Freedom School Documentary Wins Telly Award

May 19, 2011 - Freedom School, a Penn GSE Films video directed by Amitanshu Das, has received a 2011 Telly Bronze Award in Education Documentary. 

The 26-minute documentary follows a dedicated team of educators and college students working at Children's Defense Fund Freedom School, a summer reading and writing program for children in West Philadelphia. The School aims to instill a love of learning and self-esteem in kids growing up in a neighborhood with one of the highest murder rates in the country.

Featured in the film are Penn GSE Professor Diana Slaughter-Defoe and GSE doctoral students Chonika Coleman and Valerie Adams. Produced by Penn GSE Films in collaboration with Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships and with the support of the Children’s Defense Fund, Freedom School aired on WHYY in February. 

Telly Awards are presented annually to local, regional, and cable television commecials and programs, video and film productions, and work created for the Web. 

Media contact: Jill DiSanto-Haines at 215-898-4820 or jdisanto@upenn.edu