T Tauri Joins Operation Military Kids

The T Tauri Movie Camp, a division of Ozark Foothills FilmFest, Inc., completed its first week of working with Operation Military Kids by unveiling a new documentary film, Young Heroes: Military Teens Speak Out. The film was created by a group of seven students, ages 12 to 16, in a four-day workshop held at the C.V. Vines 4-H Center in Ferndale. Six of the participants had family members in the military; the seventh student’s parents are food service contractors employed by the military. The film gives the students the opportunity to voice their concerns, ambitions, and especially their feelings about family members in the military.

Operation Military Kids is a national initiative to support, assist, and encourage youth with one or both parents in the military; the organization has a special focus on youth whose parents are currently deployed. Arkansas joined the project this year under the leadership of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension and 4-H. OMK offers a year-round slate of activities and events around the state.

Ozark Foothills FilmFest, Inc. is one of the project’s founding partners. T Tauri faculty members Michael Merritt, Juli Jackson, Jim Anderson, and Kelby Jones joined Ozark Foothills president Bob Pest at Ferndale to work with the students. The instructors used the curriculum developed for organization’s Community Documentary workshops, offered regularly as part of the annual T Tauri Movie Camp.

Ozark Foothills intends to continue its involvement in the project. “We really appreciate the opportunity to make a contribution to this important initiative and I know that all of our faculty members had an uplifting experience working with the students. We all came away with deep respect for their courage, their love of family, and their love of country,” noted Pest. Plans are already being developed to create both a documentary and several public service announcements about OMK in next summer’s workshop. For more information about Operation Military Kids contact project director Maureen Rose at mrose@uaex.edu. For information about the T Tauri Movie camp, call 870-251-1189 or email ozarkfilm@wildblue.net. Young Heroes: Military Teens Speak Out can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3EnMY1H6Zw.

Ozark Foothills FilmFest, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) educational non-profit founded in 2001 and headquartered in Locust Grove. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.