Statesboro High student wins $600 grant and a spot in PBS series
PBS' documentary series "Hope Givers" will feature a Statesboro High student's short film sharing her story as a double amputee golfing for her school, which premiers this fall.
Executive producer of "Hope Givers", Tamlin Hall, presented Wilson with a $600 grant she won as Storytelling Award winner and first runner-up of the Hope Givers Film Challenge, which promotes stories featuring hope and resilience.
"That was my goal, to get people inspired," said Wilson. "I wanted to give people that courage to go out and do whatever, no matter their circumstances."
Wilson started the project with her varsity golf coach, Chad Ferrell, who is also SHS' Audio Visual & Film teacher, to share her story after having lost both of her legs to a rare bone disease when she was 3 years old.
"We created this film challenge, because it's so important for youth to have a voice and to share that voice with other youth, because that's who's listening to each other," Hall said. "Taz was one of our winners, because when we saw her film, it was incredible. It was remarkable. We didn't expect to hear a story like this."
Wilson said she originally wanted to play basketball until her physical therapist recommended she play golf in the eighth grade. She plans on entering the University of Georgia after she graduates, majoring in Criminal Justice and continuing to play golf in college, but "probably just for fun."
"She never complains," said her mother Chirika Wilson. The only plight she's had is wanting flip-flops and pedicures, but Wilson got manicures instead and prosthetic feet from her doctor that are specially-designed for flip-flopping, she said.
"I just hope that children all over understand that they're not different, and they're able - not 'just enough'," Wilson's mother said.
Wilson's film will be featured in episode seven of the Hope Givers series which premieres September 1 on Georgia Public Broadcasting and National PBS Learning Media.
