Documentary Highlights Autistic Sierra Madre Student’s School Day

What is a day at school like for a student, employee or volunteer at the Pasadena Unified School District? A new documentary shows at least 50 different ways to answer that question.

Go Public: A Day in the Life of PUSD is a documentary comprised of 50 different short films captured on May 8, each focused on one or a few students, teachers or volunteers at the 28 schools throughout the district.

Started by parents of children who attend public school in Pasadena, Go Public aims to “encourage viewers to become informed and compassionate advocates for their community public school,” according to the project’s website.

“This project is important now because too much focus has been placed on what is broken in public school education,” Go Public’s mission statement notes. “There is room for improvement, but we also want to capture the good things that go on every day in our public schools, the teamwork it takes and the textured richness for those involved.”

One of the short films, posted Tuesday, shows part of a day in the life of Ian Short, an active, autistic 7th grader who attends .

With the camera as a silent observer, we see Ian getting ready in the morning with his parents, his bus ride to school and his interaction with students and a teacher in a classroom, where Ian is asked to find the date on a calendar. Ian and his classmates then run on a foggy field.

See the full four-minute, five-second video attached to this post or here on Go Public's site.

Ian’s is just one of many stories and experiences found throughout the Pasadena Unified School District.

View more of the 50 Go Public videos here.

If a camera were to film a day in the life of your child at school, what would you hope to see? What is your experience with local schools? What do you think of Ian’s experience? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.