MUNCIE, Ind.-- A professor in the Ball State University Department of Telecommunications is creating a documentary video using the most inexperienced crew she could find.

They’re fifteen years old.

Maria Williams-Hawkins chose a group of local middle and high school students to accompany her on a historical tour along the Underground Railroad, the escape route for slaves seeking freedom in the northern states.

The students were chosen based on a video-taped essay, a report on their academic standing and activities and recommendations from teachers.

They are Joshua Burton, son of Mark and Barbara Burton, and Angela Morvilius, daughter of Peggy Morvilius, from Southside High School; Lisa Abrell, daughter of Allen and Michelle Ratliff, and Chanel Richardson, daughter of Marinda Hall, from Wilson Middle School; Nicole Jones, daughter of Patricia Benford, and Ceemila Wells, daughter of Charlestine Bassett, from Muncie Central. Darryal Hawkins Jr., son of Williams-Hawkins and a Yorktown Middle School student, is also participating in the project. Chris Burgdoerfer, a Ball State student from Connersville, served as the crew videographer.

The group spent a week conducting interviews with historians and visiting Underground-related sights between southern Indiana and Ontario, Canada, including West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and New York.

Many of the students had never traveled before, Williams-Hawkins said.

"Most had never ridden a subway and had purely TV-driven expectations of what it would be like," she said. "While developing reporting skills, they had the chance to break away from their understanding of what various parts of the country looked like. Most saw their first waterfall when we went to Niagara Falls, and most thought the whole state of New York looked like New York City."

Sponsored by the Urban Enterprise Association, WIPB-TV, the Community Foundation and the telecommunications department, the video includes information and photos undocumented by the national Underground Railroad Office. The final documentary will be presented to local schools and libraries. Clips from the video appear on WIPB’s "How We See It" this summer.

"The students learned a number of things associated with history, geography, interpersonal relationships and life," she said. "They learned to work with the video equipment, how to budget money and how to make new friends."