TESSERACT STUDENTS WIN GRAND PRIZE AT
2010 ARIZONA STUDENT FILM FESTIVAL
PHOENIX, ARIZONA—January 27, 2010—Four fifth-grade students at Tesseract School won first place and the grand prize at the 2010 Arizona Student Film Festival in the grades three-through-five Public Service Announcement (PSA) category. The PSA, “Options,” made by Hannah G., Brij K., Gabby V. and Sydney Z., stressed the importance of turning the water off while brushing one’s teeth.
“The students were really excited about this year’s PSA topic of water conservation,” said Ted Strickland, Tesseract middle school educator. “I thought all the PSAs our students made were very creative and original while still expressing the understanding and importance of water conservation.”
The Arizona Student Film Festival is open to students enrolled in third grade through college who have created PSAs, films, videos or documentaries. Tesseract students in fifth and sixth grade submitted films to this year’s contest, with seven of those films being selected to run the night of the festival.
All of the PSAs submitted by Tesseract were written, directed, edited and acted in by Tesseract middle school students. Part of Tesseract School’s innovative, student-centered curriculum, the story lines for the PSAs were written in their language arts classes and then adapted for film.
“I am very proud of all our students’ work,” continued Strickland. “The process of creating these films included a great deal of teamwork, planning and execution on their part.”
In addition to working with middle school students on the filmmaking process in class, Strickland also guides Tesseract’s dramatic film class, one of Tesseract’s high school electives, and the after-school movie club, which culminates with a showing of the club’s feature-length film on the big screen at a local movie theater, as well as teaches the popular digital filmmaking class for Tesseract’s summer program.
About Tesseract:
A leader in education in the Valley, Tesseract School prepares students to excel in college and beyond, lead lives of purpose, and become ethical and compassionate citizens with a global perspective. Tesseract’s innovative educational approach engages students in learning, enabling them to master the basics and become critical thinkers. As a non-profit, independent private school for students in preschool through grade 12, resources are directed to recruit and retain outstanding educators and continually enhance the school’s two campuses in Phoenix and Paradise Valley. For information visit www.tesseractschool.org or call 480.991.1770.
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