UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Amazon Prime has picked up a Penn State faculty member’s award-winning film as a free offering to its 184 million subscribers in the United States.
A feature-length documentary that won awards at film festivals in Canada and Finland, “Class of Her Own” tells the story of a teacher’s transformation into a trailblazer who used hip-hop, dance and call-and-response to lead her high-need elementary school from an F to an A on Florida’s standardized state test in one year.
“I’m biased but I feel every adult who impacts the lives of children — from teachers to parents to youth counselors — should watch and learn from Gloria Jean Merriex’s story,” said the film’s director and producer, Boaz Dvir, an associate professor of journalism in Penn State's Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. “Amazon Prime makes it easy to stream it for no additional charge.”
“Class of Her Own” has been available to stream for a fee on most major platforms, including Apple TV, Comcast, Google Play and YouTube. It’s been available to watch for free on Hoopla. It will screen as an official selection at 2:45 pm Jan. 11 at the St. Augustine Film Festival in downtown St. Augustine, Florida.
Refencing the popular ABC sitcom, Forbes’ Peter Greene called “Class of Her Own” a “real-life mirror of Abbott Elementary.”