The Coolidge Launches Free Youth Education Program
The Coolidge Corner Theatre has launched Coolidge Classroom, its first ever youth education program, which offers free field trips for students grades 6–12.
By: A.A. Cristi Sep. 26, 2024
The Coolidge Corner Theatre has launched Coolidge Classroom, its first ever youth education program, which offers free field trips for students grades 6–12 that include a film screening, lunch, facilitated discussion, and contextual resources for students and educators.
Developed in collaboration with an advisory committee of local educators from five districts, Coolidge Classroom supports existing curricula in a variety of disciplines including STEM, world language, and the humanities, while simultaneously engaging media literacy skills and foundations of cinema studies.
“We want to ensure the courses in Coolidge Classroom support the work that is already going on in schools as opposed to being some sort of cherry on top,” said Director of Education Sophie Blum, who has been working with the advisory committee to create the program. “As we design a program that is relevant and supportive to four different disciplines, seven grade levels, and dozens of districts, there is a lot of cross reference that needs to happen.”
Each film in the program will play for three sessions; teachers are encouraged to use the online registration form to select sessions they are interested in and will be contacted by the theater to arrange a field trip.
Titles in the 2024–2025 program include:
Persepolis (2007, dir. Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud): November 18–20
Dìdi (2024, dir. Sean Wang): December 9–11
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, dir. Guillermo Del Toro): January 27–29
Flee (2021, dir. Jonas Poher Rasmussen): February 10–12
Coded Bias (2020, dir. Shalini Kantayya): March 10–12
Throne of Blood (1957, dir. Akira Kurosawa): April 7–9
At two pilot classes in late September, the Coolidge hosted more than one hundred film students from Brookline High School for a screening of Dìdi. Led by Blum, students discussed the film’s themes, character analysis, and relevancy to their own lives and ate a free meal and snacks.
“The Coolidge’s new Education and Community Engagement Center allows for further diversification of our education programs and who has access to them,” said Blum. “Coolidge Classroom is a key part of that expanded programming.”
In order to ensure youth programs are accessible for all, the Coolidge is committed to providing free transportation and meals for students. Coolidge Classroom is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
About the Coolidge Corner Theatre
The nonprofit Coolidge Corner Theatre is a premier American independent cinema renowned for its curated feature film programming and innovative signature educational, cultural, and entertainment programs. A beloved movie house, the Coolidge welcomes over 225,000 patrons per year and has been pleasing audiences with the best in cinematic entertainment since 1933.
In addition to showcasing the best in contemporary independent cinema, the Coolidge has developed a wide range of programing to reach all sectors of the community, including: Big Screen Classics, After Midnite, Senior Matinees, Science on Screen®, Cinema Jukebox, PANORAMA, The Sounds of Silents®, Kids’ Shows, Rewind!, Box Office Babies, and adult education film classes. The Coolidge hosts several prominent film festivals and has welcomed film luminaries such as Meryl Streep, Werner Herzog, Jane Fonda, Liv Ullmann, Ruth E. Carter, Ethan Hawke, Frank Oz, Steven Soderbergh, Viggo Mortensen, and more. For more information, visit coolidge.org.
Comments
Videos