University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Sixth graders in the UALR Children International seven-year college prep program will present their filmmaking projects in UALR CI’s first “Lights, Camera, Action” summer institute at 6 p.m. Friday in Dickinson Hall Auditorium. Admission is free, and the public is invited.

During the summer, the 22 sixth graders have spent summer mornings attending UALR’s Department of Education’s Literacy Camp at Bale Elementary, learning about story telling, script writing, and other literary skills. In the afternoons, they have been writing, filming, and editing works – and at the same time learning critical computer skills at UALR’s EAST lab.

Dr. John Burgin, assistant professor of teacher education, said the 22 budding filmmakers are the first group of literary campers who are improving their reading and other academic skills by learning about the film industry. Mentors, including employees of AETN, helped the students write scripts and learn production techniques to bring their scripts to the screen.

“The students toured AETN’s studios, attended the network’s Film Festival in May, and participated in workshops that taught them about lighting and other technical aspects of film production,” Burgin said. Next year, the student films to be screened Friday will be entered in 2009 AETN Film Festival.

Established in 1994, Children International at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has worked with parents and partners to provide over 15,516 children in the Little Rock Public Schools with educational enrichment, health care, and family assistance. UALR Children International is Children International’s only site in the United States. Located in Kansas City, Children International is a child sponsorship organization sponsoring more than 300,000 children in eleven countries. Check out their website at www.children.org.