Grantmakers for Thriving Youth

I am excited for you to watch the short and long form middle school documentaries — scroll down for links and sample discussion guides. (Please share this page with colleagues only.)  Feel free to share the public website ChangingByTheMinute.com or my contact information with anyone: Camilla Calamandrei RollingRiverMedia@gmail.com.

The Changing By The Minute documentary tool kit includes: a 10min short film, a 62min feature film, discussion guides and bonus materials. The tool kit is currently in Beta test and will be final as of July, 2022.

Our goal is to help reverse the narrative of early adolescence as a negative time, support SEL training for professionals, and help engage 10-14 year olds in meaningful, inclusive conversations as they recover from two years of disrupted learning. We are looking for partners to help us put the tool kit to work across the country: for professional development and student engagement in schools serving 10-14 year olds, after school / OST programs, college education programs and public screenings for parents and families. Ideally the materials would be offered at no cost to the schools, and be offered through existing channels.

To Date:

The Lefkofsky Foundation Success Bound program is using the tool kit with 200 public schools in Chicago:
— directly with middle grade students
— with educators and administrators as part of professional development

University of Virginia: Youth Nex Center for Positive Youth Development will be using the tool kit
— in their “Re-Making Middle School” design labs working directly with middle schools, as a means to launch early brainstorming about different ways of “doing” middle school and the ways in which the practices used by the school in the film reflect the science of adolescence.
— in two national events and one regional event for parents, educators, and school counselors

Middle Grades Collaborative is using the tool kit in their annual Middle Grades Institute June 2022

AMLE will be featuring the documentary at their annual conference Nov, 2022.

The short film and discussion guides are being used in Beta form at:
Mississippi State College of Education
Otterbein University Department of Education
Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts
University of Maine College of Education and Human Development
University of Vermont College of Education and Social Services