Viola Davis and other stars promote the notion of a ‘Super School’
If you don’t think show business has social concerns on a wide scale, think again.
Some talents are known for personal crusades regarding certain matters, but the Entertainment Industry Foundation is an initiative that uses the collective image and power of the business to try to advance educational, social and health issues through information and fund-raising. “Educational” is the organization’s byword as it occupies an hour of primetime – across ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox simultaneously – by offering the new special “EIF Presents: XQ Super School Live” Friday, Sept. 8.
Being televised live in the eastern half of the country and on tape delay elsewhere, the hour will occupy the same general space as has been done in some previous Septembers by “Stand Up to Cancer,” another event backed by EIF. Similarly, “XQ Super School Live” presents a parade of performers led by “Fences” and “How to Get Away With Murder” Oscarand Emmy-winner Viola Davis (who’s also an executive producer of the program) to inspire new views of America’s schooling system.
“XQ: The Super School Project” is meant to update U.S. high schools after radical changes over many years, particularly where technology is concerned. What students need to succeed today is, in turn, much different from what those of earlier generations required. Starting on the local level is the first step in effecting such change on a bigger scale, and the television special gives suggestions on how individuals can contribute to it.
It also specifies what people of different pursuits can do within their own range, and not just educators and the students themselves. Parents, entrepreneurs and business leaders also are encouraged to do what they can in prompting the transformation of schools.
When one thinks about it, the entertainment world actually has been involved in helping to shape education for some time. Consider such movies as “To Sir, With Love,” “Dead Poets Society” and even the comedic “School of Rock” – and television series including the early classics “Our Miss Brooks” and “Mister Peepers,” plus “Room 222” and “Welcome Back, Kotter” – and it’s clear that Hollywood has long had, and long kept, its hand in the matter.
With “EIF Presents: XQ Super School Live,” that tradition continues ... and it well could be an education in itself for many viewers.