New Orleans High School

NEW ORLEANS HIGH SCHOOL

• Writer / Director: Daphna Rubin

• Executive Producers: Steve Hoggard, Daphna Rubin, Howard Swartz

High school has always been tough.

But for the students at Walter L. Cohen High School in New Orleans, it’s a struggle for survival in city still reeling in many ways from Katrina.

Today, the Big Easy has one of the highest homicide rates in the country. And for the young people and staff at Cohen, even believing in success can be a stretch.

But thanks to a determined group of teachers and a principal who won’t let anyone quit – the kids at Cohen are learning to dream. And to act on those dreams – even in the face of losing several of their own.

For this story, the Hoggard team was given access to the home life, halls, classes and playing fields of the students and staff of Walter L. Cohen High School for nearly six months, chronicling the lives of a group of teenagers trying to survive and thrive in post-Katrina New Orleans.