WORLD Channel's America ReFramed Series Premieres Two Compelling Documentaries Highlighting the Challenges of the American School System During American Graduate Week

-- The Medicine Game and The New Public bookend week of programming beginning Tuesday, September 24, 2013 on WORLD Channel (check local listings) --

BOSTON, Sept. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- WORLD Channel highlights American Graduate Week with a week of education-themed documentaries including two WORLD broadcast exclusives on their flagship America ReFramed series beginning Tuesday, September 24, 2013 (check local listings).

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130919/DC82546)

Premiering Tuesday, September 24 (check local listings), The Medicine Game (preview) shares the remarkable journey of two Native American brothers from the Onondaga Nation driven by a single goal; to beat the odds and play lacrosse for national powerhouse Syracuse University. The obstacles in their way are both frequent and daunting. In their darkest hour, and with their dreams crumbling around them, the boys must look to their family and to their Native teachings for guidance and stability. The film follows their story over the next six years as they struggle to rebuild their friendship, rescue a fading childhood dream, and gain a more resolute understanding of their identity and culture, both as athletes and the next generation of the Onondaga people. It is a coming of age story and a study of modern Native American life.

Rounding out American Graduate Week is the premiere of The New Public (preview) on Tuesday, October 1 (check local listings). This film captures the complexities, frustrations, and personal dramas that put public education at the center of the national debate. The film begins in fall 2006 with James O'Brien, a former DJ, point guard and teacher turned first-time principal as he opens a small public high school in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where 1/3 of residents live below the poverty line and the graduation rate is 40%.  

With infectious optimism, O'Brien and his team of eight undertook an unconventional approach and ambitious mission: Create a school with an arts-oriented curriculum that also emphasizes self-development, community collaboration and social change. Initially, the buzz from everyone was that this was a dream come true. But conflicts arose when untested idealism was challenged by long-standing realities far bigger than school.  

Over four years, this heartfelt verité film follows the journey of students, parents and educators striving to make a difference in the futures of young people whose lives are stark representations of our country's education and opportunity gaps.  Through the prism of one inner-city public school, we witness complexities faced by urban public schools and communities everywhere.

Tune in to American Graduate Week beginning Tuesday, September 24, 2013 on WORLD Channel.

For a full listing of American Graduate Week programming, visit WORLDchannel.org/

Contacts:
Martha Waldron,
National Marketing WGBH
617.300.5470
[email protected]

SOURCE WORLD Channel