ARTblast update: Free Documentary Film Screening
CFIFN has partnered with WORKING FILMS to bring a free screening of the acclaimed documentary BROOKLYN CASTLE to ARTBlast.
Intermediate School 318 in Brooklyn, New York, is housed in a squat concrete building on a dingy inner-city block. The school’s exterior offers little to impress but, in room 319, something extraordinary is happening. Over the last decade, hundreds of Ms. Vicary’s students have learned to play chess, one of the world’s oldest and most complex games; each day, the class fills with kids both well on their way to becoming the next Bobby Fischer and others just learning how to move the pieces. The school has a powerhouse chess team that has won 26 national chess titles — more than any other junior high school in the country. It’s a particularly notable achievement for I.S. 318, a Title I school, where more than 60 percent of students are from homes with incomes well below the federal poverty line. This year, I.S. 318′s chess team is the strongest in school history. But as the New York City public school system continues to reel from state and citywide financial crises, I.S. 318′s budget has been cut by more than $1 million. After school programs like chess are often frontline budgetary casualties, despite their proven success in improving students’ development in ways often unattainable in the classroom, especially in high-needs areas.
See a free screening of BROOKLYN CASTLE on Friday, September 7th. Movie starts at 7:30pm at Bailey Theater Park (Front Street). Prior to the screening, chess clubs from WIlmington area schools will play matches in the park. The public is invited to watch and see the impact that this game (and all after school programs) have on these students.
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