Daffodils and Dahlias are not the only things that blossom in “The Immigrant Garden. ” Self-discovery, tolerance, friendship, knowledge, and respect for others grow out of the correspondence betweeneen the gentle drama’s two main characters; young Cecily Barnes and 80-year-old Louise Beauchamp. the elderly woman with whom she exchanges letters. – Judy Panteleef, The Chronicle Premiere Review The Immigrant Garden student movie was the outgrowth of media-literacy classes mentored by C. Tad Devlin. It all started in 1998 as a continuing education media-literacy class project at Centralia, College, located in rural Lewis County, WA where lack of work and poor …

The Immigrant Garden movie was mentored in rural Washington State where one in three adults cannot read, 57% of young people live below the poverty line., and the average wage is minimum. The goal of the project was to teach teenagers about filmmaking and new media technology in 1999. The goal was to teach teamwork, self-relience, and work skills to disenfranchised youth in oder to help them develop a better sense of self worth. Over 300 young people volunteed for the project that eventually won an AECT excellence in media award in 2002.

Portland Channel 8 news story about how The Immigrant Garden, a mentored student video was produced in rural Washington in 1999 by Tad.