The Chris Draft Family Foundation partnered with Georgia State Representative Roberta Abdul-Salaam (District #74) and the Clayton County Public Schools to welcome approximately 250 students from Clayton County to a private screening of The Great Debaters.  Held on February 15, 2008 at Galaxy Cinema Funplex in Riverdale, GA, the 250 students represented all public high schools within Clayton County as the district’s Draft’s Picks. 

The screening was followed by a roundtable discussion, moderated by Emmy-award winning producer, writer and reporter, Nicole Watson.  The community panel included school district officials and representatives from Clayton County’s legal and administrative offices, including Representative Roberta Abdul-Salaam, Solicitor General Leslie Miller-Terry, Clayton County Sherriff Victor Hill, Adolphus Graves, alternative detention program director at the Clayton County Juvenile Court, and Frederick Douglas Taylor from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 

Many of the students who attended the screening were their school’s academic leaders, and the district also made significant effort to reach out to students who have been identified as leaders by both teachers and even peers.  Ensuring that a variety of students were selected as ambassadors, the discussion focused on using the film to illustrate to students that you are never to young to make a difference.  Using The Great Debaters as a vehicle, Chris Draft and the panel of community leaders worked to make the students aware of people in the community who were already doing great things, and how that could inspire them to do great things at any age.

Each student was dismissed with details of the required essay contest that followed the screening and roundtable discussion.  Students were asked to share their thoughts on the event, and their reaction to the film in a 1-2 page essay that would be submitted to school representatives.

As with the other A Discussion and A Movie™ events, the Foundation expected that the schools would select a winning essay that was representative of the entries from all of their students.  Unfortunately, immediately following the movie and discussion, students from Clayton County Public Schools returned to their buildings to hear the announcement that their school district would face a loss of accreditation within 6 months if the complaints from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools were not successfully answered and repaired by the Clayton County School Board. A loss of accreditation for the schools in CCPS would impact the high school students, particularly the class of 2009, as they applied for colleges and scholarships.  Inspired students began organizing within the schools to lead protests and rallies to reach and motivate the adults in the community to action.