SLAM! Students to Share Their Talents at School Choice Week Film Festival

TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida students have incredible talent. Next week, a film festival with live performances featuring videos of charter school students in four states will be streamed live from SLAM! Tampa, highlighting students' gifts and celebrating school spirit during National School Choice Week.

The multistate "film festival" will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25. The event will feature video submissions from SLAM! students in Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and Georgia on the theme of why they chose SLAM! as their school. The prize for the winning submission? A $500 award for a School Choice Week party at the winning student's school.

More than 300 students are expected to participate in the live event in Tampa, and several thousand students, staff, and family members will watch via livestream nationwide.

The SLAM! film festival  is planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week (Jan. 21-27, 2024), which is dedicated to raising awareness about all types of education options. Florida ranks among the most flexible states in the nation when it comes to education, with a rich variety of traditional public, magnet, public charter, private, online, homeschool, and microschool options.

"This year's festival showcases our students as they show pride in their schools through film, poetry, and song. The event highlights the importance of school choice through the lens of our talented youth," said Millie Sanchez, chief administrative officer of the SLAM Foundation.

In addition to the SLAM! Film Festival, there will be more than 2,500 celebrations of School Choice Week across Florida. In Tampa, there will be several special landmark light-ups to mark the Week: Kennedy Blvd Bridge, Platt Street Bridge, Fortune Street Bridge, Old City Hall, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, and Brorein Bridge will light up in the Week's signature red and yellow colors.

Join the fun and watch the talent show live at the gym at SLAM! Tampa, located at 7116 Gunn Highway. The event is open to members of the media and to the public via livestream at slamfoundation.org.

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home schooling. Every January, tens of thousands of schools, organizations, and individuals plan unique events and activities to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options in their communities. The Week is a project of the nonpartisan, nonpolitical National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

The SLAM Foundation is a non-profit educational organization supporting the expansion of K-12 tuition-free, public charter schools in underrepresented communities. More than 8,200 students attend SLAM charter schools in Florida, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona. SLAM schools expose students to careers in sports medicine, media production, marketing, and the arts. SLAM creates a national platform for students to gain industry experience while developing on-the-job skills. Students can earn college credit through robust dual enrollment and Advanced Placement programs.  SLAM schools are accredited and recognized as a system of distinction by COGNIA, under the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools division.  For more information on SLAM, visit slamfoundation.org.

SOURCE National School Choice Week