Beyond Expectations

Beyond Expectations was started nearly fourteen years ago by a group of concerned parents in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Working with local schools and community organizations, we hosted College Fairs, Campus Tours, Financial Literacy Workshops, and Educational Summits inviting college students to return and share their stories about life in college.

We’ve touched the lives of nearly 4,000 families across the tri-state region and students who participated in our programs have been accepted to more than 25 colleges and universities across the country.

In 2008, we learned of the plight of teens in foster care and shifted our focus.

We honestly weren’t exactly sure what to do but knew we had to somehow help give teens a voice. After a year of planning, the Beyond Expectations Teen Film Program was launched.

Although open to all teens, most of the participants have either been in foster care and/or facing other mental and emotional challenges. At the end of the day though, they’re all just teens and there’s something for ALL young people on a Beyond Expectations film set!

Many of the students have served as guest speakers to talk about their film making experience. Suddenly, the same young people often shunned and completely overlooked have become the role models.

4 of our film projects have been picked up by Media Independence Television (MiND), to an audience of nearly 11 million viewers.

There are plenty of organizations that teach filmmaking. We recognize that. But we’ve been most excited to watch young people from virtually every type of background, work together and draw upon each their strengths to accomplish a common goal.

It may not make for an oscar-worthy story in hollywood, but for us it’s so much more…