Giving people hope: Students, staff reveal who motivates & inspires them

By LEONARDO MUNGUIA
The Tower

A segment on BuffTV lights up the screen. From an idea to a video, the ongoing “Hope Project,” ran by Manteca High’s Multimedia students of room 60, intends to recognize the hope – or need for hope – on campus.

Representing the impact that hope can bring to peoples’ everyday lives by showing positivity among the campus community around the MHS campus, James Burns’ Advanced Digital Communications class has released five installments in the series, each with a goal to spread positivity.

The latest episode was curated and produced by me, Leo Munguia.

Manteca High senior Leo Munguia produced the third installment of The Hope Project, a series of short films meant to inspire hope and positivity on campus. (Johnie Vaughn/The Tower)

Going into a project with this heavy of an impact was hard. I wanted to come up with a concept for the hope project to help people realize who in their lives is helping them the most. As a high schooler, it can be easy to forget the amount of joy that is present every day.

As students and staff walked up to the white board, they racked their brains to come up with someone who gave them hope. I think participants struggled to think of someone who gives them hope or motivation because most students on campus do not have much hope in their lives.

Going out to the quad with two cameras, two chairs, a table, and a white board was exciting. I wanted to share the message of helping people recognize who in their life gives them hope, motivation, and love.

The first part of the series gave the viewer a simple question.

“What is your hope?”

In August, at the beginning of the 2024 school year, we kicked off the new term with a setup in front of the school gates by the Winter Gym. The idea originated from Manteca High teacher Anna Wooten when she something similar at another school. This project started with writing on a whiteboard, with everyone’s confession of what gives them hope in their life.

In September, Advanced Digital Communications student Makenize Forsberg came up with an idea of a more intimidate video. Students in Burns’ class painted rocks with inspirational messages on them reaching out to students to think about these messages that they can relate to.

Shine Bright

You’re a Rockstar

To be loved is to be seen!

In October I came up with another idea for the third installment of the Hope Project which has changed how we see the project. This was an intimate video, showing each individual who participated and their thought process behind the question I gave them, a more complicated question asking:

“Who gives you hope?”

A great example of this concept is when an art teacher on campus Ms. Boudreaux said:

“My daughter gives me so much hope, she’s the sweetest human being, she’s even more kind than I could ever be.”

The goal of this project is purely to have people come face to face with the concept of hope in whatever form it may come in.