A documentary created by seniors Scarlett Berky and Wyeth Andrews was selected in November as a finalist in the 2025 Docathon East Africa film competition. The film, about the importance of the Connecticut River, was the two students’ capstone project for their Global & Environmental Studies Certificates (GESC).  

“I grew up in Windsor, and the [Connecticut] river had always been an important part of the town,” Scarlett said. Windsor was Connecticut’s first English settlement, and the Farmington and Connecticut rivers meet in the town next to the Loomis Chaffee campus. Scarlett said she grew up fishing and tubing on the Connecticut River, and her grandfather has been part of the Windsor Historical Society. 

“The Connecticut River is bigger than people think in both size and impact,” Scarlett said, “and such an important resource.” 

Scarlett has an interest not only in the river, but also in the environment. She said she started an environmental club in the sixth grade called the Green Team and last summer had an internship at the Connecticut River Conservancy, a nonprofit that advocates “for clean water, healthy habitats, and resilient communities to support a diverse and thriving Connecticut River watershed in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut,” according to the organization’s website.

The film concentrates on the importance of keeping the river as a place that can be enjoyed by people and wildlife alike. Docathon is a global initiative empowering students to showcase issues in their communities through film. Being a finalist meant that Scarlett and Wyeth's film was presented at the online conference, in which participants talked about their films. There was another round of judging, with an award to the top film. 

“This project with Docathon was ideal because it combined both global and environmental studies,” said Richard Karrat, the GESC coordinator and an associate director of the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies. “The students who participated in the conference were able to share an aspect of their local community or environment with students from schools all around the world. Wyeth and Scarlett not only educated students about the Connecticut River; they also learned about local communities that reached as far as Mexico and Tanzania.” 

Wyeth is an avid photographer.  

“The project was interesting because I have not done a lot of film work, mostly photography, but I do have the gear that allows me to do video,” Wyeth said. “So it was an interesting experience getting to learn something new but also allowing me to give back to the community while doing it. I had not thought a lot about the Connecticut River, but it is a big part of the environment and affects our lives. And the environment is important to me.” 

Before working together, Wyeth and Scarlett did not know each other well. “I was really interested in the environmental aspect and knew I wanted to do something river-based,” Scarlett said. “Wyeth is passionate about photography. Mr. Karrat saw the opportunity for us to make a documentary together.” 

They started on the project last summer, taking a storytelling course online to help them figure out how to get across their message in a documentary that could be no more than six minutes long. They met to talk over plans, shoot footage, and interview Rhea Drozdenko, the river steward for the Connecticut River Conservancy. Ms. Drozdenko develops a legislative strategy for the organization. The two seniors met with Richard throughout the fall, continuing to edit the documentary before submission. They also presented their capstone project to the other students in the GESC program. Generally, projects are not completed this early. The GESC is presented at graduation in May. 

Because Scarlett’s comfort zone was the environment and Wyeth’s was filming, she said, they learned from each other along the way, each getting out of their comfort zones. “It paid off in end,” she said. “We got something out there to spread awareness, and that message made it across the world. It was cool to see all these thoughts inside my head becoming an international message.” 

Wyeth said the experience was fun. “We worked together well,” he said, “and I’m proud of the work we did.”