AV students watch Donversity documentary: Amador Through the Ages

The+documentary+was+made+by+students+Matthew+Abatangle%2C+Josef+Rager%2C+and+Alex+Baugher.

Wendy Connelly

The documentary was made by students Matthew Abatangle, Josef Rager, and Alex Baugher.

Luke Rathjen, Staff Writer

Students spent the beginning of their ACCESS periods today watching a video put together by the Video Production 3 students.  The team led by Matthew Abatangle (’23) worked for weeks searching through old yearbooks, interviewing teachers and former students, and filming their short documentary.

“There was so much that went into this project and it was tough to stay organized but I’m happy about how it turned out and that people enjoyed it. It was a messy project but the amount of time that it took was totally worth it,” said Abatangle.

The making of this film required extensive knowledge of the history of Amador. From meeting old alumni, to learning as much as they could about the fads and trends of Amador’s past, was a very interesting process for director Josef Rager (’23) and Abatangle.

“It was a lot of work but I’m happy I did it. It was an awesome team, and it was a really great experience. I learned a lot and I feel like I get to brag about this because it’s a super cool accomplishment,” said Rager.

Many teachers and students were actively impressed by the production and outcome of the documentary.

“The students wanted to show students what the Donversity celebration was really about since we haven’t really had a full week of events since COVID. The idea to tie in the history came from our discussions around the centennial celebration,” said AV Media Arts teacher Wendy Connelly.

The short documentary included a quick look back at the history of Amador Valley High School and introduced students to the Donversity celebration that was started in 2016.

Students in J4 watch the Donversity Documentary. (Matthew Nader)