't forget to bring that stuff we covered.
- Yes.
I will bring it.
- Okay.
All right, see you later.
Take care.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
In my heart and my soul, I believe that it can be better.
And it's a good feeling.
That gives you a little bit more hope.
You know, helping out enterprise.
You know, those people will be so happy.
We're helping a school that was a disaster.
There's termites and bugs.
We can at least fix this.
Underneath, there's a possibility we could have some activity under there we need to look at.
Did you say, "activity"? Critter activity.
We got critter activity below.
We're gonna have to go below the ship.
Ugh! Ugh, that is so crazy.
I wasn't going in there.
The little-bitty hole.
I didn't think my head could fit in that hole.
I sn't gonna embarrass myself on national tv with my head stuck.
Jacob! So I went to get Jacob.
Hey, baby.
What's up? So I said, "come with me.
" I need you to put this on.
Okay.
I need you to get in that hole.
Underneath, there's some critters.
Just see what's going on in there.
[Laughing.]
Oh, my.
Let me help you with this.
Put this on.
Thank you very much.
You're very welcome.
Put these little gloves on just in case.
Tell my family I love them.
- Love you, Jacob! - Here we go.
- Watch the nails! - Oh, my goodness.
Your legs are shaking.
Don't be scared.
Oh, my.
Is anything moving? - A couple of things.
- Aah! Oh, my goodns, look at all these roaches.
- Are you scared? - Very! This is bananas! What is that? Oh, my goodness.
Kym sent me under the building to go look for a bunch of subterranean termites and dead rodents and let me tell you something.
The folks from orkin, they have a big job on their hands.
You want me to come get you? I would love for you to come down.
Psych! All right, James, so here we are in, uh, miss Mason's class.
Yep.
I tell you, this is a great thing you're doing helping put this floor down for her, because, uh, every time I talko her, it's all she talks about.
She likes a clean classroom.
Me helping out in miss Mason room, it was like a honor basically, because she's like my mother, so I basically just look up to her and just cherish the moments that we have together.
It's not easy to live in Compton with the surroundings and what goes on, t, me, I'm used to it already.
I been here ever since I was born, so when it comes to bad things happening, she's giving me advice on what to do when I'm in that type of situation.
You think you might see yourself as a teacher someday, just because of miss Mason's influence? Yeah, I see myself as like aA helper.
It just goes around.
If that person sees somebody doing a good thing, then the next person does something, that's how it goes.
Well, that's good advice.
I wish you were around when I was about 16 years old.
[Laughing.]
There are 30,000 students approximately in the Compton unified school district.
There are 62 employees that work for the department called facilities and maintenance.
There's one guy who runs this department.
Hey, Jacob, how yoyou doin'? How you feelin'? - Good to see you, man.
- Good to see you.
Omar is stopping by enterprise today, and I'm gonna bring him around and show him the work we've done so far.
How you feeling about all of this? - Man, it's just It's great, great.
I asked Omar to bring the stack of work orders that he had in his office, because I want to show him that we are gonna go through every single work order that he has and take care of every problem he knows about at enterprise.
You know, I don't know if you remember what was right over here.
It was lockers.
Lockers, yes.
These were lockers.
Aw, so I don't need this request anymore.
If you don't need that one anymore, give it to me.
That one.
You can tear that one up.
So let's keep going this way.
I want to show you the football field over here.
Last time you were probably out here, there was gopher holes Yes.
All over the place.
It was a mess out here.
We started laying down the sod, and there's another new addition.
I don't know if you see it out there, but we got a new scoreboard up for the kids too.
Oh, man! "Home of the eagles.
" Man, that's nice.
Looks good, right? Man.
Never could have thought enterprise would look like this, man, never.
Man, this is nice.
You remember what this building is right here.
This isIs the gym.
Yes.
Matter of fact, I got a picture of it in the request here.
- A leaky roof.
- Leaky roof.
You know, 'cause once you have leaks, water just start damaging everything.
Take a look at it now.
Oh, man! Oh, ho, man! [Crying.]
Oh, man.
Man, man.
Thank you.
Thanks, man.
It's a whole new gym.
Man, the kids'll love this, man.
They can actually have a home game here.
- It's like It's beautiful, right? Thank you, thank you.
[Crying.]
It sort of took my breath away to see what fixing a gym can do for him.
For a moment, it was as if every work order on that wall of papers had been set on fire and everything was done, just for a second.
Go ahead and rip this up.
You can rip that up.
[Laughing.]
Man, man, man.
This is nice, man.
- We have a plastic surface.
What we would - Hello! Hey, hey.
What's going on? How are you? The volunteers that I've seen here are just phenomen.
Even the principal is helping.
What's happening? What are we cleaning these for? We are changing from blackboard using chalk.
We will become whiteboard using markers.
The chalkboards must be 100 years old, so all the teachers are getting whiteboards now.
I'm still excited.
They are asking me.
I said, "do you want me to scream?" And said, "no, slow, keep inside for now.
" Principal brancov is quite the character.
Seems very passionate about wanting enterprise to be a better place, but I don't understand as the principal, how he's allowed this to happen.
I want to show you what I discovered down here.
I'm not sure how many people know about it.
This is a supply room.
Okay.
And, you know, when we first came here, we interviewed a lot of these teachers.
There's a lot of stuff in here that they want.
I know there's colored paper one of them asked for for art classes.
You know, whiteboard material.
I mean Wait, hold on.
Let me let me Let me get this straight.
This is like an office supply store.
These are actually bookcases right here, and there's several of the teachers asked for bookcases.
I'm trying to wrap my head around this.
I don't know the answer.
There's a storage room of supplies that I know the teachers need, because there's paperwork that they showed us, "these are the things that we asked for in our classroom.
" Almost every teacher asked for cabinets, and [Tapping cabinet.]
That looks like a cabinet to me.
- Is that a That is a file cabinet.
Hold up, hold up.
Yep.
- A whole bunch of paper.
- Yeah.
Now all I want is some colored paper.
Well, if you go down into that little secret basement, it's stacks and stacks of colored paper.
What color do you need? This didn't just come here today or yesterday.
This has been here.
It got dust on it.
These are projector screens, the ones you roll down.
Pull down.
No, it's not! That is not! Mr.
soriano's didn't even come down, didn't even work, and it was molded.
Wow.
You were a teacher in this district for a couple of years.
What do you think of this? - I'm I'm I'm sick.
I'm actually a little nauseous.
Let's go talk to the principal.
I'm not gonna talk to the principal.
Make sure you give him a piece of my mind.
You better come with some answers.
I know that much.
He might surprise us.
Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
Hoarder.
Dr.
brancov, I'm upset.
I just came from the supply room and it's ridiculous.
You know, I got all these letters here from these teachers and they're all saying they need supplies and the supply room is full of supplies.
They are.
They are getting supplies.
Every month, there is a requisition form.
They write down everything they need and we deliver to their rooms.
And I'm hearing that they are asking for things and not getting them.
Lots of times we need some supplies we don't have.
Dr.
brancov, we're talking about construction paper, projectors, pencil sharpeners.
All these supplies are paid for by taxpayer dollars, correct? Yes, correct.
Correct.
Why are those supplies down there and teachers aren't getting them? Dr.
brancov, I'm upset.
I just came from the supply room and it's ridiculous.
U know, I got all these letters here from these teachers and they're all saying they need supplies and the supply room is full of supplies.
Why are those supplies down there and teachers aren't getting them? All supplies are here for rest of this year and for all summer until next October.
I am afraid sometimes we'll run out.
You should not be afraid you're gonna run out.
If you're not giving out the supplies, you might as well not even have 'em.
How are you gonna change things? You are the boss.
You have to make it happen.
Okay.
[chuckles.]
- All right? - We can change it.
Now we're getting somewhere.
Principal brancov has a difficult task.
Budget issues are tough, but you know what? There should not be a whole storage room full of supplies.
I want you to put your money where your mouth is.
Come with me right now and let's hand out some supplies.
We can dthat.
Let's go.
Let's do it.
Comen, Tom.
Come on.
I'm trying to keep up.
Here it is.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Here you are.
Thank you.
We're good for now.
I really appreciate your help.
- Thank you very much.
- Yeah.
All right, let's get out of here.
Virco, they're being so nice and donating tables and chairs for enterprise.
This is fantastic.
We got the floors in.
That looks good.
I've promised Mr.
soriano new supplies.
The science center was my baby.
Whitley had that.
We just, uh, finished up installing some kraftmaid cabinetry.
We're putting the countertops on 'em right now.
What? I want this at my house.
This is real high-end.
Can you put my cabinets in For a discount? I've been on a journey to find out who's to blame for the state of schools like enterprise.
Who is accountable around here? Is it the school district? Is it the hool board members? Is it the superintendent? Is it the governor? Right now, budgets are very tight.
When you only have 62 guys, for 42 properties, with 30,000 kids, where do you go? Where do you start? I couldn't believe it.
I picked up the phone and dialed the vernor's office and the governor Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to answer my questions.
The first thing that I wanted to ask you is Obviously, you know, it's a tough time for education and for budgets across the state and across the country.
What do you think is going on, governor, with public education in California and in the United States? Well, I think that some of the schools are extremely good and some are terribly bad.
These are schools that are failing schools for years and years and years, and we have to do something about those failing schools.
But as you know, that's all easier said than done.
When we showed up at enterprise, the paint was falling off the walls, the ceilings were moldy, the was a rodent infestation d termites.
Who's to blame? Well, uh, I would say, uh, labor, special interests, a lack of parent participation, a lack of funding.
Clearly, I would say government.
The governor of California said that the government is in part to blame for the state of schools and I think that that's, you know That was a pretty bold thing to say.
If the community comes together and says, "look, we don't have to take this school "being dilapidated and falling apart.
"We can go in there and we rebuild the school and try to find the resources to do that.
" Thank you very much.
The governor meeting me affirms that he believes in the type of project that we're doing.
He believes that even if government's failing us, people have the power to change their own schools and their own community and take charge of their own education.
[Uplifting pop music.]
attention all teachers and students, I have a quick announcement.
Because of all your hard work, we are sending you all to Universal studios Hollywood.
[Cheering.]
When you get back, you'll have a brand-new school.
I know there's gonna be a lot of those kids that have never even left this community, much less gone to universal studios.
So they can go there and not worry about tile falling on their head.
Just go and have fun and be a kid again.
[Cheering.]
I think it was great the students could actually be able to go on a field trip.
[Laughter.]
That was incredible! It was awesome.
[Cheering.]
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, my goodness.
We're counting down.
Less than a minute.
- Here we go.
- Here we go.
It's been a good week, guys.
Tom, you're the man.
Hey, I am not the man.
Listen.
I asked you guys to do the impossible and you did it.
Guys! Let's go.
Let's go.
Come on.
All: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
[Cheering.]
For ten days, we were really busy nailing and painting this stuff.
Now they're gonna see a totally new school.
It's exciting.
I mean, you just feel good about it.
[Marching band plays.]
[cheers and applause.]
We're just really excited to go back to the school.
It's just crazy to know that this is happening.
[Cheers and applse.]
- When they got off that bus, they were just like They just couldn't believe it.
They were psyched.
[Cheers and applause.]
Ten days ago, we asked you to do the impossible.
And with the help of teachers, students, parents, and volunteers, we did it.
[Cheers and applause.]
James and angel, this journey began with you and I think it's fitting that you two cut the ribbon.
[Cheers and applause.]
Cut it! Waiting to see the unveiling of the school, your heart begins to pump fast.
Your blood is rushing.
I wonder what it's gonna be like.
I wonder what it's gonna be like.
[Cheers and applause.]
When we cut that ribbon, me and angel were totally excited.
It was, like, an honor, 'cause everybody put a lot of time and effort into the school being what it is.
[Cheering.]
[Screams.]
[Cheers and applause.]
This can't be my room! This is not my room! It's yours! [Cheers and applause.]
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
This is absolutely gorgeous.
I love it! Oh, this is great! My floor! [Cheers and applause.]
I got a new desk.
Miss Mason is my favorite teacher.
She teaches me a lot.
She strives harder so that we can succeed.
She does a lot for me, the school, and students.
Miss Mason, you're my favorite teacher and many students' favorite teacher, and I just want to say thank you for all the time that you put into being a teacher and helping other students out.
I love you.
Thank you.
I love you too.
[Applause.]
Thank you.
James and angel cared enough about their school to submit to nbc so that we could have a school makeover.
That's a sign of people who really care and love their school.
Hey, Mr.
soriano.
Hey.
Hi.
How are you, kym? Oh, it's so good to see you.
Okay, great.
The no.
This is the classroom? Ooh.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
It's amazing.
It's amazing.
Look at this.
Kym, I need to give you another hug.
Oh, no, see, I love it.
I love it.
I knew this room long time ago.
It was never like this.
Never.
Once I opened the door and I see what was there Oh, I almost had a heart attack, you know? I cannot believe how do they transform this roointo a real science classroom.
Love it.
Love it.
Yeah, remember, you only had two microscopes? Yes.
Now I have two on each table.
This science lab has so much to offer.
It's gonna open their world.
It's gonna open the teacher's world.
This is just a touch screen that you can all these fun things on.
Now I can say let's just go down.
Maybe go down to L.
A.
We can go to Europe.
You can go to the U.
S.
You can spin the globe and actually see all the different countries and they can really become immersed in that experience.
I feel inspired.
Can't believe that this is my room.
I'm just waiting for my kids to come and see this room.
I was so happy.
Welcome to the microsoft science and technology center! [Cheering.]
Everybody has a microscope.
I've always wanted to use one of these.
- Compton right here.
- Oh, there you are.
I'm so excited.
[Overlapping chatter.]
Exciting, man.
Everything that happened in ten days never happened in lifetime at enterprise middle school.
I was part of the changes.
I was part of the history.
That eagle spirit is gonna be with me for the rest of my life.
Enterprise middle school, welcome to your new gym.
Welcome.
Come on in.
I was just ecstatic.
I was astounded by how much they did with the gym.
I coached basketball here for several seasons and my girls never lost a basketball game and they played in such horrible conditions.
And these girls would play hard, they would give their all, and now it's a total new floor, so I totally think it's gonna help the students believe that they can succeed.
It touched my heart.
I actually had tears in my eyes.
Welcome to the people magazine reading room.
- This is unbelievable! - Angel, what's up, man? The people magazine reading room is absolutely gorgeous.
I think that it's a room where children can be excited about learning.
In all these books, you're gonna find stories, then other kids are gonna find stories that are going to inspire them and people are gonna figure out what they want to do and what they can be.
And it is a place to relax and chill and hang out, but it's also a place to explore and discover.
I think that this project is the starting point for bigger and better things, not just for enterprise, but for other schools across the country.
Today, the kids came back and as they got to the football field, they were just in awe of it.
[Cheering.]
Yes! Enterprise! [Cheering continues.]
When I saw the field, I'm like, "how'd the grass grow that fast?" - Welcome to the brand-new starter athletic complex for enterprise middle school! Awesome! Congratulations, every one of you! The old track and field was like the monster under your bed.
The new track and field is like your parents hugging you and saying, "it's all right now.
" Now it's, like, amazing.
It's like outside football stadium.
It has been our privilege to help you do this.
And your efforts have not gone unnoticed.
I would now like to introduce you to a very special guest speaker.
The governor of the great state of California, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
[Cheers and applause.]
I'm here to pump you up.
Yes.
[cheers and applause.]
I was shocked.
That was major.
I want to come by here and say congratulations to all of you whose blood, sweat, and tears made all of this that I've just seen possible.
And I tell you, I've seen a lot of schools in my life, but I've never seen a school as beautiful as this one.
[Cheers and applause.]
Keep up the great work and I promise you I'll be back.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
[Cheers and applause.]
And now it is up to you to continue to maintain your school and to maintain your school pride.
[Cheers and applause.]
When I first came in to this project, I started seeing people's faces, and, you know, they're people that live in a community that have the same needs that I do.
What we've learned is the communities have the power to make our own change.
We don't have to rely on anybody else.
I don't want to leave.
I love these kids.
I really do and I love this community now and they've really inspired me.
I am just happy to be a part of such a project.
Ooh, hair and makeup, please.
Schools across America should look at enterprise middle school as an example of what can be done.
Our hope is that communities see what we're doing and they say, "you know what? We can do that too.
" A school should be a place where you realize your dreams.
When you're proud about your environment, it's a reflection on everything that you do Your willingness to be attentive in class and be respectful.
Our school is now the highest ranked middle school in the Compton unified school district.
Budgets slashed.
Teachers fired.
Schools falling apart.
Enterprise is like a prison.
It makes me angry and sad.
You don't feel like learning.
America, it's time to fix our broken schools.
[Cheering.]
All: Three, two, one! [Cheers and applause.]
Four individuals from different walks of life have come together to help communities renovate their schools.
Are you ready? Susie castillo, designer and former miss U.
S.
A.
I'm just really excited to meet these kids, look them in the eye, and just tell them, "listen, I came from the same type of neighborhood that you did.
" Jacob soboroff, political journalist determined to find out why so many of our schools are on the brink of collapse.
I think that education in America's broken.
No teacher or no student should feel like their school is a prison.
Kym whitley, comedian and former teacher.
If you can give a child a great beginning, they could become anything.
And me, Tom stroup, team leader and SWAT commander.
We're basically community organizers.
It's about going to a community and helping the community help themselves.
Th week, we're going to help enterprise middle school in Compton, California.
Hey, nbc.
My name's angel.
I'm an eighth grade student here at enterprise middle school.
Hi, nbc.
I'm also an eighth grade student here at enterprise, and my name is James.
I love enterprise.
It's a great school, but there are changes that need to be made.
Let's take a tour.
This is the boys' restroom.
You have no door.
There's no privacy.
There's no tissue to dry your hands.
There's also no soap to wash your hands with.
It's unsanitary.
We spend, what, six hours a day in school? Basically, school's like our home.
Would you want your house to be trashed up? No.
If we had like a better quality of school, the students that are doing great, they could do better, and the students that's not doing good at all, they could be great.
We're out here at the track and fld, and it's pretty dangerous, because we have a lot of gopher holes and stuff out here.
Just recently a student broke their ane out here.
We try to have as much fun as possible, but we really can't do anything with this.
There's huge cracks in the ground.
The crack is four inches deep.
The facilities are not what they should be.
We need better bathrooms, we need better classrooms, we need cleaner grounds, we need working water fountains.
There are mice, roaches.
We need rooms that don't look like you're in a prison.
We need help.
Mr.
soriano is struggling too.
I have been in this school for 13 years, and the classes that I teach is seventh grade life science.
I don't have a science lab.
This is where I store my chemicals.
It doesn't look like a lab, right? The sad part of it is that I need to buy my own supplies and my own materials.
We really need someone from the outside to come and help us to rebuild our school.
Our mascot is the eagle.
If the school were changed, like we'd be soaring eagles, because right now, we're not soaring eagles.
We're little chicks in a nest, and we [Together.]
Really need your help.
Thank you.
[Bell rings.]
[Upbeat music.]
[siren wails.]
So here we are.
It's the first day.
We're gonna change enterprise middle school.
We need to make something happen.
[Fire alarm buzzing.]
- You all right? - Yes.
All right, let's go.
All the way up on the truck.
[Fire alarm buzzing.]
Come on, you guys! Get down here! - Bring it on up here! - Come on! Enterprise middle school, this is not a fire! This is a school pride team! We're here to change your school! [Cheers and applause.]
Oh! Where's angel! He's right there.
- Angel! Where's James? - There he is.
James, we got your videos and we're here to make a difference in your school.
[Cheers and applause.]
Kids, do you like your school the way it is now? All: No! How many of you are gonna help us get your school together? [Cheers and applause.]
I'm just gonna do whatever I need to do to get this school the way we want it there's a big clock up here.
We're gonna start this clock, and we end on zero, and in ten days, you're gonna see a major transformation you won't even believe.
Are you ready to start the clock? [Cheers and applause.]
Let's count down.
Ready? All: Five, four, three, two, one! Start the clock! Whoo! [cheers and applause.]
Go! Start the show! Let's go! That enterprise is gonna become better, it makes me just really happy.
It's the best thing that ever happened in my life.
- Whoo-whoo-whoo-hoo! It is a great day! [Upbeat music.]
we need to clean out this closet.
Just put one inside the bag.
Students, I need to clear all these shelves here and pack the books in there.
Miss Mason, I think you need some more bookshelves.
I know I need some more bookshelves.
I've been trying so hard to get the school remodeled, and it's like a great feeling for me and other students, because this is like the beginning of something big.
I had a dream.
And when I woke up, it looked like I saw bookshelves all over my room.
Oh, it was so beautiful.
That was the most beautiful dream I've ever had.
Pop it.
As you were just saying, go to the class and pack.
That's why we are here.
Oh, y'all packing up, huh? Yeah, we're doing now.
I was so excited to get everything in the boxes, and then to paint the classroom.
And I haven't experienced anything like this.
Just put it in the boxes.
You know, if supplies are old and things are broken, throw 'em away.
Get rid of it.
Out with the old, in with the new.
This is not your pencil sharpener.
This is the one.
This is from 1907.
I was just gonna put it in the box, but if you want it We can put this in the Smithsonian right now.
We're not keeping this in the classroom.
Okay, yeah.
Oh, electrical pencil sharpener! Oh! It doesn't work.
Oh, but it doesn't work, you know.
Just put it away.
Why is it still here? Just packing it away, hopin' just one day - No, one y, I have a time to fix it, you know, as a science teacher, but the time is You were gonna fix the sharpener? I was so embarrassed when she was walking into my classroom.
I tried to preserve all these materials for years, 'cause that's the only things that I have available.
And she just put everything in the trash.
And what is that? - Well, this is Oh, this is a screen.
- Does it work? - Yeah, it does.
It does very well.
- It's like all dusty.
- Oh, okay.
With a projector.
Well, it was working real well.
Oh, let it go, Mr.
soriano.
- Well, I let it go, it's not gonna stay all the way Okay.
That's fine.
[Rock music.]
all right, we set the clock up here.
Campaign headquarters, baby.
That's perfect.
We quickly realized that we had to get super organized if we wanted to complete this project in ten days, so we just set up some tables, set up our telephones, and set up the command center, and went to work.
I really want to own that football field, the outdoor basketball field, and I want to own that gymnasium.
I love basketball, so I'll be out here with you.
Tom and Jacob can take a look at the scoreboard that we're gonna be putting.
- So we'll just take Basically we'll take Just block this off right here.
- Okay.
I'm gonna take Mr.
soriano's room.
- I thought he was a good guy.
- Yeah, I li Mr.
So I'll take that one.
- What about the entranceway? - Yes.
The entranceway is just a mess right now.
Basically you're gonna be in charge of interior designing for all the classrooms.
- I'm ready.
- We got ten days.
- Let's go.
- Let's get to work.
We are going to rebuild the school in ten days.
Wow.
That is a huge undertaking.
A job like this takes a lot of effort.
I need a great general contractor with experience to do the heavy lifting.
The school board recommended a local construction company, so I went to encore construction to say, "look, can you help us?" - Hello.
- Hey, how y'all doing? Hi, I'm Tom.
Jim? Hey, Tom.
I'm Matt.
My pleasure.
Hi, how you doin'? I'm sorry to bother you guys, but, uh We're working on a project down at enterprise middle school right here in Compton.
Right.
And I don't know if you've been down there or not, but the school is in bad, bad shape.
I mean, there's rats everywhere.
The football field has holes.
You can't even really play football.
The track is just a path.
We're gonna redo the school, but it's gonna be a community effort.
We actually do a lot of work within, uh, the school district, so that's great.
Here's the thing.
It's all voluntary.
Oh.
Everybody that's gonna be there doing everything is totally voluntary and from this community.
So what's your start date for this? Um, like now.
You want to get started on this thing right away? Right now.
The clock's already ticking.
- Yeah, give us Give us a few minutes.
Okay, I'll be right here.
Thank you guys.
All right, Tom.
I walked out of the room, and I was nervous.
- This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I'm just looking at the bottom line.
We have our clients that we have to take care of.
Yeah.
It's up in the air right now.
It's starting to worry me a little bit.
We're working on a project down at enterprise middle school right here in Compton.
Right.
Here's the thing.
It's all voluntary.
Yeah, give us a few minutes.
Okay.
I walked out of the room.
I was nervous.
Andrea, can you go get Tom? If encore construction does not work out, it's gonna be tough.
- Well - Gentlemen, have you guys come to a decision? We're in.
- You're in? - We're in.
Awesome! Awesome! Yes! I mean, like this is the beginning.
Let's go.
[Upbeat music.]
- good morning.
- Good morning.
So the way this project works is we need a ton of volunteers.
So they check-in - Who needs a t-shirt? Everybody needs a t-shirt.
Assign specific tasks Floors, "l" building.
Carpenters, "g" building.
And we try to raise the money that we need to renovate the school.
Let me do a little bit of that for you guys today too.
- High-five.
- High-five.
Hoo.
I recognize you.
You're miss Mason, aren't you? - Yes.
- Hi, I'm Tom.
We never met, but I've seen your tape.
How long have you been working here? 14 years.
How many times have you painted your classroom in 14 years? I don't remember painting my classroom.
Miss Mason's room has one electrical outlet, never painted, ceiling tiles falling down.
And she was in the parking lot sweeping, because she said this project is bigger than me.
If my room gets painted, if I get outlets, that's fine, but I'm doing this for the school.
How do you keep the kids motivated? I mean, to be an honors student takes a lot of effort, and you're in an environment like that.
How do you personally keep As a teacher, how do you keep them motivated? In this position, you're more than just a teacher.
You're like a surrogate parent.
You're a counselor.
I love kids, and some students really want to want to learn, and they want to become something better in life.
And if I can contribute to that in any way, then it's worth it.
There's always that one teacher that you always remember, and miss Mason's always gonna be that teacher, so I don't want to let her down.
Please don't stop doing what you're doing.
I don't plan to.
I love teaching.
Guys, every classroom is gonna get whatever color paint they want.
I handed out painting materials to kids and teachers, because the most important thing is that these kids are painting their own rooms.
That they take a sense of ownership over their own classrooms.
Miss Kelly, what color do you want? Uh, what color, guys? All: Blue.
Blue.
- I'll take green.
- Green.
One, two, three To redo the school, it will be very exciting, painting the walls, because I'm doing something for the school, and we would feel really proud.
Like that? Yeah.
Just like that.
So less than 24 hours ago, this gym was the old gym.
Now the backboards are down, they primed it, and we're going over it with the green here.
- Yep.
- Nice.
So, James, tell me what motivates you.
What's your story? Um, mostly just playing basketball and trying to succeed in school.
Some of my family, they're depending on me because like they don't have a lot.
You're thinking about responsibilities that are gonna affect your family? Somebody else should be doing that in my family, but I feel like I should be helping them out.
'Cause I want them to like have it all.
So I feel like they should depend on me.
I live with my grandmother.
My dad, he's not really around at all.
Not having my dad around, it like makes me want to work harder.
It kind of gets me, like you got this middle-schooler telling me he's got responsibility to his family to achieve things so that he can help them.
I don't think you're gonna realize till later in life how big that statement is.
The motivation is to just stay focused and - Stay focused? - Yeah.
Stay focused even when things aren't going right.
Yep.
So, angel, thank you so much for sending that DVD, by the way.
You guys did a great job with it.
Thank you.
So are you like president of student government yet? I'm vice.
Vice president.
So you want to get into politics.
What I plan to do is first become a lawyer, right? And from there, I'm gonna become a judge.
- Okay.
- And then, hopefully become a justice on the supreme court.
- Uh-huh.
- And then become president.
Wow.
And how old are you? - Um, I'm 13.
- You're 13 years old.
Angel wants to be the president of the United States one day, and I think he could do it.
Now, why do you want to be president? I'm very curious to know.
Well, the president has the power to influence a lot of things, and I could actually make a difference in the world, and that's what I want to be able to do.
That's awesome.
When did you realize that, that you have this power to make a difference in the world? My dad, he was born in Mexico - Uh-huh.
And he didn't really have a good life.
He's always telling us that, it's like he had a hard life, and he wants us to have a better life.
And my mom raised me the same way, and that's part of the reason why I'm here today.
It is pretty nice to know that there are other people that you can relate to, like people you never even know of.
Like I never knew about her.
Like I don't really like track down miss u.
S.
A.
S or something.
There are 62 employees that work for the department called facilities and maintenance in the Compton unified school district.
There's one guy who runs this department, and his name is Omar.
So you're the head of maintenance, head of facilities here at Compton unified? - Yes.
- What is all of this? Oh, that's the inbox for the maintenance requests that come in from the different sites.
So these are maintenance requests for enterprise? Yes, this is maintenance request for enterprise.
- Can we take a look at those? - Yes.
These are classroom requests? Yeah, these are actual classrooms.
We got, uh, busted lines, a handicapped toilet, a water leak.
We probably get about 1,000 reqs with all the schools.
- 1,000 reqs a week? - Yeah, we get a lot.
When you have a stack of work orders that is multiple times taller than this, how do you possibly figure out who can fix all of those problems? It will make anybody's head spin, and this guy does it all by himself.
How do you personally deal with that? Well, because my son go there, it affects me a little bit different, because that's my child.
You know, and I want the best for my child.
You know, they don't understand that you need money, you need material, you need bodies.
You need all these things to make it happen.
And, you know, all they look up for is to have a nice, clean campus.
Now, you don't have the power to fix every one of these things every single day.
And that bothers me, and my wife had asked me one day, 'cause sometimes I go home frustrated, she say, "why you worried about it? You can't save the world.
" And I always tell her, I say, listen, if I could save one of those kids and give 'em a decent school, that'd mean a lot to me, man.
Because that kid don't have to go with his knees scraped up, he don't have to be on no cracked asphalt.
He don't have to use a toilet that's stopped up.
If I could just save one of those kids from that, then that means I did my job.
Maybe that one kid that I saved might go on to go to college and do something in life, you know.
And that's my whole thing is saving these kids.
One of my goals this week is to help Omar toss out all of the work orders that he has for enterprise middle school.
Hopefully, you come out and see me later in the week? Yes, I will.
Don't forget to bring that stuff we covered.
- Yes.
I will bring it.
- Okay.
All right, see you later.
Take care.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
In my heart and my soul, I believe that it can be better.
And it's a good feeling.
That gives you a little bit more hope.
You know, helping out enterprise.
You know, those people will be so happy.
We're helping a school that was a disaster.
There's termites and bugs.
We can at least fix this.
Underneath, there's a possibility we could have some activity under there we need to look at.
Did you say, "activity"? Critter activity.
We got critter activity below.
We're gonna have to go below the ship.
Ugh! Ugh, that is so crazy.
I wasn't going in there.
The little-bitty hole.
I didn't think my head could fit in that hole.
I sn't gonna embarrass myself on national tv with my head stuck.
Jacob! So I went to get Jacob.
Hey, baby.
What's up? So I said, "come with me.
" I need you to put this on.
Okay.
I need you to get in that hole.
Underneath, there's some critters.
Just see what's going on in there.
[Laughing.]
Oh, my.
Let me help you with this.
Put this on.
Thank you very much.
You're very welcome.
Put these little gloves on just in case.
Tell my family I love them.
- Love you, Jacob! - Here we go.
- Watch the nails! - Oh, my goodness.
Your legs are shaking.
Don't be scared.
Oh, my.
Is anything moving? - A couple of things.
- Aah! Oh, my goodns, look at all these roaches.
- Are you scared? - Very! This is bananas! What is that? Oh, my goodness.
Kym sent me under the building to go look for a bunch of subterranean termites and dead rodents and let me tell you something.
The folks from orkin, they have a big job on their hands.
You want me to come get you? I would love for you to come down.
Psych! All right, James, so here we are in, uh, miss Mason's class.
Yep.
I tell you, this is a great thing you're doing helping put this floor down for her, because, uh, every time I talko her, it's all she talks about.
She likes a clean classroom.
Me helping out in miss Mason room, it was like a honor basically, because she's like my mother, so I basically just look up to her and just cherish the moments that we have together.
It's not easy to live in Compton with the surroundings and what goes on, t, me, I'm used to it already.
I been here ever since I was born, so when it comes to bad things happening, she's giving me advice on what to do when I'm in that type of situation.
You think you might see yourself as a teacher someday, just because of miss Mason's influence? Yeah, I see myself as like aA helper.
It just goes around.
If that person sees somebody doing a good thing, then the next person does something, that's how it goes.
Well, that's good advice.
I wish you were around when I was about 16 years old.
[Laughing.]
There are 30,000 students approximately in the Compton unified school district.
There are 62 employees that work for the department called facilities and maintenance.
There's one guy who runs this department.
Hey, Jacob, how yoyou doin'? How you feelin'? - Good to see you, man.
- Good to see you.
Omar is stopping by enterprise today, and I'm gonna bring him around and show him the work we've done so far.
How you feeling about all of this? - Man, it's just It's great, great.
I asked Omar to bring the stack of work orders that he had in his office, because I want to show him that we are gonna go through every single work order that he has and take care of every problem he knows about at enterprise.
You know, I don't know if you remember what was right over here.
It was lockers.
Lockers, yes.
These were lockers.
Aw, so I don't need this request anymore.
If you don't need that one anymore, give it to me.
That one.
You can tear that one up.
So let's keep going this way.
I want to show you the football field over here.
Last time you were probably out here, there was gopher holes Yes.
All over the place.
It was a mess out here.
We started laying down the sod, and there's another new addition.
I don't know if you see it out there, but we got a new scoreboard up for the kids too.
Oh, man! "Home of the eagles.
" Man, that's nice.
Looks good, right? Man.
Never could have thought enterprise would look like this, man, never.
Man, this is nice.
You remember what this building is right here.
This isIs the gym.
Yes.
Matter of fact, I got a picture of it in the request here.
- A leaky roof.
- Leaky roof.
You know, 'cause once you have leaks, water just start damaging everything.
Take a look at it now.
Oh, man! Oh, ho, man! [Crying.]
Oh, man.
Man, man.
Thank you.
Thanks, man.
It's a whole new gym.
Man, the kids'll love this, man.
They can actually have a home game here.
- It's like It's beautiful, right? Thank you, thank you.
[Crying.]
It sort of took my breath away to see what fixing a gym can do for him.
For a moment, it was as if every work order on that wall of papers had been set on fire and everything was done, just for a second.
Go ahead and rip this up.
You can rip that up.
[Laughing.]
Man, man, man.
This is nice, man.
- We have a plastic surface.
What we would - Hello! Hey, hey.
What's going on? How are you? The volunteers that I've seen here are just phenomen.
Even the principal is helping.
What's happening? What are we cleaning these for? We are changing from blackboard using chalk.
We will become whiteboard using markers.
The chalkboards must be 100 years old, so all the teachers are getting whiteboards now.
I'm still excited.
They are asking me.
I said, "do you want me to scream?" And said, "no, slow, keep inside for now.
" Principal brancov is quite the character.
Seems very passionate about wanting enterprise to be a better place, but I don't understand as the principal, how he's allowed this to happen.
I want to show you what I discovered down here.
I'm not sure how many people know about it.
This is a supply room.
Okay.
And, you know, when we first came here, we interviewed a lot of these teachers.
There's a lot of stuff in here that they want.
I know there's colored paper one of them asked for for art classes.
You know, whiteboard material.
I mean Wait, hold on.
Let me let me Let me get this straight.
This is like an office supply store.
These are actually bookcases right here, and there's several of the teachers asked for bookcases.
I'm trying to wrap my head around this.
I don't know the answer.
There's a storage room of supplies that I know the teachers need, because there's paperwork that they showed us, "these are the things that we asked for in our classroom.
" Almost every teacher asked for cabinets, and [Tapping cabinet.]
That looks like a cabinet to me.
- Is that a That is a file cabinet.
Hold up, hold up.
Yep.
- A whole bunch of paper.
- Yeah.
Now all I want is some colored paper.
Well, if you go down into that little secret basement, it's stacks and stacks of colored paper.
What color do you need? This didn't just come here today or yesterday.
This has been here.
It got dust on it.
These are projector screens, the ones you roll down.
Pull down.
No, it's not! That is not! Mr.
soriano's didn't even come down, didn't even work, and it was molded.
Wow.
You were a teacher in this district for a couple of years.
What do you think of this? - I'm I'm I'm sick.
I'm actually a little nauseous.
Let's go talk to the principal.
I'm not gonna talk to the principal.
Make sure you give him a piece of my mind.
You better come with some answers.
I know that much.
He might surprise us.
Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
Hoarder.
Dr.
brancov, I'm upset.
I just came from the supply room and it's ridiculous.
You know, I got all these letters here from these teachers and they're all saying they need supplies and the supply room is full of supplies.
They are.
They are getting supplies.
Every month, there is a requisition form.
They write down everything they need and we deliver to their rooms.
And I'm hearing that they are asking for things and not getting them.
Lots of times we need some supplies we don't have.
Dr.
brancov, we're talking about construction paper, projectors, pencil sharpeners.
All these supplies are paid for by taxpayer dollars, correct? Yes, correct.
Correct.
Why are those supplies down there and teachers aren't getting them? Dr.
brancov, I'm upset.
I just came from the supply room and it's ridiculous.
U know, I got all these letters here from these teachers and they're all saying they need supplies and the supply room is full of supplies.
Why are those supplies down there and teachers aren't getting them? All supplies are here for rest of this year and for all summer until next October.
I am afraid sometimes we'll run out.
You should not be afraid you're gonna run out.
If you're not giving out the supplies, you might as well not even have 'em.
How are you gonna change things? You are the boss.
You have to make it happen.
Okay.
[chuckles.]
- All right? - We can change it.
Now we're getting somewhere.
Principal brancov has a difficult task.
Budget issues are tough, but you know what? There should not be a whole storage room full of supplies.
I want you to put your money where your mouth is.
Come with me right now and let's hand out some supplies.
We can dthat.
Let's go.
Let's do it.
Comen, Tom.
Come on.
I'm trying to keep up.
Here it is.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Here you are.
Thank you.
We're good for now.
I really appreciate your help.
- Thank you very much.
- Yeah.
All right, let's get out of here.
Virco, they're being so nice and donating tables and chairs for enterprise.
This is fantastic.
We got the floors in.
That looks good.
I've promised Mr.
soriano new supplies.
The science center was my baby.
Whitley had that.
We just, uh, finished up installing some kraftmaid cabinetry.
We're putting the countertops on 'em right now.
What? I want this at my house.
This is real high-end.
Can you put my cabinets in For a discount? I've been on a journey to find out who's to blame for the state of schools like enterprise.
Who is accountable around here? Is it the school district? Is it the hool board members? Is it the superintendent? Is it the governor? Right now, budgets are very tight.
When you only have 62 guys, for 42 properties, with 30,000 kids, where do you go? Where do you start? I couldn't believe it.
I picked up the phone and dialed the vernor's office and the governor Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to answer my questions.
The first thing that I wanted to ask you is Obviously, you know, it's a tough time for education and for budgets across the state and across the country.
What do you think is going on, governor, with public education in California and in the United States? Well, I think that some of the schools are extremely good and some are terribly bad.
These are schools that are failing schools for years and years and years, and we have to do something about those failing schools.
But as you know, that's all easier said than done.
When we showed up at enterprise, the paint was falling off the walls, the ceilings were moldy, the was a rodent infestation d termites.
Who's to blame? Well, uh, I would say, uh, labor, special interests, a lack of parent participation, a lack of funding.
Clearly, I would say government.
The governor of California said that the government is in part to blame for the state of schools and I think that that's, you know That was a pretty bold thing to say.
If the community comes together and says, "look, we don't have to take this school "being dilapidated and falling apart.
"We can go in there and we rebuild the school and try to find the resources to do that.
" Thank you very much.
The governor meeting me affirms that he believes in the type of project that we're doing.
He believes that even if government's failing us, people have the power to change their own schools and their own community and take charge of their own education.
[Uplifting pop music.]
attention all teachers and students, I have a quick announcement.
Because of all your hard work, we are sending you all to Universal studios Hollywood.
[Cheering.]
When you get back, you'll have a brand-new school.
I know there's gonna be a lot of those kids that have never even left this community, much less gone to universal studios.
So they can go there and not worry about tile falling on their head.
Just go and have fun and be a kid again.
[Cheering.]
I think it was great the students could actually be able to go on a field trip.
[Laughter.]
That was incredible! It was awesome.
[Cheering.]
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, my goodness.
We're counting down.
Less than a minute.
- Here we go.
- Here we go.
It's been a good week, guys.
Tom, you're the man.
Hey, I am not the man.
Listen.
I asked you guys to do the impossible and you did it.
Guys! Let's go.
Let's go.
Come on.
All: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
[Cheering.]
For ten days, we were really busy nailing and painting this stuff.
Now they're gonna see a totally new school.
It's exciting.
I mean, you just feel good about it.
[Marching band plays.]
[cheers and applause.]
We're just really excited to go back to the school.
It's just crazy to know that this is happening.
[Cheers and applse.]
- When they got off that bus, they were just like They just couldn't believe it.
They were psyched.
[Cheers and applause.]
Ten days ago, we asked you to do the impossible.
And with the help of teachers, students, parents, and volunteers, we did it.
[Cheers and applause.]
James and angel, this journey began with you and I think it's fitting that you two cut the ribbon.
[Cheers and applause.]
Cut it! Waiting to see the unveiling of the school, your heart begins to pump fast.
Your blood is rushing.
I wonder what it's gonna be like.
I wonder what it's gonna be like.
[Cheers and applause.]
When we cut that ribbon, me and angel were totally excited.
It was, like, an honor, 'cause everybody put a lot of time and effort into the school being what it is.
[Cheering.]
[Screams.]
[Cheers and applause.]
This can't be my room! This is not my room! It's yours! [Cheers and applause.]
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
This is absolutely gorgeous.
I love it! Oh, this is great! My floor! [Cheers and applause.]
I got a new desk.
Miss Mason is my favorite teacher.
She teaches me a lot.
She strives harder so that we can succeed.
She does a lot for me, the school, and students.
Miss Mason, you're my favorite teacher and many students' favorite teacher, and I just want to say thank you for all the time that you put into being a teacher and helping other students out.
I love you.
Thank you.
I love you too.
[Applause.]
Thank you.
James and angel cared enough about their school to submit to nbc so that we could have a school makeover.
That's a sign of people who really care and love their school.
Hey, Mr.
soriano.
Hey.
Hi.
How are you, kym? Oh, it's so good to see you.
Okay, great.
The no.
This is the classroom? Ooh.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
It's amazing.
It's amazing.
Look at this.
Kym, I need to give you another hug.
Oh, no, see, I love it.
I love it.
I knew this room long time ago.
It was never like this.
Never.
Once I opened the door and I see what was there Oh, I almost had a heart attack, you know? I cannot believe how do they transform this roointo a real science classroom.
Love it.
Love it.
Yeah, remember, you only had two microscopes? Yes.
Now I have two on each table.
This science lab has so much to offer.
It's gonna open their world.
It's gonna open the teacher's world.
This is just a touch screen that you can all these fun things on.
Now I can say let's just go down.
Maybe go down to L.
A.
We can go to Europe.
You can go to the U.
S.
You can spin the globe and actually see all the different countries and they can really become immersed in that experience.
I feel inspired.
Can't believe that this is my room.
I'm just waiting for my kids to come and see this room.
I was so happy.
Welcome to the microsoft science and technology center! [Cheering.]
Everybody has a microscope.
I've always wanted to use one of these.
- Compton right here.
- Oh, there you are.
I'm so excited.
[Overlapping chatter.]
Exciting, man.
Everything that happened in ten days never happened in lifetime at enterprise middle school.
I was part of the changes.
I was part of the history.
That eagle spirit is gonna be with me for the rest of my life.
Enterprise middle school, welcome to your new gym.
Welcome.
Come on in.
I was just ecstatic.
I was astounded by how much they did with the gym.
I coached basketball here for several seasons and my girls never lost a basketball game and they played in such horrible conditions.
And these girls would play hard, they would give their all, and now it's a total new floor, so I totally think it's gonna help the students believe that they can succeed.
It touched my heart.
I actually had tears in my eyes.
Welcome to the people magazine reading room.
- This is unbelievable! - Angel, what's up, man? The people magazine reading room is absolutely gorgeous.
I think that it's a room where children can be excited about learning.
In all these books, you're gonna find stories, then other kids are gonna find stories that are going to inspire them and people are gonna figure out what they want to do and what they can be.
And it is a place to relax and chill and hang out, but it's also a place to explore and discover.
I think that this project is the starting point for bigger and better things, not just for enterprise, but for other schools across the country.
Today, the kids came back and as they got to the football field, they were just in awe of it.
[Cheering.]
Yes! Enterprise! [Cheering continues.]
When I saw the field, I'm like, "how'd the grass grow that fast?" - Welcome to the brand-new starter athletic complex for enterprise middle school! Awesome! Congratulations, every one of you! The old track and field was like the monster under your bed.
The new track and field is like your parents hugging you and saying, "it's all right now.
" Now it's, like, amazing.
It's like outside football stadium.
It has been our privilege to help you do this.
And your efforts have not gone unnoticed.
I would now like to introduce you to a very special guest speaker.
The governor of the great state of California, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
[Cheers and applause.]
I'm here to pump you up.
Yes.
[cheers and applause.]
I was shocked.
That was major.
I want to come by here and say congratulations to all of you whose blood, sweat, and tears made all of this that I've just seen possible.
And I tell you, I've seen a lot of schools in my life, but I've never seen a school as beautiful as this one.
[Cheers and applause.]
Keep up the great work and I promise you I'll be back.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
[Cheers and applause.]
And now it is up to you to continue to maintain your school and to maintain your school pride.
[Cheers and applause.]
When I first came in to this project, I started seeing people's faces, and, you know, they're people that live in a community that have the same needs that I do.
What we've learned is the communities have the power to make our own change.
We don't have to rely on anybody else.
I don't want to leave.
I love these kids.
I really do and I love this community now and they've really inspired me.
I am just happy to be a part of such a project.
Ooh, hair and makeup, please.
Schools across America should look at enterprise middle school as an example of what can be done.
Our hope is that communities see what we're doing and they say, "you know what? We can do that too.
" A school should be a place where you realize your dreams.
When you're proud about your environment, it's a reflection on everything that you do Your willingness to be attentive in class and be respectful.
Our school is now the highest ranked middle school in the Compton unified school district.