Join Texas Public Radio for a community dialog about San Antonio’s drop out problem and search for innovative solutions.
TPR and Our Lady of the Lake University are hosting a screening of the PBS short documentaries "Skipping Up" and "I Really Want to Make It." The screening will be followed by a panel discussion on education and dropout rates hosted by TPR News Director and "The Source" Host David Martin Davies.
Filmed by director Jim Mendiola and produced by Faith Radle, "Skipping Up" follows three eighth grade students over several months at Mark Twain Middle School in the San Antonio Independent School District.
The students belong to the Middle School Partners Program, which takes eighth graders who are at least one year behind in school and provides them with an eighth and ninth grade curriculum in one year. Students who complete the program are allowed to “skip up” a grade and enter high school as sophomores. Most importantly, the chances of these students dropping out decreases from 90 percent to less than 10 percent.
The panel includes Mayor Julián Castro and Jeanne Russell, chief strategist for SA2020.
When: Wednesday, November 20 at 7 p.m.
Where: OLLU's Thiry Auditorium
Cost: Free and open to the public
Learn more about the PBS' series at: www.pbs.org/independentlens/graduates/shorts.html