Screening Information:

• Parents, teachers, providers and community members are invited to learn about the positive approaches of dealing with child and adolescent trauma and the effects that positive engagements have over punitive punishment. 
• Admission is free and refreshments will be served. Click HERE to register. 
• The film is 102 minutes long. Immediately following the video there will be a panel discussion. 
• The film will be shown with subtitles. 
• The film is not rated. It does contain some profanity and is not suitable for children.
• These screenings are sponsored by Optum Idaho, Idaho Federation of Families, Idaho Children's Trust Fund and The Speedy Foundation. 

What is the Paper Tigers Documentary?

Paper Tigers follows a year in the life of an alternative high school that has radically changed its approach to disciplining its students and in the process has become a promising model for how to break the cycles of poverty, violence and disease that affect families. 

Jim Sporleder, principal at Lincoln Alternative High School in Walla Walla, Washington, a school riddled with violence, drugs and truancy, discovered that stressed brains can’t learn. 

Following six students over the course of a school year, Principal Sporleder and his staff tried a new approach to discipline. It was based on understanding and treatment rather than judgement and suspension. 

Three years later, the number of fights at Lincoln Alternative High School were reduced by 75% and the graduation rate was dramatically increased. Paper Tigers is the story of how one school was able to make a dramatic change and how just one caring adult can help break the cycle of adversity in a young person’s life.