Date:
4/13/2010
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 575.562.2253
PORTALES--The College of Education and Technology at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales is hosting a film series about how education has been depicted by Hollywood during the last eight decades.
The next movie will be “Akeelah and the Bee” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, in Room 120 of the Education Building It is free and open to the public.
It is about how eleven-year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, and her brother runs with gangbangers. She is smart, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school's principal, Akeelah participates in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins.
Her principal asks her to seek coaching from an English professor named Dr. Larabee for the more prestigious regional bee. As the possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community with someone to rally around and be proud of -- but only if she can overcome her insecurities and her distracting home life.
Popcorn will be served.
For more information, contact Tyson Brown at tyson.brown@enmu.edu.