UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Online, cable and satellite platforms such as Apple TV, Comcast and Dish Network will offer a Penn State professor’s latest documentary, “Class of Her Own,” starting April 16.
The feature documentary — written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Boaz Dvir, an associate professor of journalism in the Donald P. Bellisairo College of Communications — tells the story of Gloria Jean Merriex’s transformation into a trailblazing teacher who infused her math and reading lessons with music and movement. It is being distributed by Allen Media Group’s Freestyle Digital Media.
Additional distribution platforms include Amazon, AT&T U-Verse, Cox, Dish Network, Google Play, Spectrum, Sling TV, Verizon Fios, Xbox and YouTube Movies. By the end of April, the DVD of “Class of Her Own” also will be available.
“Class of Her Own” follows Dvir’s “Discovering Gloria,” a documentary short that focused on Merriex’s teaching techniques. Florida school districts and teacher unions screened "Discovering Gloria." Previewing one of those events, the St. Augustine Record’s Marcia Lane wrote, “How much of an impact can one teacher have on a school? Huge, as filmmaker Boaz Dvir discovered.”
“Class of Her Own” focuses on Merriex’s journey, which included teaching at Duval Elementary in the economically disadvantaged neighborhood of East Gainesville, Florida, her entire career and rebelling after her school failed its high-stakes state standardized exam. In one year, she led Duval from an F to an A in the testing program.
Along with “Class of Her Own,” Dvir, founding director of Penn State’s Hammel Family Human Rights Initiative, has produced several impactful documentaries. He made “A Wing and Prayer” for PBS and teamed up with Retro Report to produce “How Special Ops Became Central to the War on Terror” for The New York Times.
“Class of Her Own” was produced by Dvir, Emil Pinnock of Unleashing Giants, and Matthew Einstein of Tradition Pictures. The film is narrated by Tamara Tunie, who portrayed medical examiner Melinda Warner on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”