Veronica (Roni) Polsgrove

Student, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Roni is a former student at Canton High in the realm of Video Media Production. She observed that few women were active in technology fields and actively sought to change that equation. As an extracurricular she led a large media sports crew. She managed a pair of announcers, three camera people, an audio tech, tech director, replay tech, graphics artist and interview team. More importantly Roni actively mentored female underclass mates to see that women involvement and leadership continued. The last three producers of this crew were young women leaders mentored by Roni. Her concern goes beyond women in the classroom but the inclusion of diverse characters throughout our society. Roni’s senior year she produced a film at Canton High via the ICA Fast Forward program. The theme of the film was that the protagonist Rosa wanted to pursue Robotics while society, via classmates and family, was pushing her to get involved in Fashion. It has multicultural undercurrents including positive portrays of a Muslim teacher and Rosa being part of a biracial family.

While filmed in Canton Roni recruited a cast from beyond our school, even Skyping a SAG Actress to get her to join. She managed an array of adults and students like a pro. Currently Roni is enrolled at NYU Tiche School of Cinematic Arts. I visited her there over April break and saw firsthand her unquenched passion for making a difference.