From Pre-K through college, 2020 was a time for interrupted learning.

To capture the impact, EdSource followed 16 families from across California in a year-long project. The resulting documentary illustrates the education struggles they faced and how some students put off the start of their college careers to support their families when the pandemic claimed their parents’ jobs.

As a graduate student, Octavia Lawrence—now associate dean of student services at West Kentucky Community and Technical College—would ask herself what she might do with $1 million in extra funding. How could she better meet student needs?

That question is no longer hypothetical. The college, which received $15 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, is aiming to supply technology and possibly transportation for students in rural areas, as well as funding for nonacademic needs. "It actually gives us the space to dream with action in mind,” Lawrence says of the unrestricted cash gift. “To not just dream.”