Oyler (2015) - full transcript

A little girl coming in,
a third grader, covered in dirt,

has one flip-flop,
the other one busted on the way in-- this

was January.

I could call her mom and say,
you know, where's her shoes?

Be mad and call 241-KIDS
and say this is neglect,

or I could just find a way
to get this girl a shoe.

I want to do something that's
much, much

different than probably
a lot of principals.

I want the boards to
come down off the houses.

I want less crime and people
from outside our community

coming in and selling drugs.



I want to start working on
the neighborhood, the streets.

Hey.

I've got three young ladies who
won't be able to start school

till Monday.

Why's that?

Whooping cough.

All three of them?

They live in here?

Yeah.

And they got the cough?

Yep.

Keep them there till
the cough's done.

John,
you're trying to hide from me.

Yes, you are.



Come here.

You are hiding from me,
and I know exactly why.

I'm not hiding from you.

You look like a zombie.

You need to come into school.

All right?

I mean it.

Are you well enough
to come into school.

You only need five credits.

I just scoped it out.

We want to try to find a way
how we can stop this and make

the streets better.

I don't think it's far off.

I mean,
I think it's very doable.

I'm excited about it.

I've got 184 more days to go.

Good morning.

We're all a little lost here
aren't, aren't we?

K to six, line up right
here, high school

on the far door,
seventh and eighth grade over here.

Today's going to
be crazy getting

used to the new building.

But we'll get it.

Each day will get
better and better, OK?

Brand new building, brand new
door, brand new entrance,

everything.

Exciting.

Straight to the
cafeteria, good job.

Today is a monumental day.

We were moved out
of our community

for the first time
in almost 100 years

while they renovated and
added new construction

to our building.

Today was the first day
that we have been back

in over two very long years.

Even before this,
we tried to do a lot of stuff

to brighten it up.

It was a very gloomy place.

It was a very gloomy place.
Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

high school.

Is that this way?

I have no idea.

I don't even know.

Me neither.

Lower Price Hill is
a predominately poor

Lower Price Hill is a predominately
poor white Appalachian community.

white Appalachian community.

When the coal mines and
the jobs left in Kentucky,

West Virginia,
a lot of the families

migrated to the urban
centers to get jobs.

There were hundreds of jobs
and factories around here.

A lot of those are gone now.

It's kind of become
an economic desert.

I can walk you outside the
door not even 15 steps away,

and I can probably get just
about any drug that I want.

and I can probably get just about any drug that
I want. I can walk you another 15 feet down,

I can walk you
another 15 feet down,

and there are our parents that
are prostituting and are hooked

on heroin and crack cocaine.

Assault out on
Hatmaker, right now.

Who?

I don't know.

Cops are there.

Was it in that
house on the right?

Mhm.

That's something we've
got to think about,

make sure we.

Lots to do today.

We're in this
brand new building.

We're riding a high.

Students walking
around still in awe.

Mr. Hockenberry got
some correspondence

from the state,
a letter that said

from the state, a letter that said we have
been identified as a priority school which

we have been identified
as a priority school which

means that we are in the bottom
5% of schools in the state

as it relates to
academic performance.

And then we keep reading.

We have to choose one of
five models for school

We have to choose one of five
models for school transformation.

transformation.

Four out of the five models
say replace the principal.

Up these steps, all right?

And then the teachers will
be right up top there.

And then the teachers will be right up top there.
The fifth model is don't replace the principal,

The fifth model is don't
replace the principal,

but you have to
show a proven track

but you have to show a proven track
record of academic achievement.

record of academic achievement.

And that's what
we're hoping for.

My initial reaction
was this will go away.

My initial reaction was this will go away. The
further away from where you are, the worse we look.

The further away from where you
are, the worse we look.

When people see the real
work that's going on,

When people see the real work that's
going on, we look absolutely fantastic.

we look absolutely fantastic.

Hi!

Welcome back.

Yay, yay, yay, yay.

My name is Raven Gribbins.

I am in the 12th grade.

I've lived in Lower
Price Hill my whole life.

It's been rough,
but it's been OK too.

Everybody used to tell
me, you're

not going to make it
through high school.

You're going to
have a baby by 16.

So I'm glad to prove
all of them wrong.

job after graduation because
I'm going to college.

OK.

Hi.

Hi, I'm Stephanie.

Stephanie, so nice to meet you.

Hi.

Crystal.

Crystal, so nice to meet you.

You are not--
you're looking down,

so you know I'm coming to you.

Hi.

Hello.

Hi, my name is Crystal,
nice to meet you.

Crystal, so nice to meet you.

Good handshake.

My name is Crystal Kornegay.

My name is Crystal Kornegay.
I'm a senior, and I live in Price Hill.

I'm a senior,
and I live in Price Hill.

I did not come out
of the womb knowing

I did not come out of the womb knowing
how to eat at a business lunch.

how to eat at a business lunch.

That doesn't happen.

What you want to do is
you want to maintain

a professional decorum, OK?

I've been attending Oyler
since the second grade.

Say you drop a knife.

Do not panic.

You're at a restaurant.

They have lots of knives.

They have lots of knives.
Sometimes you've got to fight back

Sometimes you've
got to fight back

because if you don't,
you will wind up

because if you don't, you will
wind up like the people around you.

like the people around you.

Well, the most important
thing you can do

is just be your best self.

I just want to leave and do
some new travel, be the oddball.

Everybody look at
their fingernails.

Clean fingernails.

Ladies, fingernail polish.

Any questions?

Any more questions?

Good morning, everybody.

Good morning, everybody.
Good morning, everybody.

Good morning, everybody.

Good morning, everybody.
Good morning.

Good morning.

This is my 14th year here.

When I first started,
I did everything.

If a little girl came in
and she had head lice,

I scrubbed her hair.

If a boy came in and he
had a peanut allergy,

I hit him with the epi-pen.

Mountain Dew in the
morning, sir?

Don't think so.

If you would've been
here three years ago,

the floors were black, hard
concrete, no air conditioning.

The lockers were old.

The restrooms were horrid.

It was terrible.

We tried to create this vision
of a one-stop shop, where

we have services from
5:30 in the morning

until 10:30 at night.

So if a parent walks
through our door right now

So if a parent walks through our door right
now and has a child that sick, needs glasses,

and has a child that
sick, needs glasses,

and has a child that sick, needs glasses,
and has a mental health issue, we

and has a mental health
issue, we

can just walk them to the
different areas of our school,

can just walk them to the different areas of our
school, and then get the child back in a seat.

and then get the
child back in a seat.

In theory, there should be no
kid not getting full services

In theory, there should be no kid not
getting full services here, you know?

here, you know?

And if they're not,
then we're going

to address it pretty quickly.

We have probably one of the
largest tutoring programs

We have probably one of the largest tutoring programs
here in the Midwest that has over 400 mentors.

here in the Midwest that
has over 400 mentors.

Well done.

We have the early
childhood wing,

which then makes our school
from zero to five all the way

to 12th grade.

In order to
revitalize the school,

you have to go hand in hand with
revitalizing the neighborhood.

Is it just you?

Yeah, just me.

OK.

If someone from the
community needs something,

the only thing they have to do
is come to the school building.

Here you go.

Have a good one.

God bless you.

You too.

Thank you.

I got my help.

How was your day at school?

It was good.

You have any homework?

Yes, I do.

So you going to
do your homework?

Yes, I'll do it.

I want to make
something with my life.

If my mom and dad would've
had a high school diploma,

their life would be
way different now.

My mom,
she was in and out of jail a lot.

She had a drug problem.

She used to prostitute also.

I talk to her every
once in a while.

I don't know what's
going on now.

My father,
he could not read or write,

so that's what messed him up.

I'm a maintenance man.

I do construction.

Not having an education,
sometimes work's hard to find.

You struggle.

I had moved in with my dad
because of a lot of problems

that had been going on
in Lower Price Hill.

She wanted to come up and stay
to get away from State Avenue

because it was getting a little
rough, a little violent.

I lived up here,
and it's a little quieter.

This is mine and my
little sister's room.

We share.

We kind of had growing
up a rocky relationship,

and I got hooked on cocaine
pretty bad and alcohol.

And they took
Raven away from me.

My mother and father
raised her for me.

My mother and father raised her for me. But
now it's a date, and I'm clean and sober.

But now it's a date,
and I'm clean and sober.

I got a second chance
and an opportunity

I got a second chance and an opportunity
to spend this last year with her.

to spend this last
year with her.

to spend this last year with her.
She's going to graduate from high school.

She's going to graduate
from high school.

She's going to graduate from high school.
Hopefully she'll go to college.

Hopefully she'll go to college.

Hopefully she'll go to college.
I mean, I'm really hoping.

I mean, I'm really hoping.

I mean, I'm really hoping.
She says she is.

She says she is.

But I hope she at least
gives it a chance.

Why'd you make that face?

Because I'm going
to go to college so

I can have a better
life than they had.

Don, what's going on, buddy?

I got them doing a little
story on the school,

just walking the neighborhood.

That's all right.

Yeah, we're doing OK.

Yeah, we're doing OK. I grew up a
block away at 2125 St. Michael Street.

I grew up a block away at 2125 St.
Michael Street.

I want to Oyler kindergarten
through sixth grade.

When I was growing
up, the ladies, they'd

When I was growing up, the ladies, they'd hit this
sidewalk about 7 or 8 o'clock in the evenings

hit this sidewalk about 7
or 8 o'clock in the evenings

when the sun would go
down, and it

when the sun would go down, and it would be
coffee and cigarettes and Pepsi and gossip.

would be coffee and cigarettes
and Pepsi and gossip.

These women were always out,
keeping an eye on things

and running this place.

I never feel as
good as I do when

I'm standing right here in front
of 21 25 St. Michael Street.

I probably never will.

I consider us a
close knit community.

Families that have been
here for a long time

have married other families that
have been here for a long time.

So there's a lot of, oh,
that's my daughter-in-law's family,

or that's my
son-in-law's family.

I've lived in this
neighborhood 52 years.

I've lived in this neighborhood 52 years. There's
times around here when things aren't going very good,

There's times around here when
things aren't going very good,

There's times around here when things aren't going
very good, but you always seem to find somebody

but you always seem
to find somebody

who can lean on and talk to.

Times are getting hard,
and without an education,

a lot of people aren't
going to make it.

Thank you.

Oyler began as only at
pre-K to sixth school,

then they added the seventh,
and they added the eighth grade.

Over time, we had saw an
ugly pattern developing.

85.9% of the kids
that left here never

85.9% of the kids that left here
never made it to a 10th grade seat.

made it to a 10th grade seat.

made it to a 10th grade seat. It was very
shocking to me, because every opening day

It was very shocking to me,
because every opening day

outside my building were
20, 30, 40, 50, 60 kids that

should be in high school.

So it kind of sparked
an idea to say,

So it kind of sparked an idea to say,
could we have a high school here?

could we have a
high school here?

could we have a high school here? When my
own children were going to school here,

When my own children were
going to school here,

When my own children were going to school here,
when they got to high school or junior high,

when they got to high
school or junior high,

when they got to high school or junior high,
they were being bused to other high schools.

they were being bused
to other high schools.

And that was hard on them.

And that was hard on them. They say that
they were bullied on by other students.

They say that they were
bullied on by other students.

Faculty wouldn't do anything to help
them, to make it stop.

My kids, they would beat me
back to the neighborhood.

You know, I'd get a call.

Your kids aren't in school.

I just dropped them off.

So when I went to
Taft High School,

there was only 43 white
people in the whole school.

They didn't like us.

We didn't like them.

Now times have changed.

The prejudice is still
there, but it's not as strong

as it was back in the
'80s and the '90s.

We're starting our eighth
year as a high school.

We have graduated more kids
in the past three years

than in the collective
85 years prior.

For a lot of our kids,
they have grown up here.

For a lot of our kids, they have grown up here.
They have started here as kindergartners,

They have started here
as kindergartners,

and they're going to be walking
out the doors as high school

graduates.

All right, let's set the tone
from the very first play.

1, 2, fire it up!

Come on!

Come on!

Let's go!

No, no, no,
play within the game.

No, no, no, play within the game.
You hear me?

You hear me?

Hey, are you guys still
were you're supposed to be?

Yeah.

All right.

Before the high school
started, we

had zero students graduating.

And the fact that
we're graduating

And the fact that we're graduating almost
upwards of 40 or 50 kids a year now

almost upwards of 40
or 50 kids a year now

is an accomplishment to us.

But the state has
accountability measures,

and we're responsible
for meeting those.

So that's how we fell
into that-- they're

So that's how we fell into that--
they're calling it a priority category.

calling it a priority category.

We were in there because our
graduation rate was below 60%.

They were basing the graduation
rate on a four-year model.

They were basing the graduation rate on a four-year
model. So when a kid comes in the ninth grade,

So when a kid comes
in the ninth grade,

he's got four years to graduate.

If it takes him
five, he's a dropout.

There's one right there.

He saw me and took off.

Stop, stop, stop.

Gentlemen,
I know where you go to school,

and I know where you live.

As we move forward
through the school year,

As we move forward through the school year, we
still have to show some kind of academic change.

we still have to show some
kind of academic change.

Office-- Alex
Chapman just took off

running from me
through an alley.

Could you contact his father
and let him know he's skipping?

He's also got somebody
else with him.

You take your eye off the ball
for one minute in Lower Price

Hill, one minute, and you lose.

Hey, Donna Jones,
we're doing an attendance sweep.

If you see any skippers,
let me know. $5--

viaduct.

That's where I've seen
them all yesterday.

On the viaduct?

I didn't think of that.

Let's turn around.

Yeah.

Go back.

I thought about that.

I didn't even think of that.

Is it they're under here?

Right there.

Yep.

How'd they get in?

Go right.

Go right.

OK.

Faster.

You hit it.

All righty, Mr. Mitchell.

Guys, come on.

I know every corner,
every inch of this place, all right?

Do you guys understand it?

And I'm going to catch you
every single time you do it.

We're in the area of
the city where there

is quite a bit of pollution.

The pollution coming from
cars, coming from factories

is an easy thing to think of.

At first,
I wanted to switch schools,

but because this was
the closest school,

but because this was the closest school,
my parents wanted me to come here.

my parents wanted
me to come here.

At first I didn't like
it, but I got used to it.

I want to say it was like the
fourth, like--

The second, the second.

My booty is there.

I've been there.

Me and him, me and him,
we talked to people,

and they didn't
want to talk to us.

We still talked to them.

It took about a month
for them to say,

It took about a month for them to say, either
those people don't know where they're at,

either those people don't
know where they're at,

or those people just got to fit
in, and that's how it was.

Mhm.

I've got a spike.

Are you Crystal?

Yep.

How's it going?

Good.

Good.

Good. Is that for us?

Is that for us?

Is that for us? Mhm.

Mhm.

Awesome.

Come on back here.

My name is Mary.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Hi, Crystal.

Hey.

How are you?

Good.

Good.

So today I'm going to check
your eyes and see how they work

and what's going on.

So you're a senior?

Yes.

What's coming up next?

College.

Oh good.

What are you going to
study, do you know?

Criminal justice.

Wow, good.

All right, so start by looking
to the green animal here.

Hey, Raven, how are you?

Good, how are you?

Dr. , nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

OK, now watch this here.

You see that animal?

Can you tell what it is?

The cat.

Mhm.

So you do have
migraines it looks like.

Do you get headaches after you
read, though?

Sometimes.

Do you enjoy reading?

Nope.

OK.

You're a senior this
year, right?

And are you plan to go
to school next year?

Mhm.

Where are you looking
at going to school?

I want to go to Mount St.
Joseph.

Oh nice.

So you'd be close by.

To be a math teacher.

Wow!

OK.

That's awesome.

Move,.

I've known Raven
her entire life.

She is hard headed.

She is also highly
intelligent, highly motivated.

I worry about her.

I worry about all of them.

I worry about all of them. She's the
epitome of what our young ladies go through

She's the epitome of what
our young ladies go through

down here.

One day she might have her
drug addicted aunt's kids,

taking care of them.

The next day,
she'll be here playing basketball

just like a normal high school
student in anytown, USA.

What scares me is that if she
gets an opportunity to go away

to college, will she take it?

Because you always
feel like you're

being pulled back in
to your family's drama.

Guys, we need a
little bit more space.

It was the first varsity game.

The place was sold out.

The coach wasn't the head coach.

He was just stepping in.

1, 2, 3, work hard, play hard!

Hey, know who we've got!

So Raven dropped off two
tickets, one for her boyfriend

and one for her father.

He never showed.

I don't think her boyfriend shown
either, which caused her

and the coach to
have some issues.

Two of them got into it.

Staying out of trouble.

That's going to be
the biggest one.

I'm used to speaking my mind.

I'm used to speaking my mind. But when
you speak your mind, sometimes that

But when you speak your
mind, sometimes that

gets you in trouble.

I was feisty.

I always have an attitude
at some point in time.

Get her, Raven, get her!

Growing up,
was a really rough neighborhood.

It was one of the
roughest in Cincinnati.

We were raised to fight.

This girl, she kept calling
me all types of bad name,

saying I sucked up the
whole football team.

I told her, I said,
look, you're either

I told her, I said, look, you're either
going to have to stop talking about me,

going to have to stop
talking about me,

or we're going to have to fight.

And somebody ended up recording
it and put it on YouTube.

I only got to play like two
minutes because he was so mad.

When you're mad,
you can't just start yelling.

I am Raven's mentor
here from Oyler.

I mean, just think,
if you were to yell like that at your boss

and you lose your job--

I see her about two to
three times a month,

and we text on a regular basis.

Try and take a deep breath
and just remove yourself

from the situation
is the best advice.

We went to a lunch.

It was designed to
be a business lunch.

Club with no tomato.

That's her.

Thank you.

Do we have to eat our stuff--
our fries with a fork?

My major focus with
her so far has been I

don't want to let her down.

Because of her mother being
out of her life for so much

when I tell her I'm
going to do something,

I'm going to do it.

Look, it's beeping because I
don't have my seat belt on.

No, it's beeping because
I'm just getting really

close to the car behind it.

I thought everybody was going to be
real, real dressed up,

so when I came in
pants, I was like, I'm

going to be the only
person with pants on.

I thought that too.

Oh no.

Did you hear about the shooting
that happened on the west side

Friday night?

Oh yeah.

After the game?

It was during the game too.

That's crazy.

Because the game was sold out.

This is what I heard.

The game was sold out.

They were mad they
couldn't get in,

so they started shooting
because they couldn't get in.

That is crazy!

Yeah.

They started shooting because
they couldn't get in the game.

Yeah!

I have never heard
of nothing like that.

Hi, everybody.

Hi, Mr. Hockenberry.

Hey.

- Mr. Hockenberry.
- classes.

We left for two years,
pulled out all the services,

and went up to Price Hill.

We leave,
and there's nothing to do.

Shot right there,
and came out there.

You know what I told her
about not being in school

and hanging out any everything?

Almost every night,
there was a shooting.

There was a rape.

There was a drug overdose.

So there was absolutely
nothing going on,

and I think that leads to
bad, bad decisions.

My son-in-law's
brother was murdered.

This was Brian's house,
the boy that was murdered.

Brian Thompson was
a student here,

and his son Brian
is now a student.

From what I understand,
it was just being in the wrong place

at the wrong time.

There was a craps game going
on over here in the water park.

One guy lost several
hundred dollars in the game,

so he called his
friends and said,

let's rob this guy,
get my $200 back.

And they shoot the guy.

They take the money.

Brian had just pulled up.

He had his hands up in the car,
and they came right this way

and just-- he wouldn't
get out of the car,

and they just unloaded
fire and shot him

and killed him on the face.

All right, guys, let's go!

Out of the park.

Mr. Wynn.

There was a triple shooting
up on Price Hill last night.

There was a triple shooting up on Price Hill last
night. You stay out of that stuff, you hear me?

You stay out of that
stuff, you hear me?

can go there, and that's

can go there, and that's where
you take your library classes.

where you take your
library classes.

where you take your library classes. you can
come here, and I'll help you directly do that,

you can come here,
and I'll help you directly do that,

but it's going to be.

So far, the school
year, it feels

like it's gone by really fast.

I have been applying to colleges
like Kent State, UC, Miami,

and other colleges.

So can I put that in this one?

Yeah.

Like, attending
University of Cincinnati

would help me accomplish
one of my goals.

Yeah, good.

When I came to Oyler,
there was like this complete absence

of college.

It's not a dinner table topic.

It's not a dinner table topic. I said,
one day a year, every year from here on out

I said, one day a year,
every year from here on out

I said, one day a year, every year from here
on out for as long as I'm principal, we'll

for as long as I'm
principal, we'll

do our one day where that's
all we talk about is college.

When we think about colleges,
what do we think about first?

Marshall?

We can't start
talking to students

from a school in
an area like this

when they're sophomores and
juniors about going to college.

You have to plant
that seed early.

They have to believe it and
believe it and believe it.

Because the sad truth
is, not only are they

not hearing it at home,
they may be hearing the opposite

at home.

You're not going
to go to college.

You're no better than me.

What makes you think
you can go to college?

Nobody from our family's
ever gone to college?

Why am I showing
you Hocking College?

Because last year,
Ashley Ward, she

graduated from our high school.

And she is now at
Hocking college.

This is direct
evidence that if you

graduate high school from
Oyler, you can go to college.

You can succeed.

Someone has to be the one to
break that cycle of not being

educated and living in poverty.

And our students here
at Oyler are doing that.

We have first generation
college students coming out

of our high school every year.

--very interested.

I'm Crystal.

Abby, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

I got accepted to Mount St.
Joseph.

OK.

And they were telling me about
their different scholarships

they have to offer.

The amount of money
that you receive,

does it-- like it depends
on your GPA and ACT scores

or just based on one?

Both of those combined.

Triangle inequality.

Absolute value of x minus
2 plus the absolute value--

Hi, Raven, I'm Abby.

Hi--

So good to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Hi, I'm Caitlin.

I'm her former college
access advisor.

OK, very nice to meet you.

She submitted an
application, right?

Mhm.

And with an ACT score from last
year, right?

Mhm.

And so she's wondering-- what
did you get on it last year?

16.

Our average score is a
22, but by no means does

that mean that everybody in that
range, above that range,

gets in.

There's people below
that that also get in.

Can you tell me a little
bit about your GPA

and where you're at
in school right now?

My GPA is a 2.3.

OK.

But it's going up,
though, because I've got

straight A's and B's right now.

You do?

That's good.

Yes, so it's going up.

Because they're making
funding decisions

right now,
so you want to make sure

you get this in before for
they decide about funding.

I could do that.

OK.

Maybe.

Maybe?

Just kidding.

I'm listening.

Just because I'm playing
a game-- I'm listening.

I just like to check.

Sometimes when you guys are
like texting and playing games,

you're listening and
sometimes you're not.

Ms. Burns, who you waiting on?

You all right?

Yeah.

All right.

Something's going on
here we don't know about.

We've got kids that haven't
shown up in 100 days, 50 days,

60 days.

They're not going to
show up on testing day,

so they're going to have an
impact on some of our scores.

The big elephant in the
room is the attendance.

Attendance.

That's going to have to be
a top priority because it

is getting low.

And it is hard to teach
with six kids in a classroom

or 10 kids in a classroom.

So we have to make sure--

But it's not a problem we
haven't ever dealt with before,

right?

I mean, every year we've got
that mid-year attendance issue

with the juniors and
seniors, and every year we

get them back.

Craig has just done so
much for this community,

and he deserves to be able
to stay in the position

that he's in.

He has such an enormous
vision for the neighborhood.

Why would that not be supported?

Why would that not be supported?

OK.

Just leave them here.

I have the directions here.

Well, you know,
it's very complicated.

I'll put it together
in just a minute.

I'm basically on
call 24 hours a day.

I mean, any given
moment, I could

be working till midnight
and up by 5 o'clock.

So it's constant,
around the clock.

All right, not crank it.

Keep cranking.

Like this?

Oohh.

As long as it doesn't
leak out anywhere.

I know how to do this, but--

What are you doing?

When I first saw him,
I knew that there was

something different about him.

Do you want me to
open it for you?

Yeah.

And I told him from
the very beginning,

you are destined
to change lives.

I think because he
is beyond passionate,

it's hard not to be
supportive because what

he does is just so admirable.

Sometimes I have
to literally tell

him to turn,
take his face out of his "CrackBerry,"

and give me some face time.

If you're not busy,
try not to stab me.

Oh, I think I want to try
to stab you a little bit.

OK.

OK.

Here we go.

Ow.

All right.

It's great.

Great.

Apparently I'm the king of
Price Hill for this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I grew up in a beautiful small
town in Northeastern Ohio.

Hi!

Hi! How are you?

How are you?

It was a very rural community.

It was in those days
when you could just

walk out the door in the
morning, be gone until 6:00,

7 o'clock at night,
and my parents never even blinked

an eye if I was safe or not.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Probably the exact opposite of.

Happy--

Happy Thanksgiving!

You're sleepy, aren't you?

You sleepy?

My dad's girlfriend Jessica,
she had my baby brother.

He was like three weeks early.

Can you hand me that
red cover right there?

She had a drug problem.

She would do something
here and there,

and that's the reason
why the baby had to stay

in the hospital an extra week.

He's almost up to
seven pounds now.

But she's been clean ever since
then, and she's doing good.

My dad and the way he
chooses to have his kids

is just real crazy.

I've got 10-year-old
sisters, then

I've got a two-year-old
sister, and now I've

got a new baby brother,
so we've got to be 17 years apart.

got a new baby brother, so we've got to be 17 years
apart. Oh, no, you're going to be a crybaby today.

Oh, no, you're going
to be a crybaby today.

Happy, happy birthday.

Hey!

Happy, happy birthday
from Applebee's to you!

Happy birthday!

Thank you!

It's been a tough
past two weeks,

and I don't anticipate
it getting any easier

over the next few weeks.

One of our parents
of three children

was shot and killed last night.

She was having some
problems with drugs.

Unfortunately, this is something
we're good at responding about.

I'd rather be good at
responding to football games

and basketball games.

There was a little
note in there.

She wrote, I love you, Mom.

I'll miss you, Mom.

Here's a book to read in heaven.

I'm going to drag those three
kids across the finish line,

no matter what happens.

Hey, Eric, how you feeling, man?

I'm all right.

Good.

I'm really sorry about
what happened, man.

It's all right.

I'm really sorry.

And you know,
I needed you at school today.

You gonna be there tomorrow for
me, for tomorrow?

I'll try.

All right.

This is two people,
friends that I've

lost to gun violence
in this neighborhood.

When is it gonna frickin' stop?

serious measures.

I want him explaining this.

Is Coach Lazar up here?

Coach is.

I saw half of you outside.

There was a fight that was
going to happen after school.

Not one person that
was in that fight

had anything to do
with any of you guys.

Not one of them talked
about your moms.

Not one of them hit you.

Not one of them stole
your girlfriend.

Now there's three police
cars out there, asking

about my basketball team.

Dequann,
they're saying it was you.

They're out there
looking for you.

I asked if I could
handle it myself.

You're his brother!

Don't let him do that stuff!

Tackle him.

Drag him in here.

Tie him to something.

This is our only chance
that we have to be winners.

You guys fought
every game last year.

You were an embarrassment.

And now nobody can beat
us because everybody's

playing together.

But one problem
throws everything off.

When a fight breaks out,
people lose their lives.

One wrong move in
this neighborhood,

and you're not going to college.

1, 2, 3,!

Let's go now.

Let's go!

All right.

Nobody goes on the court.

Got you.

Nobody.

OK.

Black, Gold, Black, Gold,
Black, Gold, Black, Gold!

O, O, O, O, O, O!

I don't want to play them again.

I do not want to play
them in the tournament.

I need a year off
from Riverview East.

The feeble fictional
creatures and animals that are

Yep.

Yep, that's it.

The climax.

There's a level of concern
right now about how

our scores will be.

We haven't thrown in the
towel yet by any means,

but we're definitely right
now fighting an uphill battle.

There is a lot of pressure
on teachers for test scores.

We spend a lot of time
preparing our children.

Some of our children
are very far behind.

Based on factual events.

Which one of these is
based on factual events?

Don't even tell me, nobody.

Sometimes it feels unfair to
be measured in the same way

as other schools in the state.

That's right.

Good job.

Exactly.

The human part of me that
comes in here every day

and sees what these students
are trying to do every day

and sees what these families are
trying to accomplish every day

says, this isn't fair.

Their performance
on those tests are

going to determine
whether or not

the state believes
that we have improved

enough to keep our principal.

See you, everybody.

I'll be back.

Penn,
they sent me an email saying

that they're looking
for new players,

that they really hope I'll
come out on the recruit day

and try out.

It's good,
but I'm scared I'm going

to get out there and like
freeze up or something.

I really like Raven.

She's very positive.

I think she knows
what she wants.

I actually used a
recruiting website

and saw that she was a setter.

She had high school experience
and just reached out her

to see what her
interest level might be,

to see if there's
any chance that we

would be a good fit for her.

You guys ready?

I really in my heart
believe that Raven

will be one of the
students who breaks away

from this neighborhood a little
bit, gets herself an education.

I don't see any
reason why she can't.

So the summer program
is basically free

if you're going
into engineering?

If you're interested in
one of those fields, right.

To me--

I like this place.

--this place fits you.

I think it would be good for me.

And it's all right here, Raven.

You're not going anywhere.

You're not going to get lost.

It's all right here.

OK, good job.

All right.

Whenever you have a question
and they talk about describing,

go back to that
section and just start

circling words that describe
stuff and see which ones match.

And that way you can
kind of save some time.

It'll make it more
like a direct answer.

So how are you feeling about it?

I'm ready to.

You're ready?

Yeah,
you're going to be awesome.

OK.

I think I did better on
this one than any other one.

I mean, I just tried my best.

If it doesn't work out,
then it doesn't work out.

Nobody is happy about
non-renewing valued

administrators,
especially our principals who

are on the front line.

We have been in a budget crisis
really for several years,

and this year is a
particularly bad one.

We need to preserve
all of the options

to close that really huge gap.

All of the administrators,
both at the school level

and at the district level,
whose contracts end this July,

have gotten non-renewal letters.

Everyone's jobs are on the line.

It doesn't matter
what the state says.

Everyone still might not have a
job, and that includes me.

Yesterday I got non-renewed.

It was a blanket
non-renewal, so they

non-renewed a lot of principals
throughout the district.

"Dear Mr. Hockenberry,
thanks for your service.

In ordinance with
the high revise code,

this is to inform you that your
administrative contract expires

and your services will
no longer be needed."

You know, it happened
once before in my career.

We found out the very next
day we all got brought back.

But regardless,
whatever happens,

one dead monkey don't stop
the circus down here at Oyler,

and it's a good school.

Miss Glott, or anybody with a
radio, come in, please.

Could you ask them if they could
spot check Hatmaker Street,

just so it looks nice?

And if anybody else can
lend a helping hand,

that would be great.

I love you.

Be careful.

I love you too!

Be careful.

Mr. Hockenberry's
got some friends

coming in to check out how smart we
are, what a great job

we've been doing at Oyler.

I expect nothing but
your best behavior.

They're flying in from
Washington, DC.

Whoa!

And some other parts
of the country.

Double check the
spelling of Weingartner

by looking her up on the
internet not my sheet.

It's fantastic!

All right.

Welcome to Oyler,
the pride of Cincinnati Public.

All right?

Thank you.

Thank you.

And everybody else, welcome.

But yeah, I'm looking for an
assistant superintendent job,

so if you need
anything, let me know.

I will pack up--

Let me explain something to you.

We'd be happy to talk to you.

Just shoot me an email.

Yeah, I will.

And I'll drop you my resume.

OK.

And things like that.

Great.

This is fantastic.

I feel like we'll go do a ton
of things together on this.

Thank you for making us come.

Thank you for.

Absolutely.

All right, Raven.

I'm gonna take a few here.

1, 2, 3.

OK, so what are you leaning to?

NKU.

Well,.

Goodbye.

Northern Kentucky University.

So it's a done deal, right?

All right.

That's great.

like this?

All right.

I like this.

This is cute.

Do you have favorite colors?

Either pink, black, or blue.

Pink and gray?

No?

OK.

You want to try that one?

Yeah.

OK.

I want to try every
dress there is here.

Can you kind of turn from
one side to the other

Can you kind of turn from one
side to the other and see what?

and see what?

Cute!

Now we have to walk
around in them.

Three people asked me,
but I don't know who to pick yet.

"Dear Raven, on behalf of the
College of Mount St. Joseph,

I am pleased to
inform you that you

have been accepted as a
student beginning 2013 fall."

All right, now we've got
to open the big, big one.

OK. "Congratulations.

I am pleased to
offer you admission

to the College of Education for
fall 2013 at Penn State Greater

Allegheny."

Four years ago,
if I would have told myself

that I was going to Penn
State for volleyball and stuff

like that, I would have been
like, you're crazy.

I would never believe it
because I was being bad.

I always got suspended.

I wasn't doing my work.

I was always skipping school,
so I would never have believed it

in a million years.

I am a proud graduate of the
College of Mount St. Joe.

But the truth be told,
I barely made it to the Mount.

I was 46 out of 52
in my class ranking.

I finished with a 1.9 GPA.

I scored a 9 on my ACT,
and I didn't even show up

for my scheduled SAT test.

As the final days of
school came to an end,

I was called to the
principal's office.

I was greeted by a
man dressed in a suit,

wearing the largest
ring I'd ever seen.

The man turned
out to be a coach.

He had just been
hired by the Mount

to coach the first
ever football team.

Essentially,
I was given a chance,

one that would be taken away
if my grades didn't align

with the Mount's standards.

I'm going to remind you
all, every principal's worst

nightmare,
that we wake up tomorrow

morning and something
bad happened.

So please, help each other out.

Make sure you make
the right decisions.

And I will be at
the after party.

I heard where it is.

I will be there.

I can't wait.

I want to see you there.

Raven, it was really,
really exciting to have Raven.

Because I remember Raven as a
five, six-year-old.

I'm so proud of this girl.

It's amazing to see
what you're doing.

You're raising the standards
for your entire family, honey.

And we're all so proud of you.

Get up here,
because I have to stop now.

What's up, Nate?

How you doing?

Good.

Graduation tonight.

Okey dokey.

Big party,
big party on State Street.

All righty!

She forgot to come to
school this morning.

Oh.

Who suspended you?

Me?

It looks like they
brought me back,

so we're moving in
the right direction.

I did, indeed, find out this
week that I was coming back.

It wasn't real fun,
I can tell you that.

It was a tough time.

But it seems like
things are moving

in a very good direction.

And by the time
negotiations are over,

I think everything will be
working out really well.

I'm looking forward to it.

I was a little
confused at the salary.

My pay was $10,000 less.

This job's hard enough
doing around the clock work.

I haven't had a pay raise in
six, seven years as it is.

Hats aren't really
hair friendly.

They really aren't.

I can't believe I'm not
going to see you every day.

You know,
I remember coming here when we only

had two graduates at Oyler,
and here I am six years later,

and there's 50
names on this list.

So this really is fabulous.

And you're one of the 50
fabulous, so congratulations.

Thank you.

I'm playing volley
ball for Penn State.

Wow.

Did they give you a scholarship?

They gave me $4,000 this
year, but next year I'll

be able to get more.

Wonderful.

Today's my favorite
day of the year.

It's the day that every single
child at Oyler is working for,

from the six week old infants
to the high school kids.

And this is the day that eluded
their mothers, their fathers,

their grandparents.

Yeah, Crystal!

Crystal!

Go Crystal!

Raven Olivia Gribbins.

Richard Joseph Carter.

Crystal Alexandra--

Tassels from one
side to the other.

Go Raven!

I'm proud that she made it.

And I can't wait to go see
her graduate from college.

It's very special.

She's the first one that
graduated from high school.

I went to school there myself.

I've got a ninth
grade education.

I'm a carpenter.

I do that for a living.

That's what I do.

Well, I had three other
sons, but this one

was my first one to graduate.

It was really great.

I'm so proud of him.

smile.

Smile!

Happy day!

We talk all the time as a
staff about raising test scores

and raising reading levels,
and all of that stuff

is so important.

But I firmly believe that
attacking the poverty

is the most important
thing that we do.

Yeah, yeah.

I want to leave with
class, you know.

There's a lot of people I'd
like to really save my mind to,

but it won't help
anything, you know I mean?

Yep.

Yeah, I resigned last night
after 15 years at Oyler.

So obviously you
knew about my woes.

Cincinnati Public
made it pretty easy

for me to make the decision,
but most importantly,

the opportunity to
be a superintendent

presented itself in
Manchester, Ohio.

That should now read,
"You know I'm still sitting at my desk

and crying." it's been
great being your secretary.

Congratulations as
a superintendent,

and now you can put
Manchester on the map

just like you did Oyler."

I'm scared I'm
going to get there,

and then I'm going
to do real bad where

I'm not going to get up
and be late to classes.

Or like when I meet my
professors and stuff,

I'm going to have a bad first
meeting, like a bad impression.

Then I'm scared they're
not going to like me.

It's a lot of things
you've got to think about.

If you don't have your
Penn State ID yet,

get some photo
identification ready.

I got mine.

Uh-oh.

Uh-oh, it worked.

They let you in.

All right, well won't you kind
of start getting settled in.

Me and your daddy
will carry it all in.

Look how fluffy
them pillows are.

You actually think
that bed looks OK?

It's all right.

She's not in the Navy.

That's probably the best it's
going to look for a long time.

Tuck it.

Tuck it up underneath.

No, because it's
supposed to be like this.

Let your dad get
your TV hooked up.

I know, right.

going to cry again.

Why are you crying?

It'll be OK.

Love you!

All righty, I am out of here.

I'll catch you later.

Give me a call on my cellphone.

Bye-bye.

The test scores for
this past school

year, they were troubling.

There comes an opportunity
where you've just

got to take ownership.

Somebody's got to take
ownership of what happened,

and that would be me.

I'm taking each day
one day at a time

because I was very,
very emotionally attached to Oyler.

And I was very
protective of Oyler.

I treated those kids as if
they were the last flower

in the garden, you know.

So it was tough.

Renee.

Give me a kiss.

Say hi, camera.

You going to wave to it?

Miss Funk's got 14 kids who
went through my school, or 15.

10.

10.

They felt like 15.

Yeah, it did.

Hey, Steve,
will you do me a favor?

Walk down to Staebler,
just kind of peek down there.

Because what they'll
do is they'll

eventually start
balling up down there.

Just see it and then come back.