Edwin Romero, a student at Memorial High School in West New York, has done more than just tell the story of his immigrant mother, who braved deserts and surging rivers to make it to America from El Salvador. He has won honorable mention in a national documentary contest.
A competition run by the National Television Academy, the group that gives out Emmys, is meant to “recognize outstanding student achievements in television by conferring annual awards of merit in each of the 20 award regions, covering all states.”
According to Doug Neralich, Memorial’s audio/visual teacher, Romero’s eighth period video journalism class was given a choice for their mid-term exam during this school year – do a 60-second piece on “Black History Month” or create a piece highlighting their heritage. Romero chose to do a piece on his heritage.
The resulting video piece, A Tribute to My Mom, is a touching ode to his mother. In the piece, Romero’s voice over says, “My mother thinks of America as a dream, a hope, a miracle.”
According to Neralich, Romero’s work is “really very, very good. Edwin likes to get into the mechanics of things. We’re very glad to have the equipment that we do to foster kids like Edwin and help them do what they want to do.”
Neralich went on to say that Romero is so excited about video production that he spends each of his lunch hours at the editing station. Memorial, through various hard-won state grants, possesses one of the most impressive video suites in the state. Aside from video cameras of all types, the production studio has a cluster of Apple Power Macintosh computers that are loaded with the latest digital video editing software. And it is this software that Romero has mastered.
Said Neralich, “We have a whole bunch of Edwins. And finding a student like him is, pardon the pun, like finding ‘treasure on the beach.’ ”
Neralich added, “Because of the nature of the course, which is unlike anything else they may see in high school, the can develop self-confidence, the ability to speak in front of a camera. This can lead to things later in life. It teaches preparation and organizational skills. The principles that you learn here can help them later in life.”
Romero’s video production/journalism teacher, Alix Polynice, was effusive about Romero. Said Polynice, “He really is a good student. He definitely has an insight into what’s going on. He took a summer course last summer [before his freshman year] so he was already familiar with some aspects of the production studio, but he did have to learn the new digital production equipment. And he really took to it. He excelled really rapidly. He definitely took a very hardcore interest in it.”
Romero’s interest in video production is echoed in his work ethic. When other kids are off campus for lunch, Romero has already downed a quick meal and is at the editing suite, working on various projects. Said Polynice, “It wouldn’t surprise me if he went on to do great things.”
Romero had an almost laconic view of the whole thing. Said Romero, “I really do feel like this is my future.”
When told about his teachers’ praise, Romero said simply, “I enjoy it a lot, so I just kind of understand it. Most of it really just comes to me.” But Romero, in his soft-spoken way, added, “I am still learning, though. I have a lot to learn.”
As far as winning an award for his work, Romero was shocked that anyone was even paying attention. Said Romero, “It felt really good to win, but I didn’t think I would. I really didn’t think I’d win anything.”
As for the project itself, Romero seemed happier with the reaction of his mother than of the National Television Academy.
Said Romero, “My mom saw it and she was really proud of me. She doesn’t speak English, so I had to explain it to her. She liked it a lot.”
Romero, not surprisingly, has a distinct idea of what he wants to do in the future. “I want to be a movie director,” said Romero. “I want to do all kinds of movies – action movies, gangster movies, anything really.”