Photo credit: Rich Kessler Photography
“In real life, he’s the son of two doctors,” said Natioinal Press Club President Myron Belkind by way of introduction to guest of honor writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, “and grew up in suburban Philadelphia where most of his movies are filmed and are set.”
Myron Belkind
And no, he doesn’t see dead people – that we know of – unlike Haley Joel Cosment in his blockbuster film The Sixth Sense. “The 1999 thriller was nominated for six Academy Awards,” Belkind reminded us, “and grossed more than 2 billion dollars world-wide.”
But the luncheon was not about his film prowess, but rather about his philanthropic endeavors and his new book: “I Got Schooled: The Unlikely Story of How a Moonlighting Movie Maker Learned the Five Keys to Closing America’s Education Gap.”
It was in 2007 while visiting high schools in Philadelphia scouting for a location for the movie The Happening that he first became interested in the issue of education. He wondered why two schools just a few minutes apart could be so different. “………. one filled with eager and excited students and teachers,” Belkind noted, “the other so scary and depressing that it seemed like a prison. That set off a four year quest that culminated last fall in the book “I Got Schooled”
In 2001 he founded The M. Night Shyamalan Foundation with his wife Dr. Bhavna Shyamalan. According to the mission statement: “Our objective is to work with each leader and their organization for a number of years and through the provision of both financial and non-financial assistance, help each leader establish their work for long-term success.
The M. Night Shyamalan Foundation does this in a number of ways, including but not limited to: Providing financial grants and seed funding; Convening organizations to share best practices; Increasing exposure and providing a network for new organizations; Disseminating new ideas and research; Leveraging other resources and expertise, Fundraising; and Advocating on behalf of our leaders and their work. By committing to partner with our leaders for a number of years, we hope to help them realize their vision for their community and increase the scope of their impact. We work to empower communities, one leader at a time.”
M. Night Shyamalan
“Celebrity activists make my stomach cringe, so let’s just start there,” said Shyamalan who wears two hats and vacillates between the two worlds – cinema and education. “You don’t automatically get the right to give advice on something because you were successful via something else. That makes no sense at all, but you do have the spotlight on you sometimes and I think that is how it gets blurred. In my case, it is something I am always sensitive about. This is really unusual for me. It happened organically. Everything that is good in my life has come about without an agenda, so I had no idea where it was going – just I wanted to learn,” he said in referencing the steps to the publication of his book.
“The one good thing about being known a bit though,” he recognized, “is that you can call people. So, we started doing that.” He then started working with the top people in education to see what works which took two years just to gather the data which according to him was ‘a big blurry pile’.
Five years later, he wrote the book, the purpose of which is to close the education gap that exists between inner city, low income children and their white suburban counterparts.
The results of the study is fascinating and boils down to five basic common denominators for success, much like an equation for good health. “It’s not a classroom, it’s a school. That’s what’s going to win the day.” Bottom line is the power of the teachers, that’s what it comes down to. Three good teachers do not make up for one bad one. They “need to be trained like a Navy Seal.”
It’s a tier system. Fascinating. And well timed as a tenure battle is being currently underway for teachers in the crossfire. If you’re interested in good early education – parents, legislators, teachers and schools alike might want to consider this mandaotory reading. “I Got Schooled” is available on Amazon.
