Inspirational Documentary Chronicles Success of Inner-City Chicago
Prep School
The Providence Effect
Film Review by Kam Williams
Paul J. Adams, III was the principal of Providence St. Mel, a
parochial school in an impoverished section of Chicago, when he was in
formed by the Catholic diocese of its plans to close the institution.
Instead of updating his resume’ to look for a new job, Adams started a
fundraising campaign in order to be able to continue to serve the
community, where most of the kids attending public schools didn’t have
much of a future.
Well, he not only saved Providence St. Mel but turned it into an
elite, K-12 prep school where the aim was not merely to graduate
students but to send them on to college. Hiring only competent,
dedicated teachers who saw their job almost as a ministry or calling,
Adams implemented a rigorous academic regimen with high expectations.
And that approach has paid off, as Providence St. Mel has achieved
remarkable success, with 100% of its graduates gain admission to college
for over 30 years in a row. This uplifting story is recounted in
engaging detail in The Providence Effect, an inspirational documentary
directed by Rollin Binzer.
The film is set mostly in and around the school, which Founder Adams
runs with a combination of empathy and tough love because of gangs and
other potentially-attractive maladies of the ghetto waiting just outside
the door. To help discourage students who might be tempted by the idea
of making easy money on the street, he even rewards those who make the
honor roll with stocks and bonds.
A moving bio-pic about an unsung hero with a winning formula which
ought to be replicated in inner cities all across the country.
Lloyd
Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who
writes for 100+ publications around the U.S. and Canada. He is a member of
the African-American Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics
Online, the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee, and Rotten Tomatoes. In
addition to a BA in Black Studies from Cornell, he has an MA in English from
Brown, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a JD from Boston University. Kam
lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife and son.
IMDiversity.com is committed to presenting diverse points of view.
However, the viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of
the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or
employees at IMD.
Lloyd
Kam Williams 