Schools Making A Difference: Portraits of Excellence, Engagement and Equity

Education Film Festival
Date: 
March 14, 2012 - 5:45pm - 8:45pm
Location: 
Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd
A series of films, panel discussions and participant dialogues
 
Though economic realities pose significant challenges for our education system, when schools and communities work together with a clear vision and heroic effort, they can achieve stunning results. Exemplary schools provide high expectations and opportunities for all students to succeed. They also provide real world learning experiences that prepare students for college, careers and citizenship in the 21st century. They do this through an engaging curriculum that recognizes the diverse talents and needs of their student populations. Join fellow citizens, educators, and students for any of four evenings of films, panels, and participant dialogues that offer portraits of such schools in our region and around the world.

Space limited: Registration for each event required. Contact Amy Harris at City Club of Portland amy@pdxcityclub.org or 503-228-7231 x110.

 
Forum 4: How Important Are the Arts and Civic Education for Our Students’ Current and Future Lives?

Wednesday, March 14
Hollywood Theater
4122 NE Sandy Blvd
5:30-6:00 – Meet & Greet
6:00-8:45 – Featured Film and discussion

Featured Film: Paper Clips by Elliot Berlin & Joe Fab Filmmakers. Panel discussion & dialogue with audience participants to follow film.

Featured Film: "Paper Clips" When the students of Tennessee's Whitwell Middle School--just 100 miles from where the Ku Klux Klan was founded-- began studying the Holocaust as a way to learn about intolerance and diversity, nobody could have predicted the results.  The Paper Clip Project culminated in interviews with Holocaust survivors and the building of a unique Holocaust memorial in a German railcar  that changed the lives of those who created it, as well as touching Holocaust survivors and countless communities.  (Best Documentary Feature, 2004 Palm Springs International Film Festival Audience Award; Best Overall Film, 2004 Rome International Film Festival Audience Award, One of the Top Five Documentaries of 2004-National Board of Review of Motion Pictures)

--Notes from the back of the DVD

Live Performances: Students from Lincoln High School's Theatre Arts Program performing a scene from student playwright Hannah Gold's play "Sandpiper;" da Vinci Arts Middle School students Jacob Roter (dancer) dancing to a poem he wrote, read by Ally Merkel

Panelists:

  • Hannah Gold, senior, Lincoln High School, Portland Public Schools-International Baccalaureate Program, Constitution Team Member, playwright. A short scene from her play "Sandpaper" will be performed.
  • Jacob Roter, Sekai Edwards, and Ally Merkel--students/actors/dancers at da Vinci Arts Middle School. Jacob will perform a dance to a poem he has written, read by Ally Merkel.
  • Fred Locke, Interim Principal, da Vinci Arts Middle School; former Principal, Renaissance Arts School within Marshall High School campus
  • Amy Vanacore, Outreach Director, Ethos Music Center.

Commentator/Moderator:
Karl Logan, Regional Administrator for the Madison-Grant Cluster, Portland Public Schools; former Principal, Lane Middle School

Co-Chairs Carol Witherell and Cole Mills, Agora committee volunteers, City Club of Portland

Co-Sponsors for the Series as of 1/19/12:

  • Communities and Parents for Public Schools  (CCPS)
  • Confederation of School Administrators (COSA)
  • Ethos
  • Friends of the Children
  • I Have a Dream Foundation - Oregon
  • Institute for Democratic Education in America (IDEA)
  • Lewis & Clark College Graduate School of Education & Counseling
  • Oregon School Psychologists Association
  • Portland Public Schools
  • Portland State University Graduate School of Education
  • Stand for Children - Oregon
  • The Center for Children's Learning of the Portland Children's Museum
  • The Chalkboard Project
  • Volunteers of America - Oregon
 
Past Film Festival Forums:
Forum 1: Real World Project Learning in Our Region’s Schools: Portraits of Excellence, Engagement and Equity
Wednesday, January 25
Mission Theatre
1624 NW Glisan St.
5:45-6:20 – Meet & Greet
6:30-8:45 – Featured Film and Discussion
 
The film Lessons from the Real World highlights project-based learning in greater Portland region schools. Bob Gliner, filmmaker will be participating in the panel discussion & dialogue with audience participants
 
Panelists:

• Emily Crum, teacher, Alder Elementary School, Reynolds School District
• Bob Gliner, filmmaker, Lessons from the Real World
• Amy Kleiner, Principal of film-featured SE Portland’s Sunnyside Environmental School (K-8)
• Karl Logan, Regional Administrator, Portland Public Schools-Madison/Grant Cluster; former Principal of SE Portland’s Lane Middle School
• Student Manuel Nava from film-featured Jefferson High School
 
Forum 2: How Well Are We Educating Our Students for the Globally Connected World of the 21st Century?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Mission Theatre
1624 NW Glisan St.
5:45-6:20 – Meet & Greet
6:30-8:45 – Featured Film and discussion
 
In Two Million Minutes, filmmaker Robert Compton follows two students in each of three countries--the United States, China, and India--to learn how they spend their high school years. This film is a good companion to Tony Wagner’s book The Global Achievement Gap. Panel discussion & dialogue with audience participants to follow film.
 
Panelists:
  • Peyton Chapman, Principal, Lincoln High School
  • Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse, Director, Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter High School (LEP High)
  • Hasaun Moore, sophomore at LEP High
  • David Moss, Social Studies/Language Arts/Technology Teacher, Science & Technology (SST) High School, Merlo Station-Beaverton
  • Nathan Goodman, student, SST
  • Guest commentator: Duncan Wyse, Executive Director, Employers for Education Excellence (E3); President, Oregon Business Council
 
Forum 3: Lessons from Afar and Close at Home: What Can We Learn from Schools in Finland and Reggio Emilia, Italy?

Monday, March 5
Hollywood Theater
4122 NE Sandy Blvd
5:45-6:15 – Meet & Greet
6:15-8:45 – Featured Film and discussion
 
Featured film: The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World’s Most Surprising School System by Robert Compton, producer. Panel discussion & dialogue with audience participants to follow film. Panelists include:
  • Susan Mackay—Director of Education and the Center for Children’s Learning, Portland Children’s Museum; former classroom teacher, Willamette Elementary School and Opal School, a Portland Public Charter School located in the Children’s Museum.
  • Xavier Pierce, graduate of Opal School (K-5th grades), now a junior at Wilson High School, PPS
  • Will Parnell, Asst. Professor & Coordinator, Curriculum and Instruction-Early Childhood Education; Pedagogical Director, Helen Gordon Child Development Center and the Children’s Center, Portland State University
  • Lisa Alibabaie, Primary Grades Teacher; Early Childhood Specialist; Alder Elementary School, Reynolds School District
  • Drew Wilson, Language Arts/Social Studies Teacher, Jackson Middle School, PPS.

Guest Commentator/Moderator: Matt Karlsen, 4th grade teacher, Evergreen, WA; formerly at Sunnyside Environmental School, The Cloudforest School in Monteverde--Costa Rica, Lewis & Clark College--Master of Arts in Teaching Program.

 

 

Committee: 
Agora Steering Committee
  • share

901 SW Washington St., Portland, OR 97205 | 503-228-7231 | 503-228-8840 fax