By Nate Cate

Students at the city’s only public charter school are making headway on their semester-long project focusing on social injustice.

Sixth and seventh graders at Point of Discovery School, which is now in its second calendar year of operation, are nearing the midway point for completion of their final projects — production of short films focused on the topic of inequality.

The school’s 100 students were broken into smaller groups for the project-based learning, also known as expeditionary learning, to create 10-to-15-minute films focusing on social justice. The films debut at the school’s film festival in February.

“We are learning how everyone is the same,” said sixth grade student Judah Huffman. “Same blood, same bones, same organs regardless of your skin color.”

According to lead teacher Dan Lathrop, students are “learning how to interview, report, record and edit their stories,” adding student involvement was key to the project’s success.

“Character development and producing high quality of work is important for the kids,” he said.

The PoDS way of learning differs from other schools, Lathrop said, because it incorporates many different elements into a single project.

“Take the film festival for example; we don’t just takes things from textbooks and copy stuff down,” he said. “Students are involved and engaged in what they are learning — it is authentic and will matter to the families in our community.”

Lathrop said the school’s target date for the film festival is Feb. 28, with a location to be determined. But the students still need interview subjects.

For more information, or to be interviewed as part of the project, contact Lathrop at [email protected].