Newark’s JFK High School Is No Secret to the Autistic Students Who Thrive in Its Dynamic Learning Environment
Passionate Teacher Janet Mino Struggles to Find Her Graduating Students a Place in the Adult World, Before They “Age Out” of the System
Premiere Date: September 23, 2013
Streaming Dates (on PBS’s POV website): Sept. 24, 2013 – Oct. 7, 2013
Credits:
Director: Samantha Buck
Producer: Danielle DiGiacomo
Executive Producers: Paul Bernon, Sean Curran, Daniella Kahane, Scott Mosier
Co-Producers: Samantha Buck, Zeke Farrow
Cinematographer: Nara Garber
Editor: Francisco Belloi
Associate Editor: Matt Posorske
Original Music: Brian Satz
“In and out of the classroom, Mino fights for her kids, first to teach them life skills, then to help ensure they don’t spend that life neglected . . .” —The Washington Post Express
At Newark, N.J.’s JFK High School, the staff answers the phone by saying, “You’ve reached John F. Kennedy High School, Newark’s best-kept secret.” It doesn’t take long watching the new documentary Best Kept Secret (Running Time: 90 minutes) to see why. Hardly anyone would expect an inner-city public school to be able to marshal the innovative programs, exceptional teachers and passionate commitment that JFK brings to its special-needs students. The film focuses on the school’s work with students with autism, who are characterized by difficulties with language and social interaction. The staff is not content only to give these students survival skills. They fight a tough, daily battle to open students up to the world. As teacher Janet Mino, puts it, “If I can teach you to take care of yourself . . . I can teach you to express yourself.” JFK High just may be one of the country’s best-kept secrets.
But the remarkable efforts of the school come with an expiration date. Its students, who can enter at age 10, are “aged out” at 21. Parents and teachers call it “falling off the cliff,” because of the scarcity of continuing adult education programs and accommodations. In 2012, Mino faces the prospect of her entire class of six young men going off that cliff, and she begins a desperate search for alternatives to homebound idleness, institutionalization or homelessness for her graduating students.
Ms. Mino helps Robert as he struggles to read. (Credit – Nara Garber)
Samantha Buck’s Best Kept Secret has its national broadcast premiere on Monday, Sept. 23, 2013 at 10 p.m. (check local listings) on PBS during the 26th season of the award-winning PBS series POV (Point of View). American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, POV was honored with a 2013 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
Mino is the focus of Best Kept Secret, and her work with three of her students–Robert, Erik and Quran–and their families forms the drama of the film. Mino is tough, energetic and mentally on the job 24/7. She has bottomless reserves of patience and compassion for her students. One of the pleasures of the film is seeing the determination and optimism Mino and her fellow teachers bring to unrelenting daily challenges.
Erik is Mino’s highest-functioning student, the class cut-up who is smart, talkative and good at following directions. He is happy and loves his “two moms”: a biological mother who is too ill to care for him and a dedicated and loving foster mother. Erik seems the most ready to graduate. In fact, he has a dream–to work at Burger King. Continue reading
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