Film Participants Fred Isseks and Rachel Raimist Attending

In the early 1990s, Fred Isseks was an unconventional teacher at Middletown High School, in whose class, Electronic English, he inspired his students to make a student film that uncovered a vast conspiracy involving toxic waste. The students, armed with video cameras and youthful determination, confronted a powerful opposition.

Dogged, often underestimated due to their age, and pushed by their teacher, these young journalists-in-training uncovered mob-related dumping of deadly waste in the city landfill. Moving to the present day, the students reflect on Mr. Issek’s teachings and how this assignment changed their lives and their community. With access to hundreds of hours of video tape shot by the students, filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss craft a humorous, tenacious and inspirational story of civic courage.