(COLUMBIA, MO) – The Columbia Public Schools Foundation (CPSF) and the Ragtag Film Society are co-sponsoring a field trip for all Columbia Public Schools (CPS) 10th-graders to attend a screening of a True/False (T/F) featured film. This is the second year of the CPSF-funded Ragtag Film Society Media Literacy Initiative, which teaches students how to be more critical media consumers.

This year students will view a screening of 2017 Oscar-nominated documentary film “I Am Not Your Negro” on Friday, March 3. The film is based on American writer James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript and is narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson. After the screening, students will participate in a live question-and answer session with the film’s producer, Herbert Peck.

The screening will be followed by “DIY Day,” a series of hands-on workshops where 200 students will spend the afternoon learning media-making skills taught by more than a dozen filmmakers, artists, musicians, storytellers, actors and more.

The viewing of a T/F featured film is part of the Media Literacy Initiative grant, designed to provide CPS students with the skills to be thoughtful, critical consumers of media at a time when nearly all young adults are active Internet users and media consumers.

The T/F screening is just one part of this multi-tiered initiative totaling $114,300 over a three-year period. The grant also trains CPS teachers in media literacy instructional strategies and provides extracurricular cinematic enrichment opportunities for CPS students. It is designed to turn into a self-sustaining program fully supported by CPS after three years.

“It is hard to believe we are in the second year of our Media Literacy Grant,” CPSF Secretary Sally Silvers said. “Taking this written grant from paper to the ‘big screen’ has been incredibly rewarding. My neighbor was in tenth grade last year and participated not only in viewing the film, but DIY day, and I have never seen her more excited. The CPSF grant comes alive in young people like her!”

The Columbia Public Schools Foundation is a private foundation established by community volunteers dedicated to the enrichment of public education through community giving. The Foundation has funded projects in every school, allocating more than $1 million to enhance education in the Columbia Public Schools. CPSF has supported teachers and students for more than 20 years.