The New York to New Orleans Project: Film Shorts and Feature-length Documentary Overview “I've never felt like I was a part of a movement until I came down here.” These words were spoken by India Menuez, a fifteen-year old New York student in New Orleans. India is part of a student-led organization, NY2NO (New York to New Orleans). In the summer of 2008, the group led more than 200 New York City students on a trip to New Orleans to work for residents of the Lower Ninth ward. Alex Epstein, a senior at Beacon High School started NY2NO with a group of his friends over a year ago. Wanting to do something separate from their high school, the students bought a bus and travel to New Orleans every vacation they get from school. The students want to do more than just help the residents rebuild. They work with the People's Organizing Committee, a political organization dedicated to serving African American residents in the Lower Ninth Ward. The students want to help “raise the bottom” and fight for a better future for the Katrina-ravaged parts of New Orleans. The film will follow Alex, India and several other students as they prepare for and finally undertake a trip to New Orleans. They struggle with getting the word out about their trips and how to get other students involved. The film will also document their work in New Orleans and their struggle to remain a student-led organization. Film Excerpts In partnership with After Ed TV, Edlab has already cut several short videos on the theme of student-oriented education. EdLab's goal is both to find funding to create a longer-form version of this footage, and to find new channels of distribution for the final product. Please see our short videos below (30 minutes total). For other EdLab projects related to Hurricane Katrina, see the Teaching the Levees project. EdLab partnered with Teachers College, The Rockefeller Foundation and HBO to create this online educational resource.