Award-Winning Film THE BAD KIDS Premieres on PBS 3/20

Located in an isolated and impoverished Mojave Desert community, Black Rock Continuation High School is one of California's alternative schools for at-risk students. Every student there has fallen so far behind that they have no hope of earning a diploma at a traditional high school -- Black Rock is their last chance. But Principal Vonda Viland and the TEACHERS at Black Rock are on a mission to realize the potential of students who have been deemed lost causes by the system. Powerful and inspiring, The Bad Kids follows Viland and her staff over a year as they coach at-risk students with compassion, respect, and a seemingly endless supply of patience. The film focuses on three students -- Lee, a new father who can't support his family; Jennifer, a young woman grappling with sexual abuse; and Joey, an angry young man from an unstable home -- as they work through the traumas and obstacles that rob them of their spirit and threaten their futures.

The film is part of American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen, public media's initiative made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help communities solve the high school graduation challenge and prepare all students for college and careers. Winner of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award for Vérité Filmmaking,The Bad Kids premieres on INDEPENDENT LENS Monday, March 20, 2017, 10:00-11:30 PM ET (check local listings) on PBS.

When filmmakers Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe first stepped through the doors of Black Rock High on a scouting trip for another film, they were impressed. "What we saw there left an indelible mark," said Fulton and Pepe. "Here was a principal who had a kind word or nod of recognition for each and every kid; a secretary who spent all day on the phone with parents; TEACHERS who didn't lecture but moved through their classrooms in quiet consultation with each student. And these supposed 'bad kids' lining the hallways with their guitars, their laughter, and their clear and familial support for one another. All of this at a public school -- with rising graduation rates."

Black Rock High School demonstrates how education can combat the crippling effects of poverty on the lives of at-risk youth. For Viland and her staff, coping with the traumas her students suffer in their home lives takes precedence over force-feeding them facts and figures.

At Black Rock, educators know it might be necessary to focus an entire year just on keeping a student in school while trying to understand the challenges they face before expecting academic progress. Realistic preparations for the work force and life's responsibilities outweigh planning for higher education: these students can pursue a college education only if they first know how to support themselves.

The Bad Kids is not a story of triumph against all odds, because that isn't the reality of these students' lives or expectations. It is a story of taking achievable steps toward pride and a better future.

Visit The Bad Kids page on Independent Lens, which features more information about the film. The Bad Kids will be available for online viewing on the site beginning March 21, 2017. The film is also part of Indie Lens Pop-Up, the national screening series that offers pre-broadcast sneak previews and discussions of INDEPENDENT LENS documentaries in over 75 cities.
About Independent Lens
Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing on PBS Monday nights at 10:00 PM. The acclaimed series, with Lois Vossen as executive producer, features documentaries united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of independent filmmakers. Presented by ITVS, the series is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding from PBS, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more visit pbs.org/independentlens. Join the conversation: facebook.com/independentlens and on Twitter @IndependentLens.

About American Graduate American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen was launched in 2011 with 25 public media stations in high need communities to spotlight the high school dropout crisis. Today, more than 125 public radio and television stations in over 48 states have partnered with over 1,700 community organizations and schools, as well as Alma and Colin Powell's America's Promise Alliance, Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, Alliance for Excellent Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Newman's Own Foundation. With primetime and children's programming that educates, informs and inspires, public radio and television stations are important resources in helping to address critical issues facing today's communities. According to a report from the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, American Graduate stations have told the story about the dropout crisis in a way that empowered citizens to get involved, and helped community organizations break down silos to work more effectively together.

About CPB The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn.