teachingaboutreligion
- Dec 18, 2020
- 2 min read

A Letter from Director Allison Walsh

A Letter from the Director

Allison Walsh Reflecting on the First Semester of

Teaching About Religion

Wow! We've completed one semester of filming the World Religions class. We filmed 40 days in the first semester, which included interviews with students and their families, classroom discussions, religious holidays, and school events.There are many people who have helped us get this far in our production, and we want to thank all of you for your participation and support. Special thanks to John Camardella for inviting us into his classroom, Prospect High School, and to all of the World Religions students and their families for participating in the film! THANK YOU! We couldn't do this without you.

We would also like to thank everyone who has donated to the film - all of the fundraisers and online donations truly make a difference to our small crew and we appreciate your support.

DONATE ONLINE

To Kartemquin Films and Illinois Arts Council for the incredible grants this year! These grants have allowed us to pay for our crew to capture quality footage and sound in the classroom.We have many mentors from the Kartemquin Film community and the Foundation for Religious Literacy - thank you to everyone who has shared feedback with us, advised us on fundraising and producing, and ultimately supported us through our first huge project.I started this project with an interest in revisiting the classroom I once sat in as a student; this time with a documentary lens, to observe and communicate the impact of religious literacy on high school students. During the first semester, I watched the students learn about Eastern religions; their curiosity and kindness gave me hope for the future. Each student is so unique and the religious nuance in the classroom is beautiful to see. I look forward to seeing the students learn about Western religions during the second semester at Prospect and finishing this story with their high school graduation.

Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported us thus far. On to 2020 and the second and final phase of production. I can't wait to share this film with all of you soon!

- Allison Walsh and the Teaching About Religion team