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REVIEWS & PRESS »] November 21, 2011-- Article by Betsy Angert on her blog at Empathy And Education October 27, 2011--NPR Radio Interview with Joseph Cooper on WLRN in Miami's daily talk show Topical Currents. Hear Full Interview Here. September 26, 2011--Radio interview on 90.5 and 89.9FM KWMR's Post Carbon Radio. Hear Full Interview Here. August 5, 2011--Film maker and teacher Amy Valens was quoted at length in this CNN piece by Sam Chaltain, covering the DC Save Our Schools March and Rally! July 26, 2011-Review in Danucreative by Alethea Crandell June, 2011- Review in Stone Soup by Peter Oppenheimer Read Full Article Here March 1, 2011-Article in Cinesource Magazine "Bay Area Couple Teach From August to June," by Don Schwartz Read Full Article Here January 21, 2011- Review in the Point Reyes Light by Herb Kutchins "..a pleasure to watch." January 20, 2011 - Review in the Pacific Sun, by Jason Walsh "The year of learning differently" Read Full Review Here January 13, 2010 - 2 page spread in the West Marin Citizen January 03, 2011 - Review in The Sante Fe New Mexican's Learning Curve column by Robert Nott: "Teacher sparks passion for learning,"Read Full Review Here December 14, 2010 -- Our first university screening was at Zurich/Schaffhausen University of Teacher Education, Switzerland: "We profited immensely from your work through just the first viewing – we were all left with strong impressions that will certainly remain with us. We will certainly use the movie in the future in many different ways." November 9, 2010 - We are mentioned in the Washington Post blog called Answer Sheet October 19, 2010 - PBS's John Merrow reviews AUGUST TO JUNE on his blog TAKING NOTE "Over 100 attended a showing in Huntsville, Alabama this evening. Wonderful discussion followed the film." Sherri Naff, director of The Country Day School, Huntsville, AL "The film conveyed the spirit and the energy and the love that permeated everything there. It also documented the struggles and ups and downs that go on in any living situation, in any community, in any family. I am going to order the film and hope to show it to some of my friends who either have young children and/or who are still out there teaching in these difficult times for our education systems throughout much of the country." "The film is so lovely, with such hope that it makes me cry every time I see it! Tom's beautiful and intimate cinematography really captures all the emotion." Susan Caruso, Sunflower Creative Arts, Boca Raton FL "I asked, as a school counselor, how they felt about all of your interventions with the kids and the comments were that it was great, but that in classrooms here the reality is that you don't get that kind of time and it is more hearing "Timmy pushed me" "OK, sorry that happened" and not really being able to deal with it in the manner that you did. The general consensus I believe is that while the open classroom you so lovingly conveyed is far from the reality that most of these folks will have, there was a lot for them to take away in terms of going outside the box to teach the whole child even within the confines of our standardized testing environment and I guess that's basically what you were hoping to convey so...success." Caleb Fitzpatrick, reporting back on a screening at Purdue University, Lafayette, IN "The film was so beautiful...I laughed, I cried..no joke! How do we get this going for every teacher in every classroom!!!!!" Amanda Burros, Somerville, MA "Thanks so much for inviting us to do the screening and for helping us through the process. I got such positive feedback about the film, the panels, and the audience discussion, I can't imagine things having gone much better." "... It was an honor to hear (the) stories, to host Amy and Tom's fabulous film, to meet those I hadn't met before, and to spend the evening in the company of so many committed, caring friends and neighbors wishing and working to make the world a better place." Maria West, Somerville, MA "Our thanks and appreciations go out to Amy and Tom for showing their beautiful film, August to June, at the Open School here in Colorado. A good film should deepen one's experience, and that's exactly what it did. Staff at the school tell me that it has sparked many important discussions about teaching, advising and the integration of all the things we deem important for our children to learn and experience." Rick Posner, Lakewood, CO "After we screened August To June, Boynton, Boca Democratic Party Movie Night presenters said in all their years of doing this had they never seen an audience response so serene. People wanted to stay. No one was angry. Conversations that never occurred did so after this viewing. People who had known each other for years discovered commonalities that previously they did not know existed. When this was shared I asked for any theories. The response, in unison, August To June is warm. It touches people. Real life school situations gave the audience hope not only for what could be, but already is. People were reminded of good times and the challenges that helped them grow greater. As a Teacher, Amy taught as I think wise to live. Reciprocal reverence." Betsy L. Angert, Boca Raton, Florida"...the film's ever-present focus on the "big picture" of education (and life!) was much appreciated here and provided lots of talking points. In particular, we really liked seeing how you conferenced with parents (e.g., paraphrased: 'In a few more years, none of you will even remember who the early readers and late readers were'), the overall approach to literacy (holistically focused rather than merely skills-focused), the ample time you provided to social growth/experiences/conflict resolution, and the fact that you did not choose to hide those moments where you, as a teacher, needed to separate or redirect children when disruptive. There is a whole, whole, whole lot more that I wish to say... It is sad to know that this marked your retirement, but very heart-warming to know that your school carries on." Finbar Burke, Discovery International School, Japan "I am a 15 year public school teacher, now home-mom to two boys. I didn't know what to expect tonight when I came to the movie, but after seeing "Waiting for Superman" I was ready for something a bit more productive. "Seeing the film had an effect, I think, on all of us at the school. It certainly made us think. It has definitely led me to reflect on my practice, on what annoys me and what doesn't when I'm with my students. "After watching your video, I feel reinvigorated that what I am doing is not in vain." Eleshia Smith, graduate student, DePaul University Chicago, IL "You wouldn't think that a film that's just a bunch of kids in a classroom would be so interesting!" Abi Kohn (14) Cambridge, MA
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PRESS KIT » Download August To June PDF Presskit “At a time when a wave of standardization is turning our schools into test prep programs and impoverishing our visions of what schools can be, this film reminds us that powerful, engaging, child-centered, curriculum-rich, community-rooted schooling still lives. Never shouting or preaching, this film is both a detailed depiction of a year in the life of a vibrant learning community and a quiet call to arms to defend and expand authentic education for all children.” "We received the DVD and our education faculty are so delighted with the movie that they are requesting that we order an additional copy." "The film is beautiful and gives future teachers a positive -heartfelt- reason for teaching......it gives them hope for their calling to a career that seems 'hopeless' right now." --Professor Katherine Thomerson, Coordinator of Liberal Studies, California State University San Bernardino "Especially if seeing Waiting for Superman made you mad in the way it blamed teachers and teachers' unions, see this wonderful documentary about an exceptionally good teacher and an outrageously innovative school that actually serves the students' needs well and teaches them academics and more." “A powerful and insightful film that is both touching and provocative.” “This is such a lovely tribute to what we know kids need.” “The film provides concrete evidence that this kind of education is not pie in the sky, or only for the very rich. It’s being done and needs to be done more. As a parent, my heart aches to think how many more children could have access to that kind of exciting, stimulating, nurturing environment but still don't.” “As a County Supervisor, I am treated to many rewarding presentations of art in all of its media forms. What moved me to single out this work for your consideration is its quiet, forceful illustration of children’s natural capacity to become informed, considerate participants in all aspects of life. That is achieved through the filmmaker‘s patient perspective, capturing seemingly routine class encounters as they blossom into individual discoveries and a social framework that will serve the students throughout their lives. The film welcomes all viewers, requiring no formal understanding of the educational theories at work while exquisitely illustrating the full spectrum of human emotion that accompanies the learning process. As the work progresses, it clearly avoids showcasing shining stars, opting instead to reinforce the potential that lies within each of us when encouraged and supported.” "August To June is an inspiring documentary film about one classroom across one year. With its close attention to all the different ways a teacher works with children, both singly and in groups, the film portrays the full complexity of expert teaching. It also shows how much a teacher can do to support the growth of children as emotional, social, and intellectual beings when parents and school agree to throw off the shackles of standardized testing.” “I can't say enough about how it impacted me as an educator and a human being. I believe it captures the essence of what it means to humanize and personalize the educational process. It speaks directly to the Coalition of Essential Schools focus on habits of heart and mind and student-centered learning as well as the transformational process that creates the climate and conditions for authentic learning to take place in our schools.” "Much like the “open classroom” it depicts, the documentary August to June is fast-paced, engaging and inspirational. It is truly thrilling to see how school can indeed be a place of adventure, discovery, growth, mystery, hilarity, community, collaboration, reflection and rejoicing. Where do I sign up?" FULL REVIEW BY JOSEPH FEATHERSTONE, author of Schools Where Children Learn, Dear Josie, and other books, emeritus faculty leader Michigan State University’s acclaimed teacher education program: "August to June," is a wonderful movie that documents the entire year of an 8-10 year old classroom presided over by a veteran teacher whose husband is the film-maker. The classroom is in a small, long-established progressive, public school of choice out at the rural edges of Marin County in California. The teacher narrates; this is her last year of teaching. I'm particularly struck by the arts-laden work it describes because I am part of a group that is starting a k-8 arts-based charter school in Gloucester, Ma. In our time of extremes of standardization and increasingly obsessive test prep this film demonstrates painstakingly the fruit of a powerful, engaging community-and-arts as well as a child-centered curriculum. This classroom is guided by a number of commitments on the teacher's part that unfold over time: an emphasis on children's choosing and planning; a focus on the arts and a commitment to children as disciplined and avid individual readers and writers; public projects and performances and democratic community discussions that are catalysts and culminations of kids' individual experiences; a tradition of parent participation and parents-as-teachers, taking in a lot from what the community has to offer. The patience with which the film shows the viewer how a culture is established and classroom routines flower into rich learning is extraordinary. Particularly interesting, given the age-old stereotypes of progressive practice, is the way that this teacher really pushes individual children hard, both in subject matter areas and in the crucial zones of what might be called emotional and civic intelligence. She is tenacious and tough, and she is on their case in scene after scene. The teacher has a philosophy and says what it is, but most often the screen shows the viewer precisely how learning unfolds; the film does not need to preach. The result is a series of portraits of individual children growing into active, informed, disciplined, enthusiastic participants in the life of the school, and creating in the process a terrific, democratic community together. The democracy piece, as evidence accumulates in the viewer's mind, is central to this school's practice. These children are used to working hard matters out in public and working together in a way that is very rare in US schools today. The children's growing initiative and educating and rearing of each other; the really outstanding quality of the art work; the music and dance that fill the air of each day; the general atmosphere of hard, hard work and sheer pleasure; and the way the viewer comes to see vital evidence of individual children's intellectual and esthetic and social passages over a whole year's time, make this one of the best films of progressive practice I've seen. It's also a fine portrait of the true necessity and awful complexity of good teaching, and the huge even operatic emotional range and strong stomach the work requires. It's also just a flat-out gorgeous, beautiful movie, a brilliant poem of childhoods in motion over time. Among a myriad of other questions, this film dares to raise is the brave, too generally unasked question of whether children in many of our schools today are happy. It establishes through its multiple stories and varieties of evidence that great curriculum, hard work and opportunities for creativity and an intense and directed social life that respects the individual and draws him/her out are what young children need to grow well. "August to June" makes me reflect that without this kind of record of children's lived experience over time, most other sorts of educational evaluation and writing about classrooms look awfully thin and paltry; here it's impossible to lose sight of the kids or forget them after the film stops. They have signed the air with an individual presence that honors both the film and the education they are getting."
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