ABOUT THIS BOOK
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” The book you hold in your hand is the result of a partnership—now in its sixth year—between 826LA, Paramount Pictures, and students in the Cinematic Arts & Creative Technologies Magnet at Helen Bernstein High School. Through the Kindergarten to Cap & Gown program, employees from Paramount Pictures have provided more than 10,000 hours of mentoring to 500 students at Helen Bernstein High School, Le Conte Junior High School, and Santa Monica Boulevard Community Charter School and STEM Academy during the last 10 years.
In this anthology, you will find powerful stories of transformation. Changes are initiated through the excitement of new relationships: with teammates, family members, a newfound friend met at the bus stop, and an unexpected ally in the fight for the future. They are also initiated through the bittersweetness of saying goodbye, of letting go, and in the acceptance of that which we cannot control.
This anthology captures the lives and imaginations of students brave enough to confront the forces of change thrust upon us, and courageous enough to adapt to them.
As this book teaches us, the flower will bloom. The sound of the footsteps walking away are steady, and headed toward a future that they are capable of changing.
