Who’s Using FILM and How
Read here how youth are helping others through FILM ...
Here’s an inspiring story of how the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida use FILM and secured grant funding for DVDs!
A Girl Scouts mentoring program in Florida called "GET REAL!" supports reading skills for at-risk middle school girls. As part of this program, the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida use FILM to work with girls in shelters, detention centers, alternative education centers, mental health and substance abuse treatment centers. Leaders assign a FILM Project to program sites and send a DVD, 10 copies of a book, and binders with the curriculum and service project guide for them to use. These Girl Scouts love using FILM since it offers both reading and service components...making it a perfect fit with “GET REAL!”
Their program is funded through a grant from the Florida Mentoring Partnership, and the state questioned the expense of DVDs for the program. When they shared what FILM is all about and how they use it, the expenses were approved! This enables these Girl Scouts to continue helping at-risk girls through FILM and building what they call their "MOOK" library (movies and books).
Thank you to Linda Scott and the Girls Scouts of West Central Florida for sharing this story, and for using FILM effectively to make a difference in lives of young girls.
Freedom Writers: Express Yourself
Inspired by the message of tolerance in Freedom Writers, Mrs. Hogg's English students from Richmond High School in Indiana organized a community event called the Changapalooza Carnival. As a class, the students talked about many different ways that they could make a change in their community. The two big issues that kept coming up were the idea of the lack of celebration of diversity and the belief that teenagers are apathetic to the problems of the world. In order to celebrate diversity, The Changapalooza Carnival included food, games, and music to represent several cultures from all over the world. With over 2,000 people in attendance, the carnival truly demonstrated that teenagers have the power to accomplish extraordinary things! The class has a goal of making this a yearly event for the community. Visit their website at www.changapalooza.com to see and learn more about it.
More Freedom Writers inspiration ...
“We assisted the elderly on the property by forming elder/youth relationships. We paired up the youth with the elders to assist them in various ways, and prepared and delivered gift packets to them on major holidays.”
—Regina from Burgaw, NC
Bridge to Terabithia: Build Bridges
Rainbow Corners in Indianapolis is an organization in Indianapolis that serves youth and young adults with special needs. Inspired by Bridge to Terabithia, in which youth are encouraged to bring the magic and joy of Terabithia to others, they adopted an inner-city nursing home that serves older adults who have multiple disabilities. The participants made cards, sang songs, baked cookies and visited and talked with the nursing home residents. The Rainbow Corners youth continue their service project once a month by visiting this nursing home. The nursing home residents do not typically receive very many visitors, and appreciate the regular visits from their new friends.
“They loved the movie and the book! The F.I.L.M. guide was useful and helpful and I was able to modify it based on needs of the youth and their disabilities. Wow! Keep up the great work and thank you for the opportunity to participate!”
—Betty from Indianapolis, IN
Dreamer: Inspired By You
In the movie Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, a young girl takes the lead in her family to nurse an injured racing horse back to health. Throughout the struggle, the story demonstrates the strong bond between human and animals.
A group of approximately 85 girls and teenagers from the Girls Incorporated of Tarrant County in Arlington, Texas created a joint community service project with the Girls Incorporated Mansfield program around themes from the movie Dreamer. They established an ongoing partnership with a local camp for horse training and riding. The girls learn how to ride the horses and care for them and in return they groom the horses and assist in cleaning the stalls.
More Dreamer inspiration ...
“They got excited about the activities! We collected food and money for animals from the hurricane (Katrina) and raised money for hurricane families. We also helped with a social activity for hurricane evacuees to the Washington, DC area in partnership with the United Way and Red Cross.”
—Rosemary from Bowie, MD
Because of Winn Dixie: Because of You
In conjunction with National & Global Youth Service Day 2006, April 21-23, participants of the F.I.L.M. project were encouraged to complete service projects during this national and global celebration of service to the community.
Camp Fire USA Patuxent Council of Bowie, Maryland conducted a service-learning project in Berkshire Elementary School in District Heights, Maryland. Using the inter-generational themes from Because of Winn Dixie, the elementary students welcomed grandparents and elders in the community to their school. Sixth-grade students opened the morning onstage with personal greetings, song, and praise for their grandparents. Grandparents proceeded to visit classrooms to share stories of their childhoods and to read books with the students.
The service day culminated in a fun inter-generational lunch, just like the one Opal organizes in Because of Winn Dixie.
Hoot: Speak Up and Give Back
In the movie and book, three middle school friends embark on a mission to save endangered burrowing owls from a construction project in their Florida community. The Osceola Elementary School in Naples, Florida decided to do a project that focused on another endangered species in Florida, manatees. The group of nine to ten year-olds participating in this program partnered with the Manatee Club at Ft. Myers Manatee World. The group will learned about manatees and how to take action in their communities to spread the word about supporting this valuable endangered species.
More Hoot inspiration ...
“Excellent ... the staff and myself loved it! We found many activities very useful, especially those on bullying. For our service project we picked up trash in the school neighborhood.”
—Paul from Bethany, CT
Everyone’s Hero: Just Keep Swinging!
Everyone’s Hero is a computer-animated movie about a young boy who goes on a journey to return Babe Ruth’s stolen lucky baseball bat. Inspired from a story that focuses on baseball and outdoor activity, the Franklin Square Boys & Girls Club of Baltimore decided to do a service project to help beautify the city of Baltimore. More than 200 volunteers, including children from the Boys & Girls club, planted trees and flowers on the playground of Franklin Square Elementary School. The project was sponsored by the State of Maryland, Home Depot and many other organizations.
More Everyone’s Hero inspiration ...
“Youth used the ‘hero’ activities … we loved the information!”
—Karla from Oelwein, IA
The Ultimate Gift: Your Gift to Others
Students of SFA Middle School in Bryan, Texas had some great discussions on ways they could help in their community, like Jason in The Ultimate Gift. Participating in a program called the “Power of 5,” the students meet representatives from various social and service-based programs in their area. After reading the book, seeing the movie, completing the F.I.L.M. guide and attending Power of 5, the students generated some a great idea. A group of students and teachers used a weekend of spring break to make lunches for the volunteers of Habitat for Humanity. While the students were not old enough to actually work on the construction site, they did get to tour the home, met the family, and learned about substandard housing in the area. They loved the opportunity to serve and have asked to be regular bi-monthly lunch makers for these volunteers.
More Ultimate Gift inspiration ...
“We have given copies of the book “The Ultimate Gift” to our youth, and after they read it they gave it to someone else in the community. We attended a town rally at the State House on Health and Medical in Indiana where we saw our Governor Mitch Daniels, and we gave him a copy of the book. He wrote us a personal note telling us he read it that night and he thanked us! We have also shared the book with 69 others so far, including folks from all walks of life.
We called Mr. Jim Stovall, the author, and he returned our call that same night. We interviewed him with the list of questions the children had written. It was truly amazing! He is such a kind and gracious man and was very patient as the children read their questions. The entire experience was amazing and continues to be amazing. We heard from a lady crying and thanking us for sharing the book wit her, and that she too was going to have all 16 of her kids and all of her grandkids read this book! We can’t wait until the movie comes out at the $0.50 theater so we can see it!
Thank you so much for making a difference in Indiana and with all the awesome kids and families I get to work with. Mr. Stovall asked me to email him the story of all the folks we have reached since receiving these complimentary books two weeks ago. Having special needs kids, our budget gets eaten up quickly with medical and maintenance, so I was not even sure if I should take on receiving the 100 book, for fear I did not have the money to pay for the shipping and handling. But, I am so thankful I did not let that stop me, for it was worth seeing how this amazing book has touched so many lives including mine and all of my children."
—Betty from Indianapolis
“We have launched the project at two schools. The kids have finished the book and are doing a caring project—to be completed on National Youth Service Day—with teens and youth working with homeless children and seniors. They are calling the project ‘the gift project.’ The partnerships include catholic and public schools in Prince Georges and Montgomery counties in Maryland and a homeless shelter in Prince Georges county. "
—Rosemary from Bowie, MD
Charlotte’s Web: Becoming a True Friend
Girl Scout Troops 486 and 533 of the Montachusett Council in Worcester, Massachusetts performed a play version of the Charlotte's Web story for others in need of support and entertainment. The troops partnered with many community organizations to facilitate their play project, for example, they painted their backdrops at a local assisted living residence, Whitney Place of Northboro, and rehearsed at a local church, the Unitarian Universal Church of Northboro. After careful preparation and rehearsals, they performed their play for the support group for kids with cancer of Why Me-Sherry's House www.whyme.org, a place where kids and their families from all over the Central New England community receive the support and encouragement they need to fight childhood cancer. In addition, the girls baked goods and brought drinks for the audience.
Also, Scholastic Books Inc. generously donated Charlotte’s Web books and posters for the kids at Sherry’s House. With the support of their parents, troop leaders, and the community the girls' play was a huge success!
More Charlotte’s Web inspiration ...
“A very good addition to our character education program and a wonderful way to make reading and real-life come alive. Thank you.”
—Dana from West Plains, MO
“Very informative and educational. The kids loved doing the activities.”
—Rita from Tuscaloosa, AL
“I thought it was well put together and plan on using it with the book.”
—Ricci from Alpena, MI
“Our service project was to be a ‘true friend’ to senior citizens by singing carols at a retirement home and sharing refreshments and memories with them.”
—Sharon from Tallahassee, FL
“We read the novel in class and discussed many of the ‘true friend’ activities in a few of the chapters.”
—Alice from Arvada, CO
“The themes in this guide are connected to characters and events in the movie. With students who are so technology and television driven, this kept their attention and interest.”
—Leigh from Kissimmee, FL
“After reading the F.I.L.M. for Charlotte’s Web and the challenge project, we voted and adopted an elderly gentleman who is dying of cancer and in very serious shape. We have been sending him encouragement cards and letters weekly for the past month, been praying daily for him and making home baked goods and delivering them to him. We went to his front window last night and caroled even though he was unable to get out of bed. Each child is making him a homemade gift and delivering it to him this coming weekend and going to sing and pray with him again.
We have also adopted another elderly gentleman in our community who has lived with his elderly mother for many years, and right before Thanksgiving she passed away. He voiced how lonely he is, so we now once or twice a week drop off complete homemade meals with a homemade dessert for him and stop in to visit, so that he has visitors at least two times a week.
The kids love doing this. They are also donating their gently used shoes for AIDS orphans in Africa. One of our youth saved up money and traveled there with Teen Missions last summer. They delivered 5,000 pairs of shoes, washed the orphans’ feet and fit each one with a pair of shoes!
I could go on and on about these cool kids. The amazing thing is all of them have multiple disabilities and yet they are so eager to serve and to give back to the community!
I wish we could afford to take the kids to the movie, but we will wait until we can buy it gently used after it has run its course on the big screen.”
—Betty from Indianapolis, IN
Happy Feet: Find Your Beat
“I liked the variety of activities, very global. I loved the applicability of some of the activities for my preschoolers. We are doing a unit on cultures’ music & dance and F.I.L.M. makes it engaging to do.”
—Judi from Rochester, NY
“Great program with creative ideas. We are going to visit a home for senior citizens once a week to play games and do art projects.”
—Maria from Minneapolis, MN
Flicka: Set Your Dreams Free
“Students truly enjoyed being engaged in the activities!”
—Lida from Fairfax, VA
Saving Shiloh: Searching For Answers
“Girls loved the movie and the book and doing the activities was very helpful in teaching them values and judgment.”
—Linda from Bethalto, IL
Glory Road: Choose Your Road
“Excellent movie. It taught youth in my area the importance of teamwork and differences in culture.”
—Kevin from Yonkers, NY
More inspiration from FILM …
“I would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for your FILM Project and website. I have found the website with the resources (for free, we really love) very helpful. Please keep up the good work and I would love to see even older movies/books explored.
I helped the head teacher of our school-aged child care center plan themed weeks for the summer using the resources from your website. Each week the theme is centered around one of the movies/books featured on your website. We added other resources to cover all the content areas that are taught. Monday through Thursday is reading the book and Friday is the movie day. Here is a one-week sample plan:
Farm Week:
Read Charlotte Web's
Art – each day with farm and/or Charlotte's Web theme
Writing activities – all came from the your teaching resources of Charlotte's Web
Math – also came from your resources
Science activities – all had to do with farm-related topics (mostly from your resources)
Health and Nutrition – teach about food with farm connections
Social Studies – all had to do with farming (again, lots came from your resources)
Play Time Activities – related to farming in some way
Again I would like to say THANK YOU.”
—Effie from Burkesville, KY
“My main goal this year is to start a mentoring program—working to diminish the achievement gap, providing students with opportunities to get involved in their communities, teaching leadership skills, and bringing under-achieving students up to their grade-level. I just wanted to write you a quick note to let you know how much I (and my students!) have enjoyed the F.I.L.M. curricula! We've already done activities from Charlotte's Web and Happy Feet, and I fully intend on using Bridge to Terabithia (one of my favorite books ever!) These programs are so incredibly well thought out, creative, successful, and fun! I've shared the F.I.L.M. website with all of the staff here, along with family and friends in education, and we all think it’s just fantastic.
THANK YOU from all of us here at Crossroads!”
—Jessica from St. Paul, MN
“We have been using F.I.L.M. as a way to create family projects and increase [our children’s] writing skills. They have been able to use these projects as extra credit in their classes.”
—Terri from Denver, CO