The Arizona Center’s AMC theater hosted a red-carpet world premiere Wednesday night of the documentary “Mitchell 20,” a film chronicling the ups and downs of inner-city Phoenix teachers who challenge themselves to achieve rigorous national certification.
“Teaching is definitely about your passion, and I really believe that it’s that passion that draws certain groups together in a school,” said Daniela Robles, a 14-year teaching veteran in Arizona’s public-school system, to a group of about 250 during a panel discussion that followed the film.
“Mitchell 20” follows a group of 20 teachers from Mitchell Elementary School in Phoenix who decided, after Robles did so, to collectively strive for National Board Certification and become the teaching profession’s equivalent to a board-certified doctor or accountant.
The film also explores the impact of Arizona’s hardening immigration laws on Mitchell Elementary, a school with a student population that is almost entirely Hispanic. Other themes touched on include the bureaucratic structure of education in the United States, the quality of education available to the underprivileged and the large achievement gap that exists between the poor and their more-affluent peers. Mitchell Elementary, located at 1700 N. 41st Ave. in Phoenix, serves one of the poorest parts of Phoenix.
A number of the teachers featured in the film attended Wednesday’s premiere, as well as the film’s producers and directors, Andrew James Benson and Randy Murray.
“We hope that this film will awaken people to the importance of the teacher in the classroom,” Murray said. “That when somebody watches this film, they walk out with an understanding of what’s happening in every school in every classroom, in every city, in every state of this nation.”
The film, which was sponsored by the National Education Association, the University of Phoenix, Randy Murray Productions and the Arizona K-12 Center, depicts the grueling year-long process of applying for board certification, something less than 50 percent of applicants obtain. The process is estimated to take between 300 and 500 hours, according to the movie, with much of the time spent on professional development. Requirements include building a portfolio of essays, taping and reviewing videos of yourself teaching in the classroom, and a final three-hour test of subject knowledge.
“We’re reminding (people) that it matters … all of what we’re teaching (the students) and showing them is going to have an effect on them,” said Laura Galindo, a first-grade teacher at Mitchell Elementary. “It starts somewhere, and this way it starts with us.”
The screening was followed with the panel discussing the current state of education, the philosophies of the Mitchell 20 and what needs to be done to improve education. The panel, moderated by Andrew Morrill, president of the Arizona Education Association, included Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal, Daniela Robles, featured in the film as the teacher that inspired the Mitchell 20 to attempt board certification together, and 2011 Arizona Teacher of the Year Amanda McAdams, among others.
The panel was in agreement that teachers are the foundation of a quality education and the most important factor to a student’s success.
“My message to everyone is: ‘Open your mouth,’” McAdams said. “You have got to share what’s awesome and amazing in education today. The more we invite people in to see what we really do, the more they’re not going to rely just on data and test scores. They’re going to see those personal stories, those students that achieve, those students that overcame obstacles. It starts with teachers.”
“Mitchell 20,” narrated by Edward James Olmos, begins an exclusive one-week public showing at the Arizona Center AMC Friday. For showtimes and a listing of premieres in other cities, click here.
Contact the reporter at pmelbour@asu.edu
