Although 50% of my students come from low-income areas, 0% of my students have low-income mentalities. I can see it in their faces, a desire to belong and contribute to something greater than themselves, a truth and concern for each moment in time. My students are worthy of all things, especially a high school experience that draws out and develops their genuine love of the cinema.
Being involved in the process of creating art has the potential to do more to prepare a student for life than anything academic ever could.
Every day at work, I get to be a part of my students' journey to foster creativity and gain confidence, both on the stage and off of it. I get to be a part of watching them learn how to persevere, how to problem solve, how to hold themselves accountable. I get to watch them learn to get used to the idea that when they engage in creating something collaboratively, the needs of the many truly outweigh the needs of the few or the one.
My Project
So, when I began teaching, I was having a conversation with a student about classic movies, and I made a comment about Andy Duphresne from 'Shawshank,' and this student proceeded to tell me that he had never seen that movie. I freaked out a little bit, and I set out to start a film class at my high school, to do my part, in my little corner of the world, to introduce students to films that could potentially help them see life in a different way.
It's not just a movie class, great films carry powerful life lessons!
They just don't make movies like they used to, do they? That's not necessarily a bad thing, but a reality of art, in that it's fluid and constantly evolving. I think you would be surprised how many films on our list have not been previously seen by the students of today. I am trying to change that, and we would like to add to our library, and we would be so grateful if you could help us do that. Thank you so much!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Arment and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
