Hamilton Township Public Schools

Grades PreK–12 • Hamilton, New Jersey

When planning for an extension to their Flourish with FISH! initiative (a 2006 Promising Practice), Hamilton Township chose to use the documentary, Paper Clips, for their staff development program. Paper Clips powerfully tells the story of what one school community did to start conversations about prejudice. Hamilton Township made arrangements with a local theatre to view the film, using district funds coupled with grant monies. All 2000 district employees viewed the film together. Central office administrators explained that the film was chosen to show how the FISH! principles, when put into action, could bring about change and facilitate service learning. Subsequent follow-up discussions were insightful, positive and raised new issues, leading to 75 pairs of teacher facilitators undergoing training in the Speak Up! program provided through Teaching Tolerance. They then worked in small groups with district teachers, administrators, and staff, discussing effective strategies to use when “speaking up” about bias and applied them to typical scenarios, such as race, gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, disability and sexual harassment.

Paper Clips (2004). Web site: www.paperclipsmovie.com

The FISH! Philosophy. Burnsville, MN: ChartHouse Learning. Web site: www.charthouse.com.