I invite you all to a fundraiser for a wonderful work-in-progress, "Walk Right In", on April 24th, at 7:00p at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. Details on the film and a trailer are below:
"Walk Right In" captures the stories of a unique educational
experiment at Yale University through interviews with its participants
40 years later. Created as part of the war on poverty with a
mandate to address issues of social and economic injustice, The Yale
Summer High School brought underprivileged kids from across the nation
to the Yale Divinity School during the 1960s. In 1968, as American
cities were rife with protest, racial rioting and civil disorder, a
small group of educators redefined the enterprise, creating a living
laboratory in the problems and promise of the American democracy.
Drawing on the 'Great Books' of Western literature, the school made
these classics relevant to the times and lives of its students,
bringing sensitive issues of race, tolerance and personal identity to
the fore. From Sophocles' "Antigone" to Mark Twain's "Huckleberry
Finn," they searched together for that which eluded the nation--a
working definition of "community"--the shared values that ground people
and bind them together. Four decades after leaving Yale, Larry
Paros--former Director of the Yale Summer High School--traveled the
country to interview more than two dozen of his fellow teachers, tutors
and students about how they each experienced the Summer High School in
1968. A compelling and deeply personal narrative of education
and individual transformation, "Walk Right In" recreates the summer of
'68 through first hand accounts, following students from their moment
of selection and their arrival on campus to the culmination of the
program and where they are today, reminding us of the importance of
inclusive and effective education and the impact it has across
generations.
