"Invictus" Video Project

Description

This is the final product of “Invictus”, a project from The Community School in Spokane, Washington. TCS is a project based choice high school, a member of The New Tech Network and Spokane Public Schools.

This quarter-long project began in March 2019, with nine successive guest speakers from the greater Spokane area. Students interviewed these working professionals in pursuit of a foundational question: “What’s the value of human life, according to your profession?” Students sat with an accountant who actually makes these determinations in civil suits, a malpractice lawyer, a hospital chaplain, a hospice care nurse, representatives of three major faiths, a fireman and a veteran who completed five tours and was wounded while serving our county.

As you can imagine, opinions varied.

With these professionals to guide them-- and supported by rigorous texts-- students made their own determination on how we should value human life.

With this existential question put to rest, student turned their attention to yet another light topic: looming fate.

They explored the guiding question “How should we deal with adverse fate?” by investigating those who contended with adversity in positive and sometimes self-destructive ways (see: Oedipus). Students formulated well-founded and evidence-based positions on how we should effectively encounter the setbacks and tragedies that will surely come.

Students packaged their efforts into a comprehensive and compelling direct-to-camera speech. Their thinking, their stories, and their strategies, have been cut up and compiled here.