Maestra (Teacher) Film Screening & Discussion

Join us in the screening of Maestra on Saturday, May 15, at 4 pm via Zoom. We want to celebrate our teachers, and all the teachers inside every one of us, with this 34 minutes documentary! After the screening, you will be treated with the opportunity to visit with the filmmaker, Catherine Murphy. We will continue the discussion with a short study as we delve into what it means to engage in emancipatory education.

Join the Zoom for the film screening & discussion with filmmaker, Catherine Murphy here: bit.ly/FilmScreeningMaestra

In 1961, over 250,000 Cuban volunteers mobilized to join in their country’s National Literacy Campaign and taught more than 707,000 other Cubans to read and write. The literacy brigades, as they were named, reached the most remote areas in Cuba in this year-long operation. Almost half of these volunteer teachers were under the age of 18, with the youngest maestra being 7 years of age. More than half were women. At the end of the campaign, illiteracy was successfully declared defeated. Today, this Caribbean nation ranks among the highest in the world in literacy. Fifty years later, these volunteers, or brigadistas, reminisce and retell their stories.

In celebrating educators everywhere, especially in a pandemic year, we would like to extend our esteemed gratitude to all teachers and acknowledge their sacrifice, love, and dedication to the profession of teaching and sharing knowledge.

In the spirit of emancipatory education we would like to share this compelling story considered one of the greatest feats in educational history that unfortunately, most Americans are unaware of.