3,000 DC Students Go 19,000 Feet Up Mt. Denali with the Environmental Film Festival
Testimonials submitted by Brandon McCaskill, Ballou Senior High School, Sarah Harris, Washington Yu Ying PCS, and Angela Isom, Burville Elementary School
Text written by Nicholas Kelly, DC Collaborative Program Intern
March 3, 2016
On March 2, the DC Collaborative partnered with the Environmental Film festival to send 3,000 students to a film screening at DAR Constitution Hall through the Arts for Every Student (AFES) program. The students came on 62 buses from 50 schools all over DC, and they came prepared to engage with the film: An American Ascent, about a group of African-American mountaineers climbing Denali, the tallest mountain in North America.
Students arriving at DAR Constitution Hall (Photo by: Tracey Alperstein Wyton, DC Collaborative Program Director)
It was clear right from the start that the students were invested in this documentary. They cheered and applauded at every advance the climbers made up the mountain, at the awe-inspiring mountain vistas, and at the inspiration the climbers drew from the words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to pursue their dreams in a field lacking diversity.
The film also had a special significance for this Washington, DC audience. Tyhree Moore, one of the climbers, is a Southeast DC native who graduated from SEED Public Charter School. His appearance onscreen inspired perhaps the biggest cheer of the screening, and when he injured himself during the climb and faced the possibility of turning around, the sympathy and tension in the room was palpable.
As a special treat, Tyhree attended the screening and appeared onstage with the director to take questions from the audience. The students asked great questions, including why the climbers needed to bury their food in ice, how Tyhree became involved with the expedition, and how he has applied his mountaineering experience to his everyday life.
A Q&A with Tyhree Moore and Director Andy Adkins after the screening (Photo Credit: Elizabeth Herzfeldt-Kamprath, Environmental Film Festival)
As part of an environmentally themed festival, the screening was in the context of America’s National Parks. Before the film, the students watched a short video from Subaru about the importance of preserving our natural heritage, and a representative from the U.S. Forest Service came to speak about a program that encourages children from inner cities to take adventures into the wilderness. We hope the students left the screening with a new appreciation for our country’s natural places and the adventurous spirit of those who explore them. We hope the film encouraged an adventurous spirit in its audience, too.
The festival kicks off in a couple of weeks, and this film will be screened for the general public at the National Museum of Natural History on March 19 at 2 p.m. You can find out more information about American Ascent and the Environmental Film Festival here.
Students taking their seats at DAR Constitution Hall (Photo Credit: Lily Blattner, Environmental Film Festival)
A senior from Ballou High School said:
“This is the best field trip I've ever been on.”
A 5th Grader from Washington Yu Ying PCS said:
“The film was inspirational.”
And educator Angela Isom of Burrville Elementary School told us:
“Many scholars said they would like to take their parents and siblings back to get a deeper understanding and see more.”
Environmental Film Festival
Seed Public Charter School
DAR Constitution Hall (Photo Credit: Lily Blattner, Environmental Film Festival)
