PBS Plus Presentation
Come and Take It Day
The annual “Come and Take It Day” celebration in rural Gonzales, Texas is where revenge and double-cross erupts.
Skipping Up
A successful dropout-prevention project, has generated national interest as a model for schools with significant Latino populations.
- Series
- Independent Lens
- Premiere Date
- September 24, 2013
- Length
- 17 minutes
- Funding Initiative
- Series and Special Projects
Director
Jim Mendiola
Jim Mendiola is an award-winning filmmaker based in San Antonio who has screened in numerous film festivals, museums, and colleges in the U.S., Mexico and Europe. His projects have been developed at the Sundance Filmmakers Lab and have been broadcast on PBS and cable television. He is completing a documentary about the Alamo.
- Other ITVS Films
- Come and Take It Day
- Not Fade Away
Producer
Faith Radle
We fund untold stories for public media.
Learn more about funding opportunities with ITVS.
The Film
Set primarily in Mark Twain Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, Skipping Up follows a group of eighth graders as they finish their year in the Middle School Partners Program, a new and highly successful dropout-prevention project that helps students who were previously behind catch up quickly. Students in the program have seen their chances of dropping out fall from 90% to 10% while their tests scores in many cases exceed that of their peers, and it has generated national interest as a model for schools with significant Latino populations.
