It is a saying that is often heard among those who have
faced addiction. It goes something like
this: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again,
but expecting a different result.”
Drugs, alcohol … and education. They all seem to be categories that fit into
this “definition” of insanity.
On Dec.
15, FilmWorks Entertainment will release on DVD documentary filmmaker Kayla
McCormick’s SelectED, an insightful, thought-provoking look at the
competition and process of getting into Chicago’s Whitney Young High School.
This is THE public high school in the city of Chicago to get
into. It is, for the lucky ones,
perhaps their only “ticket out of poverty.”
Consider this, 10,000 apply each year for the 350 open
enrollment spots. The competition is
fierce. But beyond this “lottery,” why
does this particular school work, while so many others in Chicagoland are
failing?
For one full year McCormick tracked the process; the
students; their parents — their hopes and dreams — and the result is a finished
film that is every bit as riveting in its storytelling as any Hollywood
thriller. Clearly, those involved with
the educational process at Whitney Young High School have found a way to break
this educational cycle of insanity.
SelectED shines some light on just how that works. Can it be replicated? And what of those who don’t make the cut?
Bonus features include extended and additional sequences that
did not make the final cut of the film.
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