YOUTH TO POWER
YOUTH TO POWER
Youth To Power follows six high school students as they lead the fight to protect their education from the aggressive tactics of a politically motivated conservative school board; all while juggling college prep, extracurriculars and the usual stresses of high school life.
This film captures the power and brilliance of a generation unable to vote, yet refusing to wait for permission to change the world.
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synopsis
Jodany (16), Avery (17), Kennedy (17), Drew (17), Ava (16), and Sloan (18) are fighting for their education and their right to be heard. Standing in their way is the conservative majority (3-2) controlling the Sarasota School Board. Rather than focusing on things like budgets and admin, this board has been pushing a political agenda, restricting what students learn, re-allocating resources from public to private schools, and working to silence the very voices it's supposed to serve.
These students have pushed back at every turn. They organize, attend board meetings, deliver powerful testimony. The board's response has been to move meetings to 10 a.m. to limit their participation and to pass resolutions with intimidating language, including a recent one directing staff to cooperate with ICE. At the state level, the DOE released a memo threatening disciplinary action against students who protest during school hours. None of it has stopped them.
The majority of these kids can’t vote yet. They have baseball practice, debate tournaments, jobs at the mall, and college applications to balance along with their classes. Still, they are more involved and informed on these issues than so many adults in their community and the nation. With a school board election approaching, they're canvassing, rallying, and driving voter turnout, determined to flip the majority. They, like the conservative establishment they face, understand that real change starts at the local level. Can they pull it off?
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initial filming has begun, but there’s a lot yet to do.
We need to raise $38,800 to fund Phase 1 by August 1st.
phase 1 budget breakdown
Where does my donation go?: Production begins in August. We need to raise a minimum of $38,800 to fund phase 1 by August 1st. All donations are tax deductible and all money goes direct to production cost. Our initial goal will help cover a production crew for 10 days of filming.
Why should I give?: We feel strongly that this story is an important one to tell right now. Many of the institutions we rely on are under threat, especially our education system. Many of us feel overwhelmed and helpless, but these high school students, who can’t even vote, are showing how the power of civic engagement at the local level can make an impact. Your support of this film will help us give their story a larger platform and inspire others of all ages to get involved and take action. Plus all donations are tax deductible!
How can I donate? There’s many ways to give and any amount is helpful. Click on the button below to make a tax deductible donation through our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor Shine Global. Shine Global is a Emmy- and Academy Award–winning non-profit production company behind landmark films including Inocente, War/Dance and the recent 2025 Oscar nominee Anuja. Shine Global has spent over two decades amplifying stories that center the voices of children and young people fighting for justice worldwide.
-ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE-
Across the national news and social media, parts of this story have found a wide audience.
film team
Ida Joglar, Annabel Hernandez, and Amity Hoffman at the Free State showing of My Name is Annabel
Ida Rodríguez Joglar
Co-Director / Editor
Ida’s documentary filmmaking has taken her from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Her work focuses on humanist stories and elevating the voices of those historically marginalized.
Amity Hoffman
Co-Director / Producer
Amity is a documentary filmmaker and commercial producer, and the parent of a Sarasota high school senior. Her focus is on developing nonfiction projects that spotlight underrepresented voices with heart and a strong point of view.
Why We Roll
If you sit long enough with someone, they will at some point defy your expectations. That is what documentary can capture better than any other form.
There are more than 8 billion people in the world and still it can feel like only a handful of stories are told and retold. As filmmakers, our focus has been on centering the perspectives of people who have been sidelined, whether by systems of power, lack of access, or prevailing myths and misconceptions. We’re not drawn to these stories out of a sense of moral duty, but because we find them genuinely fascinating.
Through our films, we return to people who exist at the margins of the dominant narrative and who are, in their own way, insisting on being seen. The plus-sized women climbing Kilimanjaro in Kili Big weren't waiting for permission to take up space on the world's tallest freestanding mountain. My Name Is Annabel was built on a different but related conviction: that a person with a disability deserves to tell her own story, not have it told for her by someone who hasn't lived it. Annabel didn't just participate in the film; she shaped it. Our subjects tend to be people already doing the work of self-determination. We’re there to keep up with them.
Youth to Power is, in many ways, a logical extension of our collective work to date: young people who have been told their voices don't belong in the room, insisting otherwise. What draws us to this story now is the urgency of it. These students aren't waiting for someone to hand them a platform. They're building one themselves, in real time, under real pressure. This film is our effort to make sure that platform reaches further.
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Follow us through the production process, learn more about the participants and filmmakers, and keep up with the latest happenings by following us on Instagram.
@Youth2Powerfilm
style &
tone
There is a trove of archival footage, from testimonials at the school board meetings, to news coverage of community rallies, to the students’ social media posts, all of which will shape this film. The videos range from the highly personal to the highly public and document the beginnings of the students’ grassroots movement, their continued involvement at the school board meetings, and their impact on the broader community. They also cover the recent scandal involving a high profile member of the school board, Moms of Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, and the concerted efforts of this ultra-conservative (if hypocritical) group to reshape education.
Through personal interviews the students will share what sparked their involvement and how they choose to participate. We will follow their efforts to organize and educate voters as their fight comes to a head at the upcoming Sarasota County School board election in August. We will be with them as they watch the election results come in. Will their efforts bring about the results they hope for? Could a win carry their momentum through the local mid-term elections?
Interspersed throughout, will be moments of the students participating in iconic high school rites of passage like prom, sporting events, preparing for their SATs, and applying for college. These moments are a reminder of what these teenagers could be focusing all of their energy on if they weren’t so concerned about their rights being taken away. Their right to access education, to freely express their identity, to show up to school without being afraid of ICE agents invading their classroom.
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