Benkraus

The Providence Effect

The Providence Effect is a 2009 film documentary about an inner city school on the west side of Chicago. Over the past 30 years, Providence St. Mel has battled the typical inner city elements that tend to disrupt learning and educational growth. Today 100% of PSM graduates attend college. This is so becuase of the school's principal, the man who changed the school into one of Chicago's greatest beacons of success, Paul Adams.

Synopsis

Paul J. Adams III, an African-American man with activist roots in the 1960’s civil rights movement, came from a family of teachers. After being black listed himself as a teacher in Alabama because of his civil rights activities, he moved to Chicago, received a master’s degree in psychology, and then landed a job as guidance counselor at Providence St. Mel, an all-black parochial school on Chicago’s notorious drug-ridden, gang-ruled West Side.

A year after his arrival, Adams became principal, only to be told the following year that Chicago’s archdiocese was going to close the school. After orchestrating a fundraising campaign that received national and local media attention, funds poured in and enabled Adams to buy the school from the Sisters of Providence and convert it to a not-for-profit independent school. To ward off thieves and vandals, he literally moved into the empty nuns’ quarters of the convent inside the school.

He then set about achieving a new goal: To turn Providence St. Mel into a first rank college preparatory school, and its African-American student body into a corps of driven, disciplined, high achieving students.

That was over 30 years ago. Since then, 100% of Providence St. Mel graduates have been accepted to college, half of them, during the last seven years, to first tier and Ivy League colleges and universities.

The road from failing inner city school to a pre-K-through-12 educational system that produces graduates who attend Ivy League colleges and universities was not a smooth one. THE PROVIDENCE EFFECT traces the school’s development from a struggling shoe-string budget dream into a school and a method of teaching that produces not only inspired students, but parents, teachers and administrators dedicated to settling for nothing less than the highest expectations.

As testament to the hurdles overcome, and the efficacy of the teaching model that governs education at Providence St. Mel, THE PROVIDENCE EFFECT features interviews with alumni who share how the school re-wrote the failing, mediocre lives that had been scripted for them because of their West Side origins. The shared consensus is that the school’s philosophy set them up for success because greatness was expected of them.

Cameras in class reveal how teachers are held to just as high and demanding a standard as is expected of the students. Administrators are dedicated to insuring that a teacher’s first and only job is to teach….not to administer, not to become bogged down in red tape or hindered by a self-perpetuating bureaucracy.

In the 80s, President Reagan visited twice, remarking in the film, “This is the way it should be done.” As a young organizer, President-to-be Barack Obama also visited the school.

THE PROVIDENCE EFFECT is an effect that is on the cusp of becoming viral nationally: The school’s teaching method has been so successful that in 2006 another school, this time on Chicago’s south side became a charter school --- appropriately named Providence Englewood --- solely in order to achieve the same results. In two short years, these students scores have gone from the 9th percentile to the 50th percentile on the Terra Nova Standardized tests. Students at Providence Englewood significantly outperform other schools within their neighborhood.

Those improved scores are…THE PROVIDENCE EFFECT.

Accolades

Winner "Best Documentary" Omaha Film Festival 2009

Official Selection Chicago United Film Festival 2009

Winner "Most Inspirational Documentary" Seattle True Independent Film Festival 2009

Winner" Audience Choice Best Documentary" Lake County Film Festival 2009

Official Selection Estes Park Film Festival 2009

Official Selection American Black Film Festival 2009

Praise for Providence St. Mel

"Providence St. Mel is one of the most profound educational achievements in the nation. The school uses the entire day as a learning experience for the young people. They all end up going to college - which is unbelievable. But, they have a serious code of discipline, students come to learn..., they enter into a relationship that says – you will adhere to our practices, we will teach you, provide educational opportunities for you and you will learn." - Congressman Danny K. Davis, US House of Representatives

"I believe the experience at Providence St. Mel shows every child can learn. If we can replicate the achievement and changes at this one school, we could change the face of American education and America itself." - The Honorable Roy Barnes, Former Governor of Georgia and Co-Chair, Commission on No Child Left Behind.

"Providence St. Mel’s 100% placement of its graduating seniors in four-year institutions need to be examined, evaluated, and where possible replicated." - Damon Caldwell, VP, Chief Program Officer, The Jackie Robinson Foundation

"Greatness is a state of mind - invest in greatness, invest in education. When we have the belief that all children should have access to opporunities to learn at the highest level, we get the results we have seen at Providence St. Mel - Bravo!" - Professional Development Specialist, DCPS

Praise for The Providence Effect

"The movie shows the power of individuals to make a difference in breaking the cycles of poverty by creating an environment where students have no choice but to learn. It documents the phenomenon of what high expectations and hard work can achieve." - Christina Hykes, Education Specialist, New York Programs, World Vision - Greater New York

"This is a powerful documentary that will support the efforts of schools working towards excellence. Great for professional development and parent engagement." - Marilyn Calo, Principal, Family Life Academy Charter School

"Every educator, parent, and student must see this film. Inspiring!" - Kimberly Jones, Council for Opportunity in Education

"This film is a brilliant reminder of the power of having higher expectation for our low-income and minority youth. Yes, everyone can go to college." - Rocio Gandra., Pueblo del Sol Community Service Center