 |
Rod Serling's legacy: Lessons of "Twilight Zone"endures for city's fith-graders BINGHAMTON - Rod Serling would be "stunned" that his plays, movies and television shows have lasted for a half-century, his daughter said Wednesday. The fact they're still popular makes her proud, said Anne Serling-Sutton before talking to 475 fifth-graders in the Binghamton City School District, who filled the Helen Foley Theatre at Binghamton High for an assembly. The school district holds the annual event, now in its third year, to celebrate the life and work of Serling, who grew up in Binghamton. Serling's work has lasted, and deserves to be taught, because it "has messages relevant to our times," said Lisa Rieger, coordinator of the Challenge enrichment program. These messages include the need to fight prejudice and encourage tolerance, she said. As part of the Challenge program, fifth-graders watch and study selected episodes of "The Twilight Zone" series, produced and written by Serling, and then come to the high school for the assembly. Even though they're 50 years old and in black and white, the episodes still hook some students. They're "scary," and it "makes you think," said Cassidi Dunn, 10. Rain Cronce, 11, called "The Twilight Zone" episodes "more mysterious than scary." They always have something at the end to surprise you, she said. "I think it's really cool how he discussed the problems of his time," added Gabriella Cooper, 10. Other speakers at Wednesday's assembly included Press & Sun-Bulletin columnist Dave Rossie, who interviewed Serling many times over the course of his career; and Lonna Pierce, librarian at MacArthur Elementary School, who talked about Helen Foley, the prominent Binghamton teacher who inspired generations of students and taught Serling when he was a student at Binghamton Central High School. Serling's life and work will get national attention in October when Binghamton will hold a four-day event marking the 50th anniversary of the debut of "The Twilight Zone" on CBS, said Larry Kassan, director of the Rod Serling Video Festival. Serling should be an example in their own lives, some speakers at the assembly told the fifth-graders. Serling "wanted to change the world," Rieger said. "Which of you will be the next Rod Serling?" she asked.
|