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Retirees Find Meaning Serving the Needs of Their Communities – Peter Rosten and Media Arts in the Public Schools in Montana
"It only takes one ‘yes’ to change a life," Mr. Rosten said. "Be realistic, but demand the impossible."
At-risk students and the sense of finding a spiritual home also attracted Peter Rosten, 66, a former Hollywood movie and TV producer, writer and film editor. After 35 years in an ultracompetitive business, he moved to Darby, Mont., in the shadow of the Bitterroot Mountains.
Seeing a lack of arts and career education and opportunity in the local school districts, Mr. Rosten started MAPS: Media Arts in the Public Schools http://www.mapsmediainstitute.com/ with $10,000 of his own money. The program teaches film, technology, music and entrepreneurship.
Now in its 11th year, Mr. Rosten’s organization offers free after-school courses in filmmaking to some 150 students in the area. His students have even received paid work, producing public service announcements on topics including the value of high school graduation, the dangers of teenage smoking and the benefits of studying math and science.
"Similar to the rest of the country, some Montana kids come from challenging, heartbreaking environments," Mr. Rosten said. "We help them find their voice so they can personally experience success and know how to achieve it in the future."
Mr. Rosten was executive producer and creator of the 1989 film "True Believer," which starred Robert Downey Jr., and associate producer of the television series "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," but has also had his share of failures. He once owned the film rights to the Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays stories, and the best-selling Carlos Castaneda books, but could not find interest in Hollywood.
"Hollywood is a very interesting environment," Mr. Rosten adds. "In a way, I’ve always been a ‘true believer,’ but like many projects, the studios didn’t believe in them as much as I did. By my mid-50s, and having more yesterdays than tomorrows; it was time to make a change."
Crediting his passionate parents as his inspiration to help others, Mr. Rosten — who describes himself as a "recycled hippie," and a "nice Jewish boy, and now a Buddhist born in Brooklyn" — has found his home in Montana, taking the guidance he received from his parents and instilling it in teenagers in the Rockies.
By JOHN F. WASIK
More about MAPS: http://www.matr.net/news.phtml?showall=1&catlabel=MAPS+%3A+Media+Arts+in+the+Public+Schools&cat_id=84
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