While the Juniors took the SAT, the Sophomores were in for a treat. Any sophomore who showed up that day got to go to the PAC and watch the Oscar-nominated movie “Selma”. This movie is about Martin Luther King’s attempt to peacefully walk from Selma to Montgomery Alabama as a peaceful protest to the restrictions against African-Americans in the 1960’s to vote.
Because the movie is still in theaters, the English department had to get special permission from the director Ava DuVernay to show the film on campus.
“I emailed her and asked,” said English teacher Ms. Harms. “After the third email, I was probably annoying her at that point and she put me in touch with a publicist who then made the request with Paramount Pictures and arranged the screening.”
Ms. Harms said the idea behind showing Selma was that English teachers wanted the total accessibility to the film that a field trip would not be able to provide.
The Sophomores had to turn in permission slips to their respective English teachers to watch it. Before the film, 10th graders were informed that they will have a writing assignment tied to the FSA that is about the movie. The 10-grade wide prompt is “What is Freedom?” and the events of the film can be used as textual evidence for the essay, said Ms. Harms.
The movie not only gave a history lesson, but also gave a detailed view of what it was like to be an African-American in the 1960’s.
“Selma was a really great movie for how it portrayed the 1960’s and segregation. David Oyelowo played Martin Luther king quite well,” said Sophomore Donovan Ruddock.
Overall, Selma got widespread positive reviews from students and overwhelmed many who attended the movie in the PAC, including Sophomore Jennifer Corrolian.
“Selma was a really good movie, there was really good acting and it portrayed that time period very well,” she said. “Although I never have been involved in something like that, it overwhelmed me a lot.”
