- Details
- Category: Current Issue
Documentary
presented
POMFRET — “Girl Rising” at Pomfret School will play a part in school-wide project-based learning experience
“Girl Rising,” the 2013 CNN documentary about the empowerment of education for girls worldwide, will be shown at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Pomfret School Centennial Academic and Arts Center Auditorium. The community is invited to attend; admission is free.
Featured at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, “Girls Rising” tells the stories—with the help of such A-list Hollywood stars as Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Liam Neeson—of nine girls from around the world and their simple shared dream of being able to attend school. It is required viewing for the 12 students signed up for “Eastern and Western Educational Systems: A
Comparative Perspective,” one of the 29 unique courses designed by Pomfret faculty and offered next month as part of the School’s innovative Project: Pomfret initiative.
Project: Pomfret outline and goals were harvested from a year of self-examination that produced a new strategic plan—published last summer—for the 120-year-old school. Based on the principles of project-based learning (students engage to the fullest when experiencing and solving real-world problems), everybody involved will have the chance to break away from the academic routine (the first semester will have just ended) and focus instead on topics meant to encourage them to rethink the classroom dynamics of both teaching and learning. All the major—required—academic disciplines are well-represented.
From four themes (Cross-Cultural Contrasts and Identity; Sustainability and Global Resources, Personal Story and The Power of Change) the Pomfret faculty produced 29 creative options, among them Making Sense of the Middle East, Bridge Building, What’s the Big Idea, Manifesto!; Evolution of Images, History of Food, and Awesomeness in Environmental Energies. Dean of Teaching and Learning Patrick Andren is the Project: Pomfret coordinator. “
The screening of “Girls Rising” has been made possible by the generosity of the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), a Portland, Maine-based non-profit whose mission it is to expose people to the knowledge and skills necessary “for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world.” For information and to register for the screening contact Director of Communications Sharon Gaudreau at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 860.963.5951.