21°
What if we could spark community dialogue in a way that helped us understand each other? Could todays polarized political dialogue be fixed by re-awakening the Constitutional principal of compromise when resolving disagreement?
High school students from Norwalk, Ridgefield and Falls Village explored these questions in documentary films which they wrote and produced. The films are being shown tonight, May 20, 7 p.m. at The Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield, CT., as part of a project called The Constitution in our Midst. Students from Norwalk High School produced a film about the fourth amendment and search and seizure. The film is inspired by a real incident when a car was searched for drugs in the high schools parking lot. The Ridgefield students film centers on the controversy surrounding the airing of President Obamas speech in schools.
The Constitution in our Midst is part of the Connecticut Project for the Constitution. CPCs mission is to use the U.S. Constitution as a platform to engage the public in dialogue on major issues confronting the 21st century. The questions central to the Constitution are not right versus wrong but rather one essential right versus another essential right, says CPC co-founder Todd Brewster, an award winning journalist and Constitutional scholar . This tension was purposely built into our countrys founding documents, which is why 'compromise' is essential to our success as a nation.
The students from Norwalk High School, Ridgefield High School and Housatonic Valley Regional High School (Falls Village) have worked on their films throughout the year under the guidance of faculty, filmmakers and visiting professionals who create films. This project is a partnership with Global Village Media, a highly esteemed media company which uses film to explore and educate students about the democratic process. The films were shown at the Westport Youth Film Festival earlier this month.
Tonight's program:
Ridgefield High School, Ridgefield, CT
Film Title: Free Speech: My Right and Yours
Faculty: Patrick Higgins Students: Matt Schiller Dan Pallant Eric Landman Mary Kate Jennings Stacey Oliver Kyle Levesque Norwalk High School Norwalk, CT Film Title: The Gray Line
Faculty: Kyle Seaburg Students: Taylor Scicchitano Will Marr Will Hirsch Cam Piasecki Drew Pennell Housatonic Valley Regional High School Falls Village, Ct. Film Title (2 films/2 teams) 1. The No Speech Zone 2. The D Word Faculty: John Duval Filmmakers Over Seeing Project: Global Village Media - Dominique Lasseur, Catherine Tatge, Kate Stephen - project coordinator 1st team: The No Speech Zone Zach Ackerman Elizabeth Cuoco Tyler Gelbar Emma Osborne Kayla Robinson Dylan Morehouse Justin Taylor 2nd team: The D Word Madelaine Bambery Stephen Bartomioli Bill Bunce Alyse Courture Nick Dignacco Trey Hatcher Ryan King
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