Educator Testimonials
Here's what a few past participants had to say about our workshops and fellowship program:
"We learned so much from each other in the short time we worked together. Sharing the readings and our understanding of the concepts helped us to reflect and find structure to build our own knowledge upon. Talking through the process of creating our lessons or curricula pushed each of us to go just a little bit farther than if we were doing it on our own." – Karen Ambrosh
"The experience of the Educator Fellows allowed me to meet several of my Professional Practice Goals: using culturally relevant materials and practices, incorporating the arts to improve student motivation and outcomes, and participating in a professional learning community to reflect on my teaching practices. Talking with teachers from various disciplines and schools and simply being part of a community of professionals with similar goals and interests did a lot to inform my practice. Through these discussions, we were able to brainstorm and troubleshoot ways to develop our instruction and incorporate film into our curriculum." – Jasmine Nichols
" Last year I felt challenged and was happy to attend twelve films. This year I strove to attend twenty. Three days into the festival I upped that goal to thirty. Mission accomplished. [We Educator Fellows] were urban and suburban, old and young, male, but mostly female. Our little cohort was very quiet at first, but after two meetings we found our voices and our opinions really blossomed. It wasn’t just fawning over favorite films, but honest insight with topics that many weren’t familiar. I took in many ideas for film integration from some very smart teachers, and I’m lucky for that. I felt valued for my experience and ideas, too." – Steven Midthun
"The fellowship experience has given me the opportunity of watching films while giving me the tools, per say to incorporate film into my classroom, films other than the same old, same old. […]Participating in the MKE Film festival was a great experience for me. The viewings opened my eyes up to a whole new realm of teaching. I want to further my professional development in the art of film by partaking in future film festivals as well as having my colleagues jump on the film wagon." – MingYon Blackwell