About 70 students, educators, parents, administrators and community members filled Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ Melwood Screening Room on May 22 for the 3rd annual Hear Me 101 Screening.
The evening kicked off with light refreshments, food, and music from Professor ASAP of Tracksploitation. The atmosphere was lively, as students were proud to share their work and others excited to watch. The audience took their seats at 6:30 for documentaries from Clairton High School, McKeesport Technology Center, Steel Valley High School, the F.U.S.E. after school program, which includes students from Wilkinsburg High School and Imani Christian Academy and special guest, Jay Fyre from Philadelphia.
Click here to watch the documentaries! (youtube link)
Topic Selection:
Students from McKeesport brainstormed and discussed a variety of topics before settling on three. The focused on "Hip-hop in Education," "Video Gaming for Learning", and "Depression." Students at Clairton selected two topics: "Access to Technology Education," and "Girls Bullying." The students gave a fresh perspective to bullying by focusing on bullying among middle schools girls. The Steel Valley TFIM club wanted to explore ways that students are affected by "success" and "failure." After wrestling with these ideas, they settled on tackling the school ratings systems by pointing out how it affects students, and adding more complex layers to the story of the 437-ranked school.
Alaquiva focused on building professional relationships, encouraging students to “make more deposits than withdrawals;” as he compared relationships to bank accounts. He shared his story from homelessness to becoming and Emmy Award Winning producer, entrepreneur and mentor; and told students, “When you think outside the box, you change what’s in it.”
The youngest panelist, Amma Ababio reassured the students that their videos will make a difference and hailed the documentaries as part of a new civil rights movement. She complemented the filmmakers on their dedication and critical thinking to address, and take steps to make positive change in their schools and communities.
(source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
As a former City-Councilman, Patrick Dowd was able to frame the conversation in a policy-driven manner. He addressed how the PA ranking system, which ranked Steel Valley at 437, was most likely intended to help schools by addressing needs, but instead hurt the image lower ranking schools. He noted that the documentaries are important because they can show policy makers the real impact of their policies and become a catalyst for change.
At the end of the night, the Hear Me 101 interns were announced. The interns were chosen out of those who submitted applications to earn a spot as paid staff members of Hear Me to work on building awareness and support for their films. The interns are as follows:
Denis McCormick from Steel Valley, Juanita Suber from McKeesport, and Jeffrey McDonald from Clairton.
Look for more from the interns this summer. Hear Me and our partners would like to thank everyone who came out to the screening and everyone who helped make the videos possible!
Share your pictures and thoughts on the screening: @hear_me_project #hearme101