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Still Waters

Bullfrog Films • 1h 18m

Directed by Peter Gordon • Documentary • 2018 • 79 minutes

A remarkable one-room school in Brooklyn is facing a tough year. It's the run up to the US presidential election and anti-Latino rhetoric is ramped up—an extra source of tension for a hard-pressed Hispanic community already threatened by gentrification and eviction.

The school, Still Waters in a Storm, is the creation of Yale grad Stephen Haff. A passionate critic of mainstream education, he believes in the joy of learning without tests and the innate creativity of children and insists that the school is free. It survives precariously on the thinnest of shoestrings.

When regular school finishes, Still Waters starts working. Stephen and his group of children explore, with the help of illustrious guest writers like twice Booker Prizewinner Peter Carey, the power of storytelling, creativity and community. And along the way they discuss Donald Trump and gentrification with humor and passion.

Tags
alternative education, american (u.s.) studies, anti-latino rhetoric, area studies, bilingual education, bullfrog films, call of the wild, child development, community, creativity, critic of mainstream education, cultural and ethnic studies, dan-el, doc, donald trump, dreams and fears of hispanic community, early childhood education, education, eviction, expository, free school in brooklyn, funding difficulties, gentrification, guests include, hispanic community threatened by gentrification and eviction, immigrant experiences, immigration, immigration and refugees, inner creativity of children, joy of learning, languages and literature, latin american studies, latino and hispanic studies, literature, matthew holtzclaw, no tests, north american studies, ovid, ovid_ca, padilla peralta, paradise lost, peter carey, poverty, power of storytelling, psychology and mental health, race and racism, racism, run-up to presidential election, s_0011, s_0027, s_0050, s_0153, s_0172, s_0179, s_0237, s_0260, s_0280, s_0295, s_0453, s_0487, s_0498, s_0516, s_0638, s_0642, s_0656, social issues, social psychology, social studies, sociology, stephen haff, still waters, still waters in a storm, teaching creative writing, teaching hispanic kids, teaching latin, teaching reading, title_nopqrs, title_s, urban sociology, urban studies, yale grad, yoga, youth issues

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