BY SHAENA ENGLE
UCLA Today

A new award-winning documentary that's getting national exposure has put a "face" on the issues and challenges that confront novice public school teachers -- in fact, five faces, two of them belonging to UCLA alumnae.

"The First Year" shadows five Los Angeles-area teachers from their first day of teaching until the last day of the school year, focusing on each teacher's challenges with both their students and the educational system.

UCLA was one of more than 100 universities across the nation that screened the film and held discussions to create awareness about the dire need for new teachers -- roughly 300,000 will be needed in California alone. On April 18, more than 200 students, administrators, friends of UCLA and education, and teachers attended a screening and panel discussion sponsored by the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

"The purpose of the film was not to editorialize or politicize the subject matter, but to show a simple message," said Davis Guggenheim, director of the Peabody Award-winning documentary. "There are passionate teachers out there who are making a huge difference, and we need to support these people and find more of them."

The film follows Joy Kraft-Watts, a 2000 graduate of the school's Teacher Education Program (TEP), as she struggles to deal with difficult topics such as racial discrimination among her students and homosexuality, all without having a permanent classroom to call her own.

It also spotlights George Acosta, another 2000 TEP graduate, who helped her Santa Monica High School students save their English as a Second Language program. The film depicts her students speaking out at a local school board meeting. "Teaching is not a choice," Acosta said. "It is something I have to do."

Said Dean Aimée Dorr, "I am honored to participate in the national focus on 'The First Year' and to help illuminate the need to increase the size and quality of our teaching force. I am particularly proud that two of our TEP graduates are featured in this powerful documentary."

For information on "The First Year," visit www.teachscreenings.com