Whatever It Takes chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the first year of the Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics (BCSM). BCSM is an innovative public high school in New York City’s notorious South Bronx. This deeply emotional, vérité-style documentary primarily examines the intertwined lives of two characters: Edward Tom, the school’s visionary rookie principal, and Sharifea Baskerville, a spunky ninth-grade girl with big dreams but even bigger obstacles.