aytee, 17 years old, plays guitar and named her goldfish after beat poet Gregory Corso. Pablo is a sensitive bilingual poet with a sporadic drug problem. Brad, at the end of his junior year in high school, announces he's gay. But these kids aren't actors. These situations aren't contrived. The series is not scripted. The cameras roll and the ensuing drama is riveting and real. Candid and unblinking, independent filmmaker R.J. Cutler's Emmy Award-winning series about the realities of teenage life at Highland Park High School in suburban Chicago was winnowed down into a compelling and dramatic 13-part epic from 2,800 hours of video footage, including 800 hours of first-person "video diaries" created by the kids that provided some of the most fascinating insights. "Never has any reality show captured my reality like American High," commented one teen viewer. The series drew 67% more young people between the ages of 15 and 29 than usually watch public television in primetime, a deliberate effort by PBS to engage this elusive audience in quality television that speaks to their needs and interests. American High gave PBS and public television stations a rare opportunity to create cross-generational opportunities for dialogue between kids, their parents and their teachers, and to build a community for self-expression among adolescents.

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"Only PBS could have brought American High home to kids and their parents the way it did, with public television stations connecting the series directly to their local communities. On the Web and through special programs, stations across the country gave kids the opportunity to express and explain themselves -- to their parents, to their teachers and to each other. Events like the Columbine tragedy remind us how important it is to have insight into the challenges kids face and how essential it is for adults to listen to what kids really have to say." -- R. J. Cutler Creator/Executive Producer American High

"HoustonPBS used American High to work with high schools in our community and reach out to teens with an opportunity for creative self-expression through art, writing or video. The 'Who Am I?' contest HoustonPBS sponsored gave me the opportunity to see and read what young people around the city are concerned about. I was actually quite surprised by the responses. They were extremely vocal on issues such as stereotyping, racial discrimination and social justice." I feel good about the future after listening to the ideals of today's youth. -- Sydney Holland Corporate Development Coordinator HoustonPBS, Texas

he face of teenaged America? Fourteen students videotaped their lives at home and at their quintessential suburban high school as part of a cinema verite documentary that provided PBS viewers with an unflinching portrait of kids today. This frank, and sometimes startling, look at life on the verge of adulthood revealed the family struggles, peer pressure, broken hearts and confusion about their own identity that contemporary adolescents grapple with, and the moments of togetherness, tenderness and triumph that help them cope.