SMSD Together: SMEF made a documentary — SMSD Strong — in place of their annual fundraising breakfast

The Shawnee Mission Education Foundation has created a documentary called SMSD Strong, a film that highlights the “grit” of the SMSD community during the pandemic, in place of their annual fundraising breakfast.

A donation on the SMEF website prior to Nov. 3 was required to view the documentary. The documentary link was sent out at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 3 to those who donated, and they’ll have the option to watch the movie live or any time after. Just as in a normal year, the money raised will be reallocated into student programs such as Scholarship Shawnee Mission. 

The documentary will be released to the public sometime in the next few months after ticket buyers have been able to experience it. 

After debating whether or not the fundraising breakfast should be held in-person by the board, SMEF came to the decision that an in-person breakfast was not an option in late September.

SMEF has hosted the breakfast for the past 30 years to raise funds for their programs for the upcoming school year. Typically, 1,200 community members would enjoy breakfast as they watched students and administrators present highlights of the past year and plans for the next, but this year’s fundraiser will honor a few selected educators, administrators and students throughout the documentary.

“We’re taking 2020 as it comes and making adjustments to [our plans],” Executive Director for SMEF Kimberly Hinkle said. “You just kind of have to throw your hands up and go with it.”

Hinkle and her team brainstormed several ideas for how to host the breakfast virtually, including a talk or gameshow format. Ultimately, they settled on a documentary.

SMEF has collaborated with SMSD Communications Office for the past breakfasts, and this year they worked together on the documentary, which features an expansion of the videos about SMSD’s various initiatives that have been shown every year of the breakfast.

Senior Lee Marshall was featured in the documentary after he led The Coffee Bean book project over the summer. The documentary team contacted Marshall, interviewed him and got some footage of him discussing the book — which is about a man going through tough times — with teachers during the pandemic.

Marshall was also part of SMSD’s Leadership Training Mission Program and co-hosted the breakfast last year. 

The documentary primarily focuses on students taking charge of their individual education through SMSD’s featured programs such as Scholarship and Leadership Shawnee Mission, as well as the district’s perseverance throughout the pandemic and their plan for the future. 

“With a district as big as ours with so many things going on, obviously we can’t hit on everything,” Hinkle said. “We just kind of picked a few stories that kind of highlight all of the great stuff in Shawnee Mission.” 

Since the SMSD Communications Office had already gotten footage of students prior to the decision to go virtual, stringing it together into a documentary was the last bridge to be crossed.  

The documentary team filmed in its subjects’ driveways and on project sites, so there was no extra cost to the district in the making of the movie. 

“This is a fundraiser, so anytime you can save money that’s a benefit that’s just more money we get to spend on Shawnee Mission students through our programs,” Hinkle said. 

Despite documentary sales, fundraising totals are expected to decrease this year as the district’s corporate partners are coping with COVID-19 related budget shortages, but a lot of generosity has been seen from the Shawnee Mission community, according to Hinkle. 

The fundraiser has been heavily advertised on social media and the trailer was released Monday, Oct. 26 and had 345 views as of Nov. 2.

“[The documentary is] a stunning piece of cinema and story-telling,” former SMEF President Anthony Springfield said. 

Though the documentary is intended to draw in money, SMEF wants everyone in the Shawnee Mission community to have the opportunity to view the documentary, which is why they’re releasing it publicly in a couple months. 

“We want to make sure that it remains a fundraiser because it’s really important for our programs, but we also want the broader community to be able to see it at a later time,” Hinkle said.