They sport pierced tongues and navels. They wear baggy denim pants and sheer tops exposing their undershirts and bras. They come from all corners of the world, and have few problems interacting with people of different backgrounds.
They are members of a freshman class at Chatsworth High School. According to HBO, they represent the changing face and flavor of young America, and they offer a commentary on the nation's present and a peek into its future.
A few years ago, HBO documentary makers searched the 49 high schools of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest, for a campus that epitomizes the typical experience of students in an urban school.
The cable station selected Chatsworth High, a 3,276-student campus in the northwest San Fernando Valley that hovers around the state average in student achievement, teacher experience and class size. Once predominantly white, with famous alumni such as Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey and actors Val Kilmer and Mare Winningham, the campus now boasts a diverse student body that reflects the shifting demographics of Los Angeles, the Valley and much of the country.
"It has incredible ethnic diversity . . . ," said Eamon Harrington, HBO's executive producer for the documentary "Freshman Year," which follows 1,020 first-year students through the 1999-2000 school year. "It was fantastic."
The 14-part series debuts Aug. 31.
Film crews followed students around the sprawling campus, at sporting events and in their homes. The half-hour episodes will feature class elections, a nerdy student who lands the lead role in a school play, a cheerleader's battle with bulimia and a girl with a tough home life who is flunking and leaves for a continuation school.
"The kids were both excited and apprehensive to do it," Chatsworth Principal Dan Wyatt said. "There were lots of laughs and also drama."
Joe Shumpert, a tailback on the school's football team, said he enjoyed filming the documentary, although at times it was prying.
"Sometimes it was annoying because I was trying to kiss my girl and there was the camera," the 16-year-old said Wednesday in between summer classes.
Joe, who will be a junior in the fall, lives in Chatsworth, a tree-lined community of subdivisions, horse ranches and industrial parks at the foot of the Santa Susana Mountains. He said he knows why the series' producers focused on his campus.
