Students film Agua Fria recruitment promo

By Madeline Ackley Salazar
Mail | Twitter: @Mkayackley

Agua Fria Union High School District wanted to find a way to show off its programs and campuses to help with staff and student recruitment.

But instead of outsourcing the job, the district recruited its own film and TV production students to create a short movie promoting its schools.

“I thought…‘Who better to do that than our own kids to tell their stories, showcase their accomplishments and accolades for their campuses,’” Desert Edge Principal Julie Jones said during a recent school board meeting. 

Jones said she made it a friendly competition between the five district campuses and asked each to submit a roughly 90-second video. 

The winners would have bragging rights and a pizza party. 

In the end, it was Agua Fria High School that won best video – a 2-minute film you would not guess was made by a group of six high schoolers. 

But it was. The film was directed and edited by Cole Garvey, a senior with plans to attend film school next year. Bryan Kilgore, also a senior, was first assistant director, with plans to study communications and media. 

Diego Rivera, a junior, worked on sound and operated the boom mic; Junior Ramon Carmona was the second cameraman; Junior Conner Lange was key grip and James Keele, still a freshman, was the first assistant cameraman. 

The students had about a month to conceptualize, film and edit the entire movie. The film was shot in a single day, with a small amount of footage pulled from earlier projects.

The final product is professional quality, and that’s because it was made using professional equipment. 

Bill Babyar is Agua Fria’s film and TV production teacher who assembled the group of students and oversaw the project. Babyar said he’s proud of how much the district has invested in its film and TV production programs across its five campuses. 

“We’re not a typical classroom,” Babyar said. “When a kid walks in, they're being given equipment that…a lot of us don't really get access to every single day.” 

His students regularly handle top-notch equipment worth thousands of dollars, including brand new DSLR cameras, various lenses, tripods, gimbals, mics and stabilizers. Students also have access to state-of-the-art editing software and their own broadcast studio. 

“We’re giving them a lot of opportunities they might not have had,” he said.

But Babyar knows the mark of any great program isn’t just fancy tech, but the talent it attracts.

“Our program is only as strong as our students,” he said. "I’m blessed to have some students that…really take this very seriously.”

The goal, he said is for students to “walk out the door at the end of the day college- and career-ready.”

Two of his top students are graduating at the end of the year, but Babyar said he’s excited to see his younger students hone their talents in the coming years. 

“I guarantee you this is not the last time you're gonna see Agua Fria winning an award at the district office,” he said.