Producer's Notes

I first realized that the Cook County Jail has its own high school a few years ago when I was there researching another story. A Catholic Deacon who ministers to the detainees brought us to a school deck in a maximum security division, where we sat down and had dinner with a group of students. The experience made me feel a variety of conflicting emotions.

First, I was afraid: It’s basically a big room full of energetic kids who have been accused of violent crimes; a reality that I found to be somewhat intimidating.

Second, I felt hopeful: I met some of the most polite, well-spoken, innocent-looking kids that I could have expected to find anywhere, much less in a jail. If these people were supposed to be among the lowest in our society, then, I decided, our society must be a decent place.

But my lasting impression was sadness: I saw so much potential in these kids, and I knew that their potential might never be realized—most of them were facing lengthy sentences. I thought of all of the stupid mistakes I made when I was their age, and considered how terrible it would be if I were still paying for those mistakes today.

When I returned in 2004 with a camera my intention was to communicate to our audience all of the conflicting emotions that I had experienced that night.

It was fitting, then, that the first day of shooting was graduation day for many of the students. Like most graduation ceremonies, the speakers tried to inspire the students to make the most of their future. But the sentiment was bittersweet given the context: for many of these kids, their future would include years of prison time. At the end of the ceremony, as the students were taken away in handcuffs, one of the teachers told them, “congratulations, this is just the beginning!” She was not trying to be ironic, but the mixture of hope and despair that is wrapped up in those words is the essence of that graduation day—and this story. No matter how hard these students strive to improve their future, it will largely be determined by their past.

But as I learned in the months that followed, these kids’ education is not a futile exercise. They are learning skills that will prove useful one day on the outside; but more importantly, they are learning how to be hopeful about their future.

Production Staff Bios

Dan Protess: Producer, Writer, and Editor
Dan Protess has been a staff producer at WTTW-11, Chicago’s public television station, since 2000. He currently produces public affairs and historical programming for Chicago Tonight, the station’s nightly newsmagazine.

Before assuming this role he was the Associate Producer for Chicago Stories, a historical documentary series. His producing credits for that series include Jewish Chicago, Chicago’s First Mexican Church, Chicago’s 1919 Race Riots, and numerous profiles of local luminaries such as Dan Rostenkowski, Lois Weisberg, and Father Andrew Greeley.

He began his career as a producer for an educational children’s program at WPWR-TV. He has also served as a producer and writer on several other programs including Chicago’s Lakefront, Artbeat Chicago, Around Town Saturday Night, and A Justice That Heals, a WTTW documentary that was shown on ABC’s Nightline.

Mawi Asgedom: Narrator
Mawi Asgedom survived civil war in Ethiopia, a refugee camp in the Sudan and overcame welfare in the U.S. to earn a scholarship to Harvard and establish himself as a leading authority on teen success. 

His 3 books have sold more than 100,000 copies and are used by schools across North America. His first book, Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey From a Refugee Camp to Harvard, has won awards from both the American Library Association and the Social Studies Council of America. Rounding out his book line are The Code: The 5 Secrets of Teen Success and Win the Inner Battle:  The Ultimate Teen Leadership Journal, both used by Time Warner as the cornerstone of their national mentoring program, “Time to Lead.”

In October 2004, he released the nation’s first teen-success CD Set, Nothing Is Impossible: The Ultimate Teen Success CDs. In addition to writing and recording, Mawi has spoken to a quarter of a million students in 25 states.

Credits
Funding Credit: The Chicago Community Trust

Producer/Writer/Editor: Dan Protess

Narrator: Mawi Asgedom

Camera: Al Hilliard, Tom Siegel, Cal Langenberg, Roy D. Alan

Executive Producer: Mary Field

A Production of WTTW Chicago, Copyright 2004

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