Created as part of the War on Poverty, the Yale Summer High School brought underprivileged students from across the country to Yale during the 1960s. In 1968, the school redefined itself. Students and staff tackled sensitive issues of race, tolerance, and personal identity, searching for what eluded the nation– a sense of community and the values which ground people and bind them together. Walk Right In recreates that summer, following students from their moment of selection to the culmination of the program to where they are today– a compelling reminder of inclusive and effective education and its impact across the generations.
Producer, Co-Director, Writer
Larry Paros completed his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts and his work for his doctorate at Yale. He has an extensive background in Education and Human Services, both as a teacher and administrator. As an educational innovator, he created and directed two experimental schools which gained widespread recognition and later replicated at more than 125 sites nationwide. Under the aegis of the U.S. Department of Labor, he also supervised the development of a nationwide network of neighborhood-based inner city group homes for “at risk” youth, and at Yale University, headed up a unique project for talented students from poverty backgrounds. He later directed an inner city anti-poverty agency, the centerpiece of which was an innovative community center for appropriate technology.
Paros is also a professional writer and authority on language. His published works include numerous publications on education and etymology. A former op-ed page columnist for the Seattle Post Intelligencer and commentator on KUOW-FM, he most recently wrote, directed, and produced “The Journey”, a film documenting the history of an immigrant family’s trek from Russia to America in the early 20th century.