I Used To Teach English

Produced by: 
Documentary Videomakers: Nadine Patterson and Margie Strosser; Executive produced and commissioned by the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation
Year: 
1993
Duration: 
20 min

Marsha Pincus conducts English classes at Simon Gratz High School, a culturally diverse public school in gritty North Philadelphia. Pincus, always on the hunt for more effective ways to teach, is able to engage and motivate students through student-centered teaching using dialogue and playwriting. Her students, thrilled at her overt invitation to bring the whole range of their lives and cultures into the classroom, explain how the classes have helped them become more articulate, persuasive, and deeply interested in both playwriting and playing with words.

Philadelphia-based independent producer Nadine Patterson has been making independent film/video for the past twenty years. She has produced and directed programs for the School District of Philadelphia's cable station, and WYBE Public Television. She earned her MA in Filmmaking at the London Film School. Previous work includes Shizue , a Scribe Video production that was screened at the Museum of Modern Art, NY; and Moving with the Dreaming, winner of a Prized Pieces Award from the National Black Programming Consortium. A recipient of a Media Arts Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, her award-winning work has often been broadcast on public television.

Margie Strosser is an award-winning producer, director and writer in television and film whose projects include the autobiographical documentaryRape Stories, and fictional works such as Strange Weather and Moon Juice. Recently, Margie was the senior producer/writer for three seasons ofBirth Day, the Discovery Health Channel's highest rated daytime show. She and writing partner Cate Wilson are currently collaborating on a romantic comedy and a psychological thriller adapted from a British novel.

Awards: 

Winner, Golden Apple Award, National Educational Media Network