How do you show a building to people who will never walk its halls?
What We Show Them is a documentary for the Second Class Foundation about Valley View Elementary in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The school was built in 1949 from the recycled cinderblock of a decommissioned WWII base. State inspections found no rebar in it, its original gym collapsed in 1996, and more than 450 students and staff walk into it every day. In 2022 a bond to replace it won 54% of the vote, short of the two-thirds Idaho requires. I was creative director and executive producer at Think Less; Nate Stranzl and Brian Durkee directed.
What We Show Them
Episode 1: Valley View Elementary
The foundation first asked for a four-part series, and it became one nine-minute episode. We filmed the school through a winter, the cracks, the cinderblock and the hallways, and let the people who know it best tell it: the principal, teachers, custodians, a parent and a fourth grader.
It premiered on Beyond the Short in June 2024, went out free on YouTube, played Davey Fest in Salt Lake City and was nominated for a 2025 Webby. In August 2025 Idaho awarded the district $13.2 million to build a new Valley View. Ground was broken in April 2026, and the new school opens in 2027.
A Think Less production
In collaboration with the Second Class Foundation
Creative director and executive producer, Cole Sax
Directed by Nate Stranzl and Brian Durkee
Davey Fest 2024 · Webby Nominee 2025
Athletes featured in the series
Skateboarding, surfing and climbing enter the Olympics.
NextWorld
Debut
YouTube Originals · Feature documentary
The CruxThe North Face
Call to ServeFord · soon
World DebutYouTube Originals · soon
Far From HomeOlympics · soon
Second SightSEE International · soon
Salesforce × AFLSalesforce · soon