I hope you had a great Holiday Season and got the most out of 2008. With the new year started, we here at Scenarios USA would like to keep you updated on all our exciting projects scheduled so far for 2009 in order to make this our most successful year yet.

Of course we couldn't do this without you and your support. So sit back, relax, get comfy and enjoy our newsletter because we have the latest updates on which conferences we'll be attending, dates to observe, and a NEW CONTEST that will give 5 Curriculum Corner readers the chance to win our new "What's the REAL DEAL about Masculinity?" DVDs.

Here's the scoop. We are so excited about our 3 new films dealing with masculinity (Bitter Memories, MANchild, and Misunderstood) that we just couldn't contain ourselves. So we're giving away 5 sets of DVDs. In order to participate, all you have to do is respond to EITHER ONE of the following prompts:

Share a moment from your life when you felt you were being treated in a certain way specifically because of your gender. How did that make you feel?

OR

Share how masculinity-related issues impact the teens with whom you work.

E-mail your responses to me (Ernestine) by January 30th at: ernestine@scenariosusa.org. Winners will be randomly selected and announced in the next Curriculum Corner newsletter and will receive their DVDs in April. Winning entries will be posted on our Educators Center.

Get the inside scoop from The Leonard Lopate Show! Listen to how veteran actor/director Clark Johnson (HBO's The Wire) became involved with Scenarios USA and the choices made to bring Misunderstood to the big screen. Tiauna Clark, youth writer and one of the Scenarios USA REAL DEAL winners, also describes her time collaborating with Clark and the other eight youth writers of the film.

In honor of National Eating Disorders Week, we encourage you to check out our film A Memoir to My Former Self. This Scenarios USA film deals head-on with gender, identity and stereoptypes of beauty and health. In the film, smart, beautiful, popular and seemingly confident Chloe appears to have it all. Behind closed doors, however, she struggles with the psychological and physical effects of an eating disorder. When a high school adversary challenges her to think more deeply about the soical context, Chloe is forced to confront her disease.
To purchase item click here.
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (22-28)

The 2007 Scenarios USA writing contest centered on, "What's the REAL DEAL about masculinity?" and the resulting films are phenomenal.

Bitter Memories: Rob is a young man who grows up watching his father abuse his mother. When jealousy brings Rob face to face with his own violent tendencies toward women, he confronts his father's behavior so he can learn how to be un hombre vero.

MANChild: Tommy is a young man who works hard to make it to graduation, to be a good friend and a good boyfriend, and to raise his three sisters. On his 18th birthday, Tommy must reckon with both his past and his future to define for himself what it means to become a man.

Misunderstood: Twin brothers Devon and Keshon rely on each other for their daily survival. When they find themselves attracted to the same girl, a rivalry builds that leads to deeper questions about how society judges boys and men.